<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Items - The Rust Reference</title> <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <meta name="description" content=""> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff" /> <base href=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="book.css"> <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:300italic,400italic,600italic,700italic,800italic,400,300,600,700,800" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Code+Pro:500" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.png"> <!-- Font Awesome --> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.3.0/css/font-awesome.min.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="highlight.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="tomorrow-night.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="ayu-highlight.css"> <!-- Custom theme --> <link 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localStorage.getItem('mdbook-theme'); } catch(e) { } if (theme === null || theme === undefined) { theme = 'light'; } document.body.className = theme; document.querySelector('html').className = theme; </script> <!-- Hide / unhide sidebar before it is displayed --> <script type="text/javascript"> var sidebar = 'hidden'; if (document.body.clientWidth >= 1080) { try { sidebar = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-sidebar'); } catch(e) { } sidebar = sidebar || 'visible'; } document.querySelector('html').classList.add("sidebar-" + sidebar); </script> <nav id="sidebar" class="sidebar" aria-label="Table of contents"> <ol class="chapter"><li class="affix"><a href="introduction.html">Introduction</a></li><li><a href="notation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.</strong> Notation</a></li><li><a href="lexical-structure.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.</strong> Lexical structure</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="input-format.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.1.</strong> Input format</a></li><li><a href="keywords.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.2.</strong> Keywords</a></li><li><a href="identifiers.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.3.</strong> Identifiers</a></li><li><a href="comments.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.4.</strong> Comments</a></li><li><a href="whitespace.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.5.</strong> Whitespace</a></li><li><a href="tokens.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.6.</strong> Tokens</a></li><li><a href="paths.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.7.</strong> Paths</a></li></ol></li><li><a href="macros.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.</strong> Macros</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="macros-by-example.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.1.</strong> Macros By Example</a></li><li><a href="procedural-macros.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.2.</strong> Procedural Macros</a></li></ol></li><li><a href="crates-and-source-files.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.</strong> Crates and source files</a></li><li><a href="items-and-attributes.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.</strong> Items and attributes</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="items.html" class="active"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.</strong> Items</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="items/modules.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.1.</strong> Modules</a></li><li><a href="items/extern-crates.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.2.</strong> Extern crates</a></li><li><a href="items/use-declarations.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.3.</strong> Use declarations</a></li><li><a href="items/functions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.4.</strong> Functions</a></li><li><a href="items/type-aliases.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.5.</strong> Type aliases</a></li><li><a href="items/structs.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.6.</strong> Structs</a></li><li><a href="items/enumerations.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.7.</strong> Enumerations</a></li><li><a href="items/unions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.8.</strong> Unions</a></li><li><a href="items/constant-items.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.9.</strong> Constant items</a></li><li><a href="items/static-items.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.10.</strong> Static items</a></li><li><a href="items/traits.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.11.</strong> Traits</a></li><li><a href="items/implementations.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.12.</strong> Implementations</a></li><li><a href="items/external-blocks.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.13.</strong> External blocks</a></li></ol></li><li><a href="visibility-and-privacy.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.2.</strong> Visibility and Privacy</a></li><li><a href="attributes.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.3.</strong> Attributes</a></li></ol></li><li><a href="statements-and-expressions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.</strong> Statements and expressions</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="statements.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.1.</strong> Statements</a></li><li><a href="expressions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.</strong> Expressions</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="expressions/literal-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.1.</strong> Literal expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/path-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.2.</strong> Path expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/block-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.3.</strong> Block expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/operator-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.4.</strong> Operator expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/array-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.5.</strong> Array and index expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/tuple-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.6.</strong> Tuple and index expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/struct-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.7.</strong> Struct expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/enum-variant-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.8.</strong> Enum variant expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/call-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.9.</strong> Call expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/method-call-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.10.</strong> Method call expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/field-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.11.</strong> Field access expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/closure-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.12.</strong> Closure expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/loop-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.13.</strong> Loop expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/range-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.14.</strong> Range expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/if-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.15.</strong> If and if let expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/match-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.16.</strong> Match expressions</a></li><li><a href="expressions/return-expr.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.17.</strong> Return expressions</a></li></ol></li></ol></li><li><a href="type-system.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.</strong> Type system</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="types.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.1.</strong> Types</a></li><li><a href="dynamically-sized-types.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.2.</strong> Dynamically Sized Types</a></li><li><a href="type-layout.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.3.</strong> Type layout</a></li><li><a href="interior-mutability.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.4.</strong> Interior mutability</a></li><li><a href="subtyping.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.5.</strong> Subtyping</a></li><li><a href="type-coercions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.6.</strong> Type coercions</a></li><li><a href="destructors.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.7.</strong> Destructors</a></li></ol></li><li><a href="special-types-and-traits.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">8.</strong> Special types and traits</a></li><li><a href="memory-model.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.</strong> Memory model</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="memory-allocation-and-lifetime.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.1.</strong> Memory allocation and lifetime</a></li><li><a href="memory-ownership.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.2.</strong> Memory ownership</a></li><li><a href="variables.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.3.</strong> Variables</a></li></ol></li><li><a href="linkage.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">10.</strong> Linkage</a></li><li><a href="unsafety.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.</strong> Unsafety</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li><a href="unsafe-functions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.1.</strong> Unsafe functions</a></li><li><a href="unsafe-blocks.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.2.</strong> Unsafe blocks</a></li><li><a href="behavior-considered-undefined.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.3.</strong> Behavior considered undefined</a></li><li><a href="behavior-not-considered-unsafe.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.4.</strong> Behavior not considered unsafe</a></li></ol></li><li><a href="influences.html">Appendix: Influences</a></li><li class="affix"><a href="undocumented.html">Appendix: As-yet-undocumented Features</a></li><li class="affix"><a href="glossary.html">Appendix: Glossary</a></li></ol> </nav> <div id="page-wrapper" class="page-wrapper"> <div class="page"> <header><p class="warning"> For now, this reference is a best-effort document. We strive for validity and completeness, but are not yet there. In the future, the docs and lang teams will work together to figure out how best to do this. Until then, this is a best-effort attempt. If you find something wrong or missing, file an <a href="https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/reference/issues">issue</a> or send in a pull request. </p></header> <div id="menu-bar" class="menu-bar"> <div id="menu-bar-sticky-container"> <div class="left-buttons"> <button id="sidebar-toggle" class="icon-button" type="button" title="Toggle Table of Contents" aria-label="Toggle Table of Contents" aria-controls="sidebar"> <i class="fa fa-bars"></i> </button> <button id="theme-toggle" class="icon-button" type="button" title="Change theme" aria-label="Change theme" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="theme-list"> <i class="fa fa-paint-brush"></i> </button> <ul id="theme-list" class="theme-popup" aria-label="submenu"> <li><button class="theme" id="light">Light <span class="default">(default)</span></button></li> <li><button class="theme" id="rust">Rust</button></li> <li><button class="theme" id="coal">Coal</button></li> <li><button class="theme" id="navy">Navy</button></li> <li><button class="theme" id="ayu">Ayu</button></li> </ul> </div> <h1 class="menu-title">The Rust Reference</h1> <div class="right-buttons"> <a href="print.html" title="Print this book" aria-label="Print this book"> <i id="print-button" class="fa fa-print"></i> </a> </div> </div> </div> <!-- Apply ARIA attributes after the sidebar and the sidebar toggle button are added to the DOM --> <script type="text/javascript"> document.getElementById('sidebar-toggle').setAttribute('aria-expanded', sidebar === 'visible'); document.getElementById('sidebar').setAttribute('aria-hidden', sidebar !== 'visible'); Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('#sidebar a')).forEach(function(link) { link.setAttribute('tabIndex', sidebar === 'visible' ? 0 : -1); }); </script> <div id="content" class="content"> <main> <a class="header" href="items.html#items" id="items"><h1>Items</h1></a> <p>An <em>item</em> is a component of a crate. Items are organized within a crate by a nested set of <a href="items/modules.html">modules</a>. Every crate has a single "outermost" anonymous module; all further items within the crate have <a href="paths.html">paths</a> within the module tree of the crate.</p> <p>Items are entirely determined at compile-time, generally remain fixed during execution, and may reside in read-only memory.</p> <p>There are several kinds of items:</p> <ul> <li><a href="items/modules.html">modules</a></li> <li><a href="items/extern-crates.html"><code>extern crate</code> declarations</a></li> <li><a href="items/use-declarations.html"><code>use</code> declarations</a></li> <li><a href="items/functions.html">function definitions</a></li> <li><a href="items/type-aliases.html">type definitions</a></li> <li><a href="items/structs.html">struct definitions</a></li> <li><a href="items/enumerations.html">enumeration definitions</a></li> <li><a href="items/unions.html">union definitions</a></li> <li><a href="items/constant-items.html">constant items</a></li> <li><a href="items/static-items.html">static items</a></li> <li><a href="items/traits.html">trait definitions</a></li> <li><a href="items/implementations.html">implementations</a></li> <li><a href="items/external-blocks.html"><code>extern</code> blocks</a></li> </ul> <p>Some items form an implicit scope for the declaration of sub-items. In other words, within a function or module, declarations of items can (in many cases) be mixed with the statements, control blocks, and similar artifacts that otherwise compose the item body. The meaning of these scoped items is the same as if the item was declared outside the scope — it is still a static item — except that the item's <em>path name</em> within the module namespace is qualified by the name of the enclosing item, or is private to the enclosing item (in the case of functions). The grammar specifies the exact locations in which sub-item declarations may appear.</p> <a class="header" href="items.html#type-parameters" id="type-parameters"><h2>Type Parameters</h2></a> <p>Functions, type aliases, structs, enumerations, unions, traits and implementations may be <em>parameterized</em> by type. Type parameters are given as a comma-separated list of identifiers enclosed in angle brackets (<code><...></code>), after the name of the item (except for implementations, where they come directly after <code>impl</code>) and before its definition.</p> <p>The type parameters of an item are considered "part of the name", not part of the type of the item. A referencing <a href="paths.html">path</a> must (in principle) provide type arguments as a list of comma-separated types enclosed within angle brackets, in order to refer to the type-parameterized item. In practice, the type-inference system can usually infer such argument types from context. There are no general type-parametric types, only type-parametric items. That is, Rust has no notion of type abstraction: there are no higher-ranked (or "forall") types abstracted over other types, though higher-ranked types do exist for lifetimes.</p> </main> <nav class="nav-wrapper" aria-label="Page navigation"> <!-- Mobile navigation buttons --> <a rel="prev" href="items-and-attributes.html" class="mobile-nav-chapters previous" title="Previous chapter" aria-label="Previous chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Left"> <i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i> </a> <a rel="next" href="items/modules.html" class="mobile-nav-chapters next" title="Next chapter" aria-label="Next chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Right"> <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i> </a> <div style="clear: both"></div> </nav> </div> </div> <nav class="nav-wide-wrapper" aria-label="Page navigation"> <a href="items-and-attributes.html" class="nav-chapters previous" title="Previous chapter" aria-label="Previous chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Left"> <i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i> </a> <a href="items/modules.html" class="nav-chapters next" title="Next chapter" aria-label="Next chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Right"> <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i> </a> </nav> </div> <!-- Local fallback for Font Awesome --> <script> if (getComputedStyle(document.querySelector(".fa")).fontFamily !== "FontAwesome") { var link = document.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.type = 'text/css'; link.href = '_FontAwesome/css/font-awesome.css'; document.head.insertBefore(link, document.head.firstChild) } </script> <script src="highlight.js"></script> <script src="book.js"></script> <!-- Custom JS script --> </body> </html>