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Update static_mut_refs now that it is a lint #322

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34 changes: 23 additions & 11 deletions src/rust-2024/static-mut-references.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,44 +1,56 @@
# Disallow references to static mut

🚧 The 2024 Edition has not yet been released and hence this section is still "under construction".
More information may be found in the tracking issue at <https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/123758>.

## Summary

- The [`static_mut_refs`] lint is now a hard error that cannot be disabled.
This prevents taking a shared or mutable reference to a `static mut`.
- The [`static_mut_refs`] lint level is now `deny` by default.
This checks for taking a shared or mutable reference to a `static mut`.

[`static_mut_refs`]: ../../rustc/lints/listing/warn-by-default.html#static-mut-refs

## Details

Taking a reference to a [`static mut`] is no longer allowed:
The [`static_mut_refs`] lint detects taking a reference to a [`static mut`]. In the 2024 Edition, this lint is now `deny` by default to emphasize that you should avoid making these references.

<!-- edition2024,E0796 -->
<!-- edition2024 -->
```rust
static mut X: i32 = 23;
static mut Y: i32 = 24;

unsafe {
let y = &X; // ERROR: reference of mutable static
let ref x = X; // ERROR: reference of mutable static
let (x, y) = (&X, &Y); // ERROR: reference of mutable static
let y = &X; // ERROR: shared reference to mutable static
let ref x = X; // ERROR: shared reference to mutable static
let (x, y) = (&X, &Y); // ERROR: shared reference to mutable static
}
```

Merely taking such a reference in violation of Rust's mutability XOR aliasing requirement has always been *instantaneous* [undefined behavior], **even if the reference is never read from or written to**. Furthermore, upholding mutability XOR aliasing for a `static mut` requires *reasoning about your code globally*, which can be particularly difficult in the face of reentrancy and/or multithreading.

Note that there are some cases where implicit references are automatically created without a visible `&` operator. For example, these situations will also trigger the lint:

<!-- edition2024 -->
```rust
static mut NUMS: &[u8; 3] = &[0, 1, 2];

unsafe {
println!("{NUMS:?}"); // ERROR: shared reference to mutable static
let n = NUMS.len(); // ERROR: shared reference to mutable static
}
```

## Alternatives

Wherever possible, it is **strongly recommended** to use instead an *immutable* `static` of a type that provides *interior mutability* behind some *locally-reasoned abstraction* (which greatly reduces the complexity of ensuring that Rust's mutability XOR aliasing requirement is upheld).

In situations where no locally-reasoned abstraction is possible and you are therefore compelled still to reason globally about accesses to your `static` variable, you must now use raw pointers such as can be obtained via the [`addr_of_mut!`] macro. By first obtaining a raw pointer rather than directly taking a reference, (the safety requirements of) accesses through that pointer will be more familiar to `unsafe` developers and can be deferred until/limited to smaller regions of code.
In situations where no locally-reasoned abstraction is possible and you are therefore compelled still to reason globally about accesses to your `static` variable, you must now use raw pointers such as can be obtained via the [`&raw const` or `&raw mut` operators][raw]. By first obtaining a raw pointer rather than directly taking a reference, (the safety requirements of) accesses through that pointer will be more familiar to `unsafe` developers and can be deferred until/limited to smaller regions of code.

[Undefined Behavior]: ../../reference/behavior-considered-undefined.html
[`static mut`]: ../../reference/items/static-items.html#mutable-statics
[`addr_of_mut!`]: https://docs.rust-lang.org/core/ptr/macro.addr_of_mut.html
[raw]: ../../reference/expressions/operator-expr.html#raw-borrow-operators

## Migration

🚧 The automatic migration for this has not yet been implemented.

<!-- TODO: Discuss alternatives around rewriting your code. -->
There is no automatic migration to fix these references to `static mut`. To avoid undefined behavior you must rewrite your code to use a different approach as recommended in the [Alternatives](#alternatives) section.