Skip to content
New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

An async closure may implement FnMut/Fn if it has no self-borrows #125259

Merged
merged 1 commit into from
May 22, 2024

Conversation

compiler-errors
Copy link
Member

@compiler-errors compiler-errors commented May 18, 2024

There's no reason that async closures may not implement FnMut or Fn if they don't actually borrow anything with the closure's env lifetime. Specifically, #123660 made it so that we don't always need to borrow captures from the closure's env.

See the doc comment on should_reborrow_from_env_of_parent_coroutine_closure:

/// Determines whether a child capture that is derived from a parent capture
/// should be borrowed with the lifetime of the parent coroutine-closure's env.
///
/// There are two cases when this needs to happen:
///
/// (1.) Are we borrowing data owned by the parent closure? We can determine if
/// that is the case by checking if the parent capture is by move, EXCEPT if we
/// apply a deref projection, which means we're reborrowing a reference that we
/// captured by move.
///
/// ```rust
/// #![feature(async_closure)]
/// let x = &1i32; // Let's call this lifetime `'1`.
/// let c = async move || {
/// println!("{:?}", *x);
/// // Even though the inner coroutine borrows by ref, we're only capturing `*x`,
/// // not `x`, so the inner closure is allowed to reborrow the data for `'1`.
/// };
/// ```
///
/// (2.) If a coroutine is mutably borrowing from a parent capture, then that
/// mutable borrow cannot live for longer than either the parent *or* the borrow
/// that we have on the original upvar. Therefore we always need to borrow the
/// child capture with the lifetime of the parent coroutine-closure's env.
///
/// ```rust
/// #![feature(async_closure)]
/// let mut x = 1i32;
/// let c = async || {
/// x = 1;
/// // The parent borrows `x` for some `&'1 mut i32`.
/// // However, when we call `c()`, we implicitly autoref for the signature of
/// // `AsyncFnMut::async_call_mut`. Let's call that lifetime `'call`. Since
/// // the maximum that `&'call mut &'1 mut i32` can be reborrowed is `&'call mut i32`,
/// // the inner coroutine should capture w/ the lifetime of the coroutine-closure.
/// };
/// ```
///
/// If either of these cases apply, then we should capture the borrow with the
/// lifetime of the parent coroutine-closure's env. Luckily, if this function is
/// not correct, then the program is not unsound, since we still borrowck and validate
/// the choices made from this function -- the only side-effect is that the user
/// may receive unnecessary borrowck errors.
fn should_reborrow_from_env_of_parent_coroutine_closure<'tcx>(
parent_capture: &ty::CapturedPlace<'tcx>,
child_capture: &ty::CapturedPlace<'tcx>,
) -> bool {

If there are no such borrows, then we are free to implement FnMut and Fn as permitted by our closure's inferred ClosureKind.

As far as I can tell, this change makes async || {} work in precisely the set of places they used to work before #120361.
Fixes #125247.

r? oli-obk

@rustbot rustbot added S-waiting-on-review Status: Awaiting review from the assignee but also interested parties. T-compiler Relevant to the compiler team, which will review and decide on the PR/issue. WG-trait-system-refactor The Rustc Trait System Refactor Initiative (-Znext-solver) labels May 18, 2024
@rustbot
Copy link
Collaborator

rustbot commented May 18, 2024

Some changes occurred to the core trait solver

cc @rust-lang/initiative-trait-system-refactor

@oli-obk
Copy link
Contributor

oli-obk commented May 22, 2024

@bors r+ rollup

@bors
Copy link
Contributor

bors commented May 22, 2024

📌 Commit 2e97dae has been approved by oli-obk

It is now in the queue for this repository.

@bors bors added S-waiting-on-bors Status: Waiting on bors to run and complete tests. Bors will change the label on completion. and removed S-waiting-on-review Status: Awaiting review from the assignee but also interested parties. labels May 22, 2024
matthiaskrgr added a commit to matthiaskrgr/rust that referenced this pull request May 22, 2024
… r=oli-obk

An async closure may implement `FnMut`/`Fn` if it has no self-borrows

There's no reason that async closures may not implement `FnMut` or `Fn` if they don't actually borrow anything with the closure's env lifetime. Specifically, rust-lang#123660 made it so that we don't always need to borrow captures from the closure's env.

See the doc comment on `should_reborrow_from_env_of_parent_coroutine_closure`:

https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/c00957a3e269219413041a4e3565f33b1f9d0779/compiler/rustc_hir_typeck/src/upvar.rs#L1777-L1823

If there are no such borrows, then we are free to implement `FnMut` and `Fn` as permitted by our closure's inferred `ClosureKind`.

As far as I can tell, this change makes `async || {}` work in precisely the set of places they used to work before rust-lang#120361.
Fixes rust-lang#125247.

r? oli-obk
bors added a commit to rust-lang-ci/rust that referenced this pull request May 22, 2024
…iaskrgr

Rollup of 7 pull requests

Successful merges:

 - rust-lang#124227 (Make sure that the method resolution matches in `note_source_of_type_mismatch_constraint`)
 - rust-lang#124896 (miri: rename intrinsic_fallback_checks_ub to intrinsic_fallback_is_spec)
 - rust-lang#125015 (Pattern types: Prohibit generic args on const params)
 - rust-lang#125043 (reference type safety invariant docs: clarification)
 - rust-lang#125259 (An async closure may implement `FnMut`/`Fn` if it has no self-borrows)
 - rust-lang#125306 (Force the inner coroutine of an async closure to `move` if the outer closure is `move` and `FnOnce`)
 - rust-lang#125378 (remove tracing tree indent lines)

r? `@ghost`
`@rustbot` modify labels: rollup
bors added a commit to rust-lang-ci/rust that referenced this pull request May 22, 2024
Rollup of 5 pull requests

Successful merges:

 - rust-lang#124896 (miri: rename intrinsic_fallback_checks_ub to intrinsic_fallback_is_spec)
 - rust-lang#125015 (Pattern types: Prohibit generic args on const params)
 - rust-lang#125049 (Disallow cast with trailing braced macro in let-else)
 - rust-lang#125259 (An async closure may implement `FnMut`/`Fn` if it has no self-borrows)
 - rust-lang#125296 (Fix `unexpected_cfgs` lint on std)

r? `@ghost`
`@rustbot` modify labels: rollup
@bors bors merged commit 44c7a2d into rust-lang:master May 22, 2024
6 checks passed
@rustbot rustbot added this to the 1.80.0 milestone May 22, 2024
rust-timer added a commit to rust-lang-ci/rust that referenced this pull request May 22, 2024
Rollup merge of rust-lang#125259 - compiler-errors:fn-mut-as-a-treat, r=oli-obk

An async closure may implement `FnMut`/`Fn` if it has no self-borrows

There's no reason that async closures may not implement `FnMut` or `Fn` if they don't actually borrow anything with the closure's env lifetime. Specifically, rust-lang#123660 made it so that we don't always need to borrow captures from the closure's env.

See the doc comment on `should_reborrow_from_env_of_parent_coroutine_closure`:

https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/blob/c00957a3e269219413041a4e3565f33b1f9d0779/compiler/rustc_hir_typeck/src/upvar.rs#L1777-L1823

If there are no such borrows, then we are free to implement `FnMut` and `Fn` as permitted by our closure's inferred `ClosureKind`.

As far as I can tell, this change makes `async || {}` work in precisely the set of places they used to work before rust-lang#120361.
Fixes rust-lang#125247.

r? oli-obk
@fmease
Copy link
Member

fmease commented May 22, 2024

bors sleepy @bors r-

@bors bors added S-waiting-on-author Status: This is awaiting some action (such as code changes or more information) from the author. and removed S-waiting-on-bors Status: Waiting on bors to run and complete tests. Bors will change the label on completion. labels May 22, 2024
bors added a commit to rust-lang-ci/rust that referenced this pull request Jul 2, 2024
…v-shim, r=oli-obk

Fix `FnMut::call_mut`/`Fn::call` shim for async closures that capture references

I adjusted async closures to be able to implement `Fn` and `FnMut` *even if* they capture references, as long as those references did not need to borrow data from the closure captures themselves. See rust-lang#125259.

However, when I did this, I didn't actually relax an assertion in the `build_construct_coroutine_by_move_shim` shim code, which builds the `Fn`/`FnMut`/`FnOnce` implementations for async closures. Therefore, if we actually tried to *call* `FnMut`/`Fn` on async closures, it would ICE.

This PR adjusts this assertion to ensure that we only capture immutable references in closures if they implement `Fn`/`FnMut`. It also adds a bunch of tests and makes more of the async-closure tests into `build-pass` since we often care about these tests actually generating the right closure shims and stuff. I think it might be excessive to *always* use build-pass here, but 🤷 it's not that big of a deal.

Fixes rust-lang#127019
Fixes rust-lang#127012

r? oli-obk
bors added a commit to rust-lang-ci/rust that referenced this pull request Jul 2, 2024
…v-shim, r=oli-obk

Fix `FnMut::call_mut`/`Fn::call` shim for async closures that capture references

I adjusted async closures to be able to implement `Fn` and `FnMut` *even if* they capture references, as long as those references did not need to borrow data from the closure captures themselves. See rust-lang#125259.

However, when I did this, I didn't actually relax an assertion in the `build_construct_coroutine_by_move_shim` shim code, which builds the `Fn`/`FnMut`/`FnOnce` implementations for async closures. Therefore, if we actually tried to *call* `FnMut`/`Fn` on async closures, it would ICE.

This PR adjusts this assertion to ensure that we only capture immutable references in closures if they implement `Fn`/`FnMut`. It also adds a bunch of tests and makes more of the async-closure tests into `build-pass` since we often care about these tests actually generating the right closure shims and stuff. I think it might be excessive to *always* use build-pass here, but 🤷 it's not that big of a deal.

Fixes rust-lang#127019
Fixes rust-lang#127012

r? oli-obk
matthiaskrgr added a commit to matthiaskrgr/rust that referenced this pull request Jul 2, 2024
…env-shim, r=oli-obk

Fix `FnMut::call_mut`/`Fn::call` shim for async closures that capture references

I adjusted async closures to be able to implement `Fn` and `FnMut` *even if* they capture references, as long as those references did not need to borrow data from the closure captures themselves. See rust-lang#125259.

However, when I did this, I didn't actually relax an assertion in the `build_construct_coroutine_by_move_shim` shim code, which builds the `Fn`/`FnMut`/`FnOnce` implementations for async closures. Therefore, if we actually tried to *call* `FnMut`/`Fn` on async closures, it would ICE.

This PR adjusts this assertion to ensure that we only capture immutable references in closures if they implement `Fn`/`FnMut`. It also adds a bunch of tests and makes more of the async-closure tests into `build-pass` since we often care about these tests actually generating the right closure shims and stuff. I think it might be excessive to *always* use build-pass here, but 🤷 it's not that big of a deal.

Fixes rust-lang#127019
Fixes rust-lang#127012

r? oli-obk
bors added a commit to rust-lang-ci/rust that referenced this pull request Dec 13, 2024
…i-obk

Stabilize async closures (RFC 3668)

# Async Closures Stabilization Report

This report proposes the stabilization of `#![feature(async_closure)]` ([RFC 3668](https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/3668-async-closures.html)). This is a long-awaited feature that increases the expressiveness of the Rust language and fills a pressing gap in the async ecosystem.

## Stabilization summary

* You can write async closures like `async || {}` which return futures that can borrow from their captures and can be higher-ranked in their argument lifetimes.
* You can express trait bounds for these async closures using the `AsyncFn` family of traits, analogous to the `Fn` family.

```rust
async fn takes_an_async_fn(f: impl AsyncFn(&str)) {
    futures::join(f("hello"), f("world")).await;
}

takes_an_async_fn(async |s| { other_fn(s).await }).await;
```

## Motivation

Without this feature, users hit two major obstacles when writing async code that uses closures and `Fn` trait bounds:

- The inability to express higher-ranked async function signatures.
- That closures cannot return futures that borrow from the closure captures.

That is, for the first, we cannot write:

```rust
// We cannot express higher-ranked async function signatures.
async fn f<Fut>(_: impl for<'a> Fn(&'a u8) -> Fut)
where
    Fut: Future<Output = ()>,
{ todo!() }

async fn main() {
    async fn g(_: &u8) { todo!() }
    f(g).await;
    //~^ ERROR mismatched types
    //~| ERROR one type is more general than the other
}
```

And for the second, we cannot write:

```rust
// Closures cannot return futures that borrow closure captures.
async fn f<Fut: Future<Output = ()>>(_: impl FnMut() -> Fut)
{ todo!() }

async fn main() {
    let mut xs = vec![];
    f(|| async {
        async fn g() -> u8 { todo!() }
        xs.push(g().await);
    });
    //~^ ERROR captured variable cannot escape `FnMut` closure body
}
```

Async closures provide a first-class solution to these problems.

For further background, please refer to the [motivation section](https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/3668-async-closures.html#motivation) of the RFC.

## Major design decisions since RFC

The RFC had left open the question of whether we would spell the bounds syntax for async closures...

```rust
// ...as this...
fn f() -> impl AsyncFn() -> u8 { todo!() }
// ...or as this:
fn f() -> impl async Fn() -> u8 { todo!() }
```

We've decided to spell this as `AsyncFn{,Mut,Once}`.

The `Fn` family of traits is special in many ways.  We had originally argued that, due to this specialness, that perhaps the `async Fn` syntax could be adopted without having to decide whether a general `async Trait` mechanism would ever be adopted.  However, concerns have been raised that we may not want to use `async Fn` syntax unless we would pursue more general trait modifiers.  Since there remain substantial open questions on those -- and we don't want to rush any design work there -- it makes sense to ship this needed feature using the `AsyncFn`-style bounds syntax.

Since we would, in no case, be shipping a generalized trait modifier system anytime soon, we'll be continuing to see `AsyncFoo` traits appear across the ecosystem regardless.  If we were to ever later ship some general mechanism, we could at that time manage the migration from `AsyncFn` to `async Fn`, just as we'd be enabling and managing the migration of many other traits.

Note that, as specified in RFC 3668, the details of the `AsyncFn*` traits are not exposed and they can only be named via the "parentheses sugar".  That is, we can write `T: AsyncFn() -> u8` but not `T: AsyncFn<Output = u8>`.

Unlike the `Fn` traits, we cannot project to the `Output` associated type of the `AsyncFn` traits.  That is, while we can write...

```rust
fn f<F: Fn() -> u8>(_: F::Output) {}
```

...we cannot write:

```rust
fn f<F: AsyncFn() -> u8>(_: F::Output) {}
//~^ ERROR
```

The choice of `AsyncFn{,Mut,Once}` bounds syntax obviates, for our purposes here, another question decided after that RFC, which was how to order bound modifiers such as `for<'a> async Fn()`.

Other than answering the open question in the RFC on syntax, nothing has changed about the design of this feature between RFC 3668 and this stabilization.

## What is stabilized

For those interested in the technical details, please see [the dev guide section](https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/coroutine-closures.html) I authored.

#### Async closures

Other than in how they solve the problems described above, async closures act similarly to closures that return async blocks, and can have parts of their signatures specified:

```rust
// They can have arguments annotated with types:
let _ = async |_: u8| { todo!() };

// They can have their return types annotated:
let _ = async || -> u8 { todo!() };

// They can be higher-ranked:
let _ = async |_: &str| { todo!() };

// They can capture values by move:
let x = String::from("hello, world");
let _ = async move || do_something(&x).await };
```

When called, they return an anonymous future type corresponding to the (not-yet-executed) body of the closure. These can be awaited like any other future.

What distinguishes async closures is that, unlike closures that return async blocks, the futures returned from the async closure can capture state from the async closure. For example:

```rust
let vec: Vec<String> = vec![];

let closure = async || {
    vec.push(ready(String::from("")).await);
};
```

The async closure captures `vec` with some `&'closure mut Vec<String>` which lives until the closure is dropped. Every call to `closure()` returns a future which reborrows that mutable reference `&'call mut Vec<String>` which lives until the future is dropped (e.g. it is `await`ed).

As another example:

```rust
let string: String = "Hello, world".into();

let closure = async move || {
    ready(&string).await;
};
```

The closure is marked with `move`, which means it takes ownership of the string by *value*. The future that is returned by calling `closure()` returns a future which borrows a reference `&'call String` which lives until the future is dropped (e.g. it is `await`ed).

#### Async fn trait family

To support the lending capability of async closures, and to provide a first-class way to express higher-ranked async closures, we introduce the `AsyncFn*` family of traits. See the [corresponding section](https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/3668-async-closures.html#asyncfn) of the RFC.

We stabilize naming `AsyncFn*` via the "parenthesized sugar" syntax that normal `Fn*` traits can be named. The `AsyncFn*` trait can be used anywhere a `Fn*` trait bound is allowed, such as:

```rust
/// In return-position impl trait:
fn closure() -> impl AsyncFn() { async || {} }

/// In trait bounds:
trait Foo<F>: Sized
where
    F: AsyncFn()
{
    fn new(f: F) -> Self;
}

/// in GATs:
trait Gat {
    type AsyncHasher<T>: AsyncFn(T) -> i32;
}
```

Other than using them in trait bounds, the definitions of these traits are not directly observable, but certain aspects of their behavior can be indirectly observed such as the fact that:

* `AsyncFn::async_call` and `AsyncFnMut::async_call_mut` return a future which is *lending*, and therefore borrows the `&self` lifetime of the callee.

```rust
fn by_ref_call(c: impl AsyncFn()) {
    let fut = c();
    drop(c);
    //   ^ Cannot drop `c` since it is borrowed by `fut`.
}
```

* `AsyncFnOnce::async_call_once` returns a future that takes ownership of the callee.

```rust
fn by_ref_call(c: impl AsyncFnOnce()) {
    let fut = c();
    let _ = c();
    //      ^ Cannot call `c` since calling it takes ownership the callee.
}
```

* All currently-stable callable types (i.e., closures, function items, function pointers, and `dyn Fn*` trait objects) automatically implement `AsyncFn*() -> T` if they implement `Fn*() -> Fut` for some output type `Fut`, and `Fut` implements `Future<Output = T>`.
    * This is to make sure that `AsyncFn*()` trait bounds have maximum compatibility with existing callable types which return futures, such as async function items and closures which return boxed futures.
    * For now, this only works currently for *concrete* callable types -- for example, a argument-position impl trait like `impl Fn() -> impl Future<Output = ()>` does not implement `AsyncFn()`, due to the fact that a `AsyncFn`-if-`Fn` blanket impl does not exist in reality. This may be relaxed in the future. Users can work around this by wrapping their type in an async closure and calling it. I expect this to not matter much in practice, as users are encouraged to write `AsyncFn` bounds directly.

```rust
fn is_async_fn(_: impl AsyncFn(&str)) {}

async fn async_fn_item(s: &str) { todo!() }
is_async_fn(s);
// ^^^ This works.

fn generic(f: impl Fn() -> impl Future<Output = ()>) {
    is_async_fn(f);
    // ^^^ This does not work (yet).
}
```

#### The by-move future

When async closures are called with `AsyncFn`/`AsyncFnMut`, they return a coroutine that borrows from the closure. However, when they are called via `AsyncFnOnce`, we consume that closure, and cannot return a coroutine that borrows from data that is now dropped.

To work around around this limitation, we synthesize a separate future type for calling the async closure via `AsyncFnOnce`.

This future executes identically to the by-ref future returned from calling the async closure, except for the fact that it has a different set of captures, since we must *move* the captures from the parent async into the child future.

#### Interactions between async closures and the `Fn*` family of traits

Async closures always implement `FnOnce`, since they always can be called once. They may also implement `Fn` or `FnMut` if their body is compatible with the calling mode (i.e. if they do not mutate their captures, or they do not capture their captures, respectively) and if the future returned by the async closure is not *lending*.

```rust
let id = String::new();

let mapped: Vec</* impl Future */> =
    [/* elements */]
    .into_iter()
    // `Iterator::map` takes an `impl FnMut`
    .map(async |element| {
        do_something(&id, element).await;
    })
    .collect();
```

See [the dev guide](https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/coroutine-closures.html#follow-up-when-do-async-closures-implement-the-regular-fn-traits) for a detailed explanation for the situations where this may not be possible due to the lending nature of async closures.

#### Other notable features of async closures shared with synchronous closures

* Async closures are `Copy` and/or `Clone` if their captures are `Copy`/`Clone`.
* Async closures do closure signature inference: If an async closure is passed to a function with a `AsyncFn` or `Fn` trait bound, we can eagerly infer the argument types of the closure. More details are provided in [the dev guide](https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/coroutine-closures.html#closure-signature-inference).

#### Lints

This PR also stabilizes the `CLOSURE_RETURNING_ASYNC_BLOCK` lint as an `allow` lint. This lints on "old-style" async closures:

```rust
#![warn(closure_returning_async_block)]
let c = |x: &str| async {};
```

We should encourage users to use `async || {}` where possible. This lint remains `allow` and may be refined in the future because it has a few false positives (namely, see: "Where do we expect rewriting `|| async {}` into `async || {}` to fail?")

An alternative that could be made at the time of stabilization is to put this lint behind another gate, so we can decide to stabilize it later.

## What isn't stabilized (aka, potential future work)

#### `async Fn*()` bound syntax

We decided to stabilize async closures without the `async Fn*()` bound modifier syntax. The general direction of this syntax and how it fits is still being considered by T-lang (e.g. in [RFC 3710](rust-lang/rfcs#3710)).

#### Naming the futures returned by async closures

This stabilization PR does not provide a way of naming the futures returned by calling `AsyncFn*`.

Exposing a stable way to refer to these futures is important for building async-closure-aware combinators, and will be an important future step.

#### Return type notation-style bounds for async closures

The RFC described an RTN-like syntax for putting bounds on the future returned by an async closure:

```rust
async fn foo(x: F) -> Result<()>
where
    F: AsyncFn(&str) -> Result<()>,
    // The future from calling `F` is `Send` and `'static`.
    F(..): Send + 'static,
{}
```

This stabilization PR does not stabilize that syntax yet, which remains unimplemented (though will be soon).

#### `dyn AsyncFn*()`

`AsyncFn*` are not dyn-compatible yet. This will likely be implemented in the future along with the dyn-compatibility of async fn in trait, since the same issue (dealing with the future returned by a call) applies there.

## Tests

Tests exist for this feature in [`tests/ui/async-await/async-closures`](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/tree/5b542866400ad4a294f468cfa7e059d95c27a079/tests/ui/async-await/async-closures).

<details>
    <summary>A selected set of tests:</summary>

* Lending behavior of async closures
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/mutate.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/captures.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/precise-captures.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/no-borrow-from-env.rs`
* Async closures may be higher-ranked
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/higher-ranked.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/higher-ranked-return.rs`
* Async closures may implement `Fn*` traits
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/is-fn.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/implements-fnmut.rs`
* Async closures may be cloned
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/clone-closure.rs`
* Ownership of the upvars when `AsyncFnOnce` is called
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/drop.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/move-is-async-fn.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/force-move-due-to-inferred-kind.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/force-move-due-to-actually-fnonce.rs`
* Closure signature inference
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/signature-deduction.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/sig-from-bare-fn.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/signature-inference-from-two-part-bound.rs`

</details>

## Remaining bugs and open issues

* rust-lang#120694 tracks moving onto more general `LendingFn*` traits. No action needed, since it's not observable.
* rust-lang#124020 - Polymorphization ICE. Polymorphization needs to be heavily reworked. No action needed.
* rust-lang#127227 - Tracking reworking the way that rustdoc re-sugars bounds.
    * The part relevant to to `AsyncFn` is fixed by rust-lang#132697.

## Where do we expect rewriting `|| async {}` into `async || {}` to fail?

* Fn pointer coercions
    * Currently, it is not possible to coerce an async closure to an fn pointer like regular closures can be. This functionality may be implemented in the future.
```rust
let x: fn() -> _ = async || {};
```
* Argument capture
    * Like async functions, async closures always capture their input arguments. This is in contrast to something like `|t: T| async {}`, which doesn't capture `t` unless it is used in the async block. This may affect the `Send`-ness of the future or affect its outlives.
```rust
fn needs_send_future(_: impl Fn(NotSendArg) -> Fut)
where
    Fut: Future<Output = ()>,
{}

needs_send_future(async |_| {});
```

## History

#### Important feature history

- rust-lang#51580
- rust-lang#62292
- rust-lang#120361
- rust-lang#120712
- rust-lang#121857
- rust-lang#123660
- rust-lang#125259
- rust-lang#128506
- rust-lang#127482

## Acknowledgements

Thanks to `@oli-obk` for reviewing the bulk of the work for this feature. Thanks to `@nikomatsakis` for his design blog posts which generated interest for this feature, `@traviscross` for feedback and additions to this stabilization report. All errors are my own.

r? `@ghost`
github-actions bot pushed a commit to rust-lang/miri that referenced this pull request Dec 13, 2024
Stabilize async closures (RFC 3668)

# Async Closures Stabilization Report

This report proposes the stabilization of `#![feature(async_closure)]` ([RFC 3668](https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/3668-async-closures.html)). This is a long-awaited feature that increases the expressiveness of the Rust language and fills a pressing gap in the async ecosystem.

## Stabilization summary

* You can write async closures like `async || {}` which return futures that can borrow from their captures and can be higher-ranked in their argument lifetimes.
* You can express trait bounds for these async closures using the `AsyncFn` family of traits, analogous to the `Fn` family.

```rust
async fn takes_an_async_fn(f: impl AsyncFn(&str)) {
    futures::join(f("hello"), f("world")).await;
}

takes_an_async_fn(async |s| { other_fn(s).await }).await;
```

## Motivation

Without this feature, users hit two major obstacles when writing async code that uses closures and `Fn` trait bounds:

- The inability to express higher-ranked async function signatures.
- That closures cannot return futures that borrow from the closure captures.

That is, for the first, we cannot write:

```rust
// We cannot express higher-ranked async function signatures.
async fn f<Fut>(_: impl for<'a> Fn(&'a u8) -> Fut)
where
    Fut: Future<Output = ()>,
{ todo!() }

async fn main() {
    async fn g(_: &u8) { todo!() }
    f(g).await;
    //~^ ERROR mismatched types
    //~| ERROR one type is more general than the other
}
```

And for the second, we cannot write:

```rust
// Closures cannot return futures that borrow closure captures.
async fn f<Fut: Future<Output = ()>>(_: impl FnMut() -> Fut)
{ todo!() }

async fn main() {
    let mut xs = vec![];
    f(|| async {
        async fn g() -> u8 { todo!() }
        xs.push(g().await);
    });
    //~^ ERROR captured variable cannot escape `FnMut` closure body
}
```

Async closures provide a first-class solution to these problems.

For further background, please refer to the [motivation section](https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/3668-async-closures.html#motivation) of the RFC.

## Major design decisions since RFC

The RFC had left open the question of whether we would spell the bounds syntax for async closures...

```rust
// ...as this...
fn f() -> impl AsyncFn() -> u8 { todo!() }
// ...or as this:
fn f() -> impl async Fn() -> u8 { todo!() }
```

We've decided to spell this as `AsyncFn{,Mut,Once}`.

The `Fn` family of traits is special in many ways.  We had originally argued that, due to this specialness, that perhaps the `async Fn` syntax could be adopted without having to decide whether a general `async Trait` mechanism would ever be adopted.  However, concerns have been raised that we may not want to use `async Fn` syntax unless we would pursue more general trait modifiers.  Since there remain substantial open questions on those -- and we don't want to rush any design work there -- it makes sense to ship this needed feature using the `AsyncFn`-style bounds syntax.

Since we would, in no case, be shipping a generalized trait modifier system anytime soon, we'll be continuing to see `AsyncFoo` traits appear across the ecosystem regardless.  If we were to ever later ship some general mechanism, we could at that time manage the migration from `AsyncFn` to `async Fn`, just as we'd be enabling and managing the migration of many other traits.

Note that, as specified in RFC 3668, the details of the `AsyncFn*` traits are not exposed and they can only be named via the "parentheses sugar".  That is, we can write `T: AsyncFn() -> u8` but not `T: AsyncFn<Output = u8>`.

Unlike the `Fn` traits, we cannot project to the `Output` associated type of the `AsyncFn` traits.  That is, while we can write...

```rust
fn f<F: Fn() -> u8>(_: F::Output) {}
```

...we cannot write:

```rust
fn f<F: AsyncFn() -> u8>(_: F::Output) {}
//~^ ERROR
```

The choice of `AsyncFn{,Mut,Once}` bounds syntax obviates, for our purposes here, another question decided after that RFC, which was how to order bound modifiers such as `for<'a> async Fn()`.

Other than answering the open question in the RFC on syntax, nothing has changed about the design of this feature between RFC 3668 and this stabilization.

## What is stabilized

For those interested in the technical details, please see [the dev guide section](https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/coroutine-closures.html) I authored.

#### Async closures

Other than in how they solve the problems described above, async closures act similarly to closures that return async blocks, and can have parts of their signatures specified:

```rust
// They can have arguments annotated with types:
let _ = async |_: u8| { todo!() };

// They can have their return types annotated:
let _ = async || -> u8 { todo!() };

// They can be higher-ranked:
let _ = async |_: &str| { todo!() };

// They can capture values by move:
let x = String::from("hello, world");
let _ = async move || do_something(&x).await };
```

When called, they return an anonymous future type corresponding to the (not-yet-executed) body of the closure. These can be awaited like any other future.

What distinguishes async closures is that, unlike closures that return async blocks, the futures returned from the async closure can capture state from the async closure. For example:

```rust
let vec: Vec<String> = vec![];

let closure = async || {
    vec.push(ready(String::from("")).await);
};
```

The async closure captures `vec` with some `&'closure mut Vec<String>` which lives until the closure is dropped. Every call to `closure()` returns a future which reborrows that mutable reference `&'call mut Vec<String>` which lives until the future is dropped (e.g. it is `await`ed).

As another example:

```rust
let string: String = "Hello, world".into();

let closure = async move || {
    ready(&string).await;
};
```

The closure is marked with `move`, which means it takes ownership of the string by *value*. The future that is returned by calling `closure()` returns a future which borrows a reference `&'call String` which lives until the future is dropped (e.g. it is `await`ed).

#### Async fn trait family

To support the lending capability of async closures, and to provide a first-class way to express higher-ranked async closures, we introduce the `AsyncFn*` family of traits. See the [corresponding section](https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/3668-async-closures.html#asyncfn) of the RFC.

We stabilize naming `AsyncFn*` via the "parenthesized sugar" syntax that normal `Fn*` traits can be named. The `AsyncFn*` trait can be used anywhere a `Fn*` trait bound is allowed, such as:

```rust
/// In return-position impl trait:
fn closure() -> impl AsyncFn() { async || {} }

/// In trait bounds:
trait Foo<F>: Sized
where
    F: AsyncFn()
{
    fn new(f: F) -> Self;
}

/// in GATs:
trait Gat {
    type AsyncHasher<T>: AsyncFn(T) -> i32;
}
```

Other than using them in trait bounds, the definitions of these traits are not directly observable, but certain aspects of their behavior can be indirectly observed such as the fact that:

* `AsyncFn::async_call` and `AsyncFnMut::async_call_mut` return a future which is *lending*, and therefore borrows the `&self` lifetime of the callee.

```rust
fn by_ref_call(c: impl AsyncFn()) {
    let fut = c();
    drop(c);
    //   ^ Cannot drop `c` since it is borrowed by `fut`.
}
```

* `AsyncFnOnce::async_call_once` returns a future that takes ownership of the callee.

```rust
fn by_ref_call(c: impl AsyncFnOnce()) {
    let fut = c();
    let _ = c();
    //      ^ Cannot call `c` since calling it takes ownership the callee.
}
```

* All currently-stable callable types (i.e., closures, function items, function pointers, and `dyn Fn*` trait objects) automatically implement `AsyncFn*() -> T` if they implement `Fn*() -> Fut` for some output type `Fut`, and `Fut` implements `Future<Output = T>`.
    * This is to make sure that `AsyncFn*()` trait bounds have maximum compatibility with existing callable types which return futures, such as async function items and closures which return boxed futures.
    * For now, this only works currently for *concrete* callable types -- for example, a argument-position impl trait like `impl Fn() -> impl Future<Output = ()>` does not implement `AsyncFn()`, due to the fact that a `AsyncFn`-if-`Fn` blanket impl does not exist in reality. This may be relaxed in the future. Users can work around this by wrapping their type in an async closure and calling it. I expect this to not matter much in practice, as users are encouraged to write `AsyncFn` bounds directly.

```rust
fn is_async_fn(_: impl AsyncFn(&str)) {}

async fn async_fn_item(s: &str) { todo!() }
is_async_fn(s);
// ^^^ This works.

fn generic(f: impl Fn() -> impl Future<Output = ()>) {
    is_async_fn(f);
    // ^^^ This does not work (yet).
}
```

#### The by-move future

When async closures are called with `AsyncFn`/`AsyncFnMut`, they return a coroutine that borrows from the closure. However, when they are called via `AsyncFnOnce`, we consume that closure, and cannot return a coroutine that borrows from data that is now dropped.

To work around around this limitation, we synthesize a separate future type for calling the async closure via `AsyncFnOnce`.

This future executes identically to the by-ref future returned from calling the async closure, except for the fact that it has a different set of captures, since we must *move* the captures from the parent async into the child future.

#### Interactions between async closures and the `Fn*` family of traits

Async closures always implement `FnOnce`, since they always can be called once. They may also implement `Fn` or `FnMut` if their body is compatible with the calling mode (i.e. if they do not mutate their captures, or they do not capture their captures, respectively) and if the future returned by the async closure is not *lending*.

```rust
let id = String::new();

let mapped: Vec</* impl Future */> =
    [/* elements */]
    .into_iter()
    // `Iterator::map` takes an `impl FnMut`
    .map(async |element| {
        do_something(&id, element).await;
    })
    .collect();
```

See [the dev guide](https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/coroutine-closures.html#follow-up-when-do-async-closures-implement-the-regular-fn-traits) for a detailed explanation for the situations where this may not be possible due to the lending nature of async closures.

#### Other notable features of async closures shared with synchronous closures

* Async closures are `Copy` and/or `Clone` if their captures are `Copy`/`Clone`.
* Async closures do closure signature inference: If an async closure is passed to a function with a `AsyncFn` or `Fn` trait bound, we can eagerly infer the argument types of the closure. More details are provided in [the dev guide](https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/coroutine-closures.html#closure-signature-inference).

#### Lints

This PR also stabilizes the `CLOSURE_RETURNING_ASYNC_BLOCK` lint as an `allow` lint. This lints on "old-style" async closures:

```rust
#![warn(closure_returning_async_block)]
let c = |x: &str| async {};
```

We should encourage users to use `async || {}` where possible. This lint remains `allow` and may be refined in the future because it has a few false positives (namely, see: "Where do we expect rewriting `|| async {}` into `async || {}` to fail?")

An alternative that could be made at the time of stabilization is to put this lint behind another gate, so we can decide to stabilize it later.

## What isn't stabilized (aka, potential future work)

#### `async Fn*()` bound syntax

We decided to stabilize async closures without the `async Fn*()` bound modifier syntax. The general direction of this syntax and how it fits is still being considered by T-lang (e.g. in [RFC 3710](rust-lang/rfcs#3710)).

#### Naming the futures returned by async closures

This stabilization PR does not provide a way of naming the futures returned by calling `AsyncFn*`.

Exposing a stable way to refer to these futures is important for building async-closure-aware combinators, and will be an important future step.

#### Return type notation-style bounds for async closures

The RFC described an RTN-like syntax for putting bounds on the future returned by an async closure:

```rust
async fn foo(x: F) -> Result<()>
where
    F: AsyncFn(&str) -> Result<()>,
    // The future from calling `F` is `Send` and `'static`.
    F(..): Send + 'static,
{}
```

This stabilization PR does not stabilize that syntax yet, which remains unimplemented (though will be soon).

#### `dyn AsyncFn*()`

`AsyncFn*` are not dyn-compatible yet. This will likely be implemented in the future along with the dyn-compatibility of async fn in trait, since the same issue (dealing with the future returned by a call) applies there.

## Tests

Tests exist for this feature in [`tests/ui/async-await/async-closures`](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/tree/5b542866400ad4a294f468cfa7e059d95c27a079/tests/ui/async-await/async-closures).

<details>
    <summary>A selected set of tests:</summary>

* Lending behavior of async closures
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/mutate.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/captures.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/precise-captures.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/no-borrow-from-env.rs`
* Async closures may be higher-ranked
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/higher-ranked.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/higher-ranked-return.rs`
* Async closures may implement `Fn*` traits
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/is-fn.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/implements-fnmut.rs`
* Async closures may be cloned
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/clone-closure.rs`
* Ownership of the upvars when `AsyncFnOnce` is called
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/drop.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/move-is-async-fn.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/force-move-due-to-inferred-kind.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/force-move-due-to-actually-fnonce.rs`
* Closure signature inference
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/signature-deduction.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/sig-from-bare-fn.rs`
    * `tests/ui/async-await/async-closures/signature-inference-from-two-part-bound.rs`

</details>

## Remaining bugs and open issues

* rust-lang/rust#120694 tracks moving onto more general `LendingFn*` traits. No action needed, since it's not observable.
* rust-lang/rust#124020 - Polymorphization ICE. Polymorphization needs to be heavily reworked. No action needed.
* rust-lang/rust#127227 - Tracking reworking the way that rustdoc re-sugars bounds.
    * The part relevant to to `AsyncFn` is fixed by rust-lang/rust#132697.

## Where do we expect rewriting `|| async {}` into `async || {}` to fail?

* Fn pointer coercions
    * Currently, it is not possible to coerce an async closure to an fn pointer like regular closures can be. This functionality may be implemented in the future.
```rust
let x: fn() -> _ = async || {};
```
* Argument capture
    * Like async functions, async closures always capture their input arguments. This is in contrast to something like `|t: T| async {}`, which doesn't capture `t` unless it is used in the async block. This may affect the `Send`-ness of the future or affect its outlives.
```rust
fn needs_send_future(_: impl Fn(NotSendArg) -> Fut)
where
    Fut: Future<Output = ()>,
{}

needs_send_future(async |_| {});
```

## History

#### Important feature history

- rust-lang/rust#51580
- rust-lang/rust#62292
- rust-lang/rust#120361
- rust-lang/rust#120712
- rust-lang/rust#121857
- rust-lang/rust#123660
- rust-lang/rust#125259
- rust-lang/rust#128506
- rust-lang/rust#127482

## Acknowledgements

Thanks to `@oli-obk` for reviewing the bulk of the work for this feature. Thanks to `@nikomatsakis` for his design blog posts which generated interest for this feature, `@traviscross` for feedback and additions to this stabilization report. All errors are my own.

r? `@ghost`
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment
Labels
S-waiting-on-author Status: This is awaiting some action (such as code changes or more information) from the author. T-compiler Relevant to the compiler team, which will review and decide on the PR/issue. WG-trait-system-refactor The Rustc Trait System Refactor Initiative (-Znext-solver)
Projects
None yet
5 participants