RustBrock/data_types.md
2025-01-07 11:59:41 -07:00

20 KiB

Data Types

Constants

constants can be delared anywhere, convension to use all caps in const need const keyword, not always eval at compile time variables can only be assigned once (needs mut to assign more than once (need to be same type))

const SECONDS_PER_HOUR: i32 = 60 * 60;

Variables

variables are immuatable by default variables can be inferred but sometimes needs explicit typing

    let foo = 5;

need to add mut keyword to enable rewriting, generally avoid unless actually used

    let mut bar = 6;

SHADOWING

Cannot have mutable shadows

allows for reuse of namespace instead of spaces_str and spaces_num

    let spaces = " _ _ ";
    let spaces = spaces.len();
    // will output 5 instead of " _ _ " beacuse that is how long it is
    // the shadow of spaces (first) wont be printed until the overshadow of spaces goes out of scope
    println!("{spaces}"); // output: 5

not allowed shadow

    let mut spaces = " _ _ ";
    spaces = spaces.len();

cannot change type of variable once declared

Primitive Data Types

Scalars

Integers

u is for usigned integers i is for signed integers

number indicated how many bits it takes in memory

    let z: i8;      // takes up 8 bits, can store values from -128 to 127
    let c: i16;     // takes up 16 bits
    let d: i32;     // takes up 32 bits (default for integers)
    let e: i64;     // takes up 64 bits
    let f: i128;    // takes up 128 bits
    let g: isize;   // takes up x bits, depends on the system's architecture/cpu

    let h: u8;      // takes up 8 bits, unsigned version (only positive)
                    // can store values from 0 to 255

Integer Overflow

will reset to the lowest value ie i8 129 -> -126

    let example_over_flow: i8 = 129;

behavor only in production mode dev mode will cause a panic and error out/tell you

Floats

better to use double point due to modern cpus where there is not much difference in speed

Single Point Float

takes up 32 bits

    let a: f32 = 4.0;

Double Point Float

takes up 64 bits

    let b: f64 = 2.01;

Integers Represented Differently

can represent values in hex, oct, bin or dec can hover with rust-analyzer extension to see value in dec

Dec with Reading Aid

value stored 1000 _ used to make easier to read

    let i = 1_000;
Hexidecimal

value stored 255

    let j = 0xff;
Octal

value stored 63

    let k = 0o77; 
Binary

value stored 13

    let l = 0b1101;
Bytes

u8 only value stored 0x41 or 65

    let m = b'A';

Numeric Operators / Basic Math

Numbers for reference

    let x: i16 = 8;
    let y: i16 = 5;

Addition

    let sum  = x + y; // result: 13

Subtraction

    let difference = x - y; //result: 3

Multiplication

    let product: i16;
    product = x * y;

Division

    let quotent = 45.1 / 54.2;
    let truncated = x / y; // results in 1 (always rounds down)

Remainder

    let remainder = x % y;

Booleans

must be explicity typed to true or false 0 or 1 not allowed even with let var: bool

    let n = false;
    let o = true;

&& is and operator

Char

must use single quotes and not "" otherwise will be inferred as string literal is stored as Unicode Scalar Value allowing for emoji, japanse char and other languages not supported by ASCII takes 4 bytes in size or 32 bits

    let p = 'a';

Compound Types

multiple values into one type

Tuple

A general way of grouping multiple a number of values into one compound type types do not need to be the same in every position

    let tup: (i32, f64, u8) = (500, 6.4, 1);

The variable tup has values written to it at initialization but it is not requried, order does not matter similar to a struct in c

Vaules must be destructed out of a tuple to be accessed inidivually, can use a pattern matching to the tuple

 let (q, r, s) = tup;

This is called destructing becasue it breaks it into 3 parts

Can also be accessed with a .

INDEX STARTS AT 0

    let t = tup.0;  // t = 500
    let u = tup.1;  // u = 6.4
    let v = tup.2;  // v = 1

A Unit

This is a special value where a tuple has no values

    let w: () = ();

This represents an empty type or an empty return type

Expressions will implicitly return a unit if they dont return anything else

Array

A collection of multiple values Must have every value be the same type, cannot mix and match Arrays must be a fixed length at initialization useful when you want a set number of values or is static

Values are in [] and seperated by ,

    let xa = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];

Array located in stack same with above types

If you need your array/list to grow or shrink use a vector If unsure weather to use an Array or Vector pick a vector

Times where using an array is better

let months = ["January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December"];

Accessing items in an array

    let ya = xa[0]; //value is 1

Initializing an Array

    let za: [i32; 5];   // allows for 5 32 bit signed integers inside
    let aa = [i8; 6];   // allow for 6 8 bit signed integers inside

Invalid Array Elements

use std::io;
fn main() {
    let a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

    // Input of a number
    println!("Please enter an array index.");
    let mut index = String::new();
    io::stdin()
        .read_line(&mut index)
        .expect("Failed to read line");

    // change into a integer
    let index: usize = index
        .trim()
        .parse()
        .expect("Index entered was not a number");

    // access elemetn in array
    let element = a[index];
    println!("The value of the element at index {index} is: {element}");
}

this program would compile with not problems for example inputting 7 into the program this would cause a runtime error the program would output an error because it didnt get to the final line println! before exiting it casue the program to exit before attempting to access the invalid space this is a form of safe memory management that rust name

Complex Data Type

String Literal

This is a string literal it is hardcoded into a program Always immutable Fast and efficient, stored on the stack, property of being immuatable not of any real value

    let s: &str = "hello";

String

This is a string that is stored on the heap, this can store data unkown (size, char, etc) to you at compile time Can be mutable, but must request space on the heap then return that memory to the heap, will be returned as soon as it is no longer valid (it calls the drop method from String) not as fast and efficient Example of a string being created form a string literal

    let ab:String = String::from("hello");

String concatinization example

    let mut s = String::from("hello");
    s.push_str(", world!"); // push_str() appends a literal to a String
    println!("{s}"); // This will print `hello, world!`

Structures

Custom data type that packages up multiple data types into a meaningful manner and call the collection something More similar to an object, can define related methods to them

Similar to tuples but have to name and define everything inside a struct, like a dictionary but with set names and order Dont need to know order just know key

Defining

Need struct keywork then name of struct, which should describe the significance of the gropued data All values are seperated by commas these are called fields general definition of the type created


struct User {
    active: bool,
    username: String,
    email: String,
    sign_in_count: u64,

}

Initiating

To use give a owning var name thne concretely define what each value is define the key: vaule pairs dont need to initate in the same order they were defined in

    let mut user1 = User {
            active: true,
            username: String::from("someusername123"),
            email: String::from("someone@example.com"),
            sign_in_count: 1,
    };

to access values from the struct the dotnotation is used note the WHOLE struct must be mutable, rust does not allow for partial mutability

    // user1 email field now is equal to the string example@mail.com
    user1.email = String::from("example@mail.com");

Can build a struct with implicit values input by default

fn build_user (email: String, username: String) {
    User {
        active: true,
        email: email,
        username: username,
        sign_in_count: 1,
    }
}

Init Field Shorthand

This is useful when the param and the struct definition share the same name. This reduces the amount of time spent on repeating key:value pairs

fn build_user(email: String, username: String) -> User {
    User {
        active: true,
        username,
        email,
        sign_in_count: 1,
    }
}

Only works beacuse param share same name as field key this is equivalent to username:username or email:email

Creating Instances from Other Instances with Struct Update Syntax

Often useful to do so, only need to change 1 value

Slow method

    let user2 = User {
        active: user1.active,
        username: user1.username,
        email: String::from("another@emial.com"),
        sign_in_count: user.sign_in_count,
    };

Using Update syntax .. this can be done a LOT Quicker

    let user2 = User {
        email: String::from("another@email.com"),
        ..user1
    }
    // user1 no longer completely valid
    // can still use user1.email, .active and .sign_in_count

This specifies htat the fields not explicity set should be the same as the given instance This uses the = assignment operator and therefore a ownership move occurs with the ../update syntax

user1 would still be valid if both of the String types in were given new values

Tuple Structs

This is also allowed but not key:value pairs This still holds values in the field

    struct RGBColour (i32, i32, i32);
    struct Point (i32, i32, i32);

    let black = RGBColour(0, 0, 0);
    let origin = Point(0, 0, 0);

Unit Like Struct

This is similar to a unit () This holds no data in itself

Useful for when you need to implement a trait on some type but dont want to store data in the type itself

Delcaration

struct unit_like_type;

    let using_unit_like_struct = unit_like_type; // instance of unit_like_type

No need for () in the delcaration

Structure Ownership

Want each instance of a struct to own the values inside so that the values inside are always valid unless specified

Can use references but need to take advantage of lifetimes which ensures that the reference is valid whilst the structure is valid

This is valid but compiler will ask for lifetime specifiers

struct User {
    active: bool,
    username: &str,
    email: &str,
    sign_in_count: u64,
}

In short use data times that are owned rather than references

Adding Increased Functionality of Structs with derived traits

print can do many different types of formatting Cant print out structs by default because there are so many options with or without braces, commas, should all fields be shown This will cause an error

struct Rectangle {
    length: u32,
    width: u32,
}
    let rect1 = Rectangle {
        length: 8,
        width: 4,
    };
    println!("rect1 contains {}", rect1);

{} tell println to use Display by default because there is only one way to show many primitive data types

{var_name:?} this is for the format Debug {var_name:#?} this is for pretty printing in Debug format, good for larger structs

Debug is also not implemented for the struct and therefore not supported

#[derive(Debug)]
struct Rectangle {
    length: u32,
    width: u32,
}
    // snip
    println!("rect1 contains {rect1:?}");   // single line print, in debug format, output: rect1 contains Rectangle { length: 8, width: 4 }
    println!("rect1 contains {rect1:#?}");  // pretty print in debug format, output: rect1 contains Rectangle {
                                            // length: 8,
                                            // width: 4,
                                            // }

Another way to output pretty debug format by default is dbg! macro this prints out the file and line number as well of where it was called and returns the ownership of the value this prints to the stderr output stream this takes ownership of values compaired to println! prints to stdout output stream

example of using dbg

fn main() {
    let scale = 2;
    let rect1 = Rectangle {
        width: dbg!(30 * scale),
        height: 50,
    };
    dbg!(&rect1); // because it takes ownership need to pass in a reference
}

output [src/main.rs:10:16] 30 * scale = 60 [src/main.rs:14:5] &rect1 = Rectangle { width: 60, height: 50, }

Methods

Fucntions that are more closely related to structs

similar to functions decalred, param and output are all the same

run the code when the method is declared elsewhere

unlike functions they are defined in the context of a struct, an enum or a trait

first parameter is always self, which represents the instance of the struct that is is being called upon just like python methods

definition

struct Rectangle {
    length: u32,
    width: u32,
}

// implementation block for Rectangle used to define fn related to the struct
// put in this blcok so that the use case doesnt need to be searched
impl Rectangle {
    // fn moved to here to that it has access to the instance with the self reference
    // fn now closely related to the rect struct
    // first param must be the type self: Self or &self which rust lets you shorthand
    // self can be borrowed, mutably borrowed, or take ownership of self
    // should always borrow unless need to transferownership or mutate the stored var
    // &mut self for mutable version of selfs
    // use self when you want to transform the self into something else
    fn area (&self) -> u32 {
        self.length * self.width
    }

    // this is an example of a mthod with exterior params requried
    fn fit_into (&self, other: &Rectangle) {
        self.length > other.length && self.width > other.width
    }
}

useage

    let rect1 = Rectangle {
        length: 8,
        width: 4,
    }
    println!("The area of the reactangle is {} square units",
    // method syntax to call the area func
    // notice dont need any param in, already has access to self reference
    rect1.area()
    );

this provides method syntax and dont have to repeat the structure they effect one impl can house all the methods for a struct, we can have tthe same method name as field name just differenitate with the use of () this is for a mthod not the field

this is used in getters where you want read only access to a struct, you can make the field pravate but the method public

Associated Functions

functions in the impl block are associated with the struct all functions within tthe impl block is associated functions

not all associated methods have a self reference and therefore arent methods

can be used in constructors or destructors, often constructors are what they are used for

new is often used for constructors, not a protected keyword

example

impl Rectangle {
    // Self is only allowed within the impl scope, referes to what the scope is for, this determines the return type
    fn square(side: i32) -> Self {
        Self {
            length = side,
            width = side,
        }
    }
}

to call these types of functions use the :: operator, this is also used in namespaces

ex

    let square1 = Rectangle::square(3);

you have have multiple impl blocks associated with a struct, is the same as hvaing one monolithic one (better for readibility) some use cases for multiple impl blocks

Enums

allows for defining a type determined by its possible variants can only be one variant at a time

definition

enum IpAddrKind {
    V4, // possible variant value
    V6, // possible variant value
}

initiation/storing enum value

    let six = IpAddrKind::V6;
    let four = IpAddrKind::V4;

these need to be namespaced using the :: operator in order to tell the compiler which value you mean

other useage

fn route (ip_kind: IpAddrKind) {}

    // can be called by using either varaint
    route(IpAddrKind::V4);
    route(IpAddrKind::V6);

we only know the kind of addr using the enum, to store the value can be done by using a struct ex

struct IpAddr {
    kind: IpAddrKind,
    address: String,
}

    let homeIp = IpAddr {
        kind: IpAddrKind::V4,
        address: String::from("127.0.0.1"),
    };

    let loopback = IpAddr {
        kind: IpAddrKind::V6,
        address: String::from("::1"),
    }

now each type of ip addr as an assocatiated value

with just an enum and no struct, where the values are directly attached this is more concise but communicates the same thing

enum IpAddr {
    V4(String),
    V6(String),
}

    let homeIp = IpAddr::V4(String::from("127.0.0.1"));

    let loopback = IpAddr::V6(String::from("::1"));

enums can have different types from another ipv4 will always have 4 different values from 0-255

enum IpAddr {
    V4(u8, u8, u8, u8),
    V6(String),
}

    let homeIp = IpAddr::V4(127, 0, 0, 1);

    let loopback = IpAddr::V6(String::from("::1"));

This encoding and differentiating of Ip adresses is so common that the standard library has an enum named IpAddr, this needs to be brought into scope in order to work

This stores two structs for V4 and V6

like this

struct Ipv4Addr {
    // --snip--
}

struct Ipv6Addr {
    // --snip--
}

enum IpAddr {
    V4(Ipv4Addr),
    V6(Ipv6Addr),
}

can put anything in a enum and enums can have unlimited types assocaited with them

could be nothing, i32, string, tuple for example

can implement behavior in relation to an enum

The Option Enum and Advantages over Null types

this is a specail case where the variants are nothing nas something this is part of the standard library can can be included

this should be handled so that the compiler can check for handling all types this then handle the case of what if it is empty

a feature of rust is excluding null references

if you try to use a null value as a not null value you get an error this is due to null or not null as pervasive and extrememly easy to make this kind of error

null is still useful for expressing a vlaue that is not present or not valid for some reason this is a problem of implementation

rust doesnt have nulls but can be expressed as the enum Option which is defined by the standard library as

enum Option<T> {
    None,
    Some(T),
}

dont need to explicitly bring into scope but can can also call it by Some or None is the genertic type parameter all of these replace the T generic tpye in the Option enum

    let some_number = Some(5); // can be inferred due to the value being stored
    let some_char = Some('e'); // can be inferred due to the value being stored

    let absent_number: Option<i32> = None; // needs generic type sepcification for the None option

all valid T is any type

these are not the same and therefore cannot be added i8 and Option

the compiler will always ensure that i8 is a valid value the complier will not ensure that Option stores a valid value will have to check if it has a non-null value in the enum then convert it into a T type from Option type in order to use it

this eliminates the issue of it being assued that is it a non-null tpye by being forced to handle the null variant everywhere where the value isnt a Option can be safely assumed to be a non null type