Rust Amplify Library

Amplifying Rust language capabilities: multiple generic trait implementations, type wrappers, derive macros.

Minimum supported rust compiler version (MSRV): 1.41.1

Main features

Generics

Library proposes generic implementation strategies, which allow multiple generic trait implementations.

Implementing trait for a generic type ("blanket implementation") more than once (applies both for local and foreign traits) - or implement foreign trait for a concrete type where there is some blanket implementation in the upstream. The solution is to use special pattern by @Kixunil. I use it widely and have a special helper type in src/strategy.rssrc/strategy.rs module.

With that helper type you can write the following code, which will provide you with efficiently multiple blanket implementations of some trait SampleTrait:

pub trait SampleTrait {
    fn sample_trait_method(&self);
}

// Define strategies, one per specific implementation that you need,
// either blanket or concrete
pub struct StrategyA;
pub struct StrategyB;
pub struct StrategyC;

// Define a single marker type
pub trait Strategy {
    type Strategy;
}

// Do a single blanket implementation using Holder and Strategy marker trait
impl<T> SampleTrait for T
where
    T: Strategy + Clone,
    amplify::Holder<T, <T as Strategy>::Strategy>: SampleTrait,
{
    // Do this for each of sample trait methods:
    fn sample_trait_method(&self) {
        amplify::Holder::new(self.clone()).sample_trait_method()
    }
}

// Do this type of implementation for each of the strategies
impl<T> SampleTrait for amplify::Holder<T, StrategyA>
where
    T: Strategy,
{
    fn sample_trait_method(&self) {
        /* ... write your implementation-specific code here */
    }
}

# pub struct ConcreteTypeA;
// Finally, apply specific implementation strategy to a concrete type
// (or do it in a blanket generic way) as a marker:
impl Strategy for ConcreteTypeA {
    type Strategy = StrategyA;
}

Derive macros

• Display
• From
• Error
• Getters
• AsAny
• Wrapper

A sample of what can be done with the macros:

#[derive(From, Error, Display, Debug)]
#[display(doc_comments)]
pub enum Error {
    // You can specify multiple conversions with separate attributes
    #[from(::std::io::Error)]
    #[from(IoError)]
    /// Generic I/O error
    Io,

    #[from]
    // This produces error description referencing debug representation
    // of the internal error type
    /// Formatting error: {_0:}
    Format(::std::fmt::Error),

    #[from]
    /// Some complex error, here are details: {details}
    WithFields { details: ::std::str::Utf8Error },

    #[display(LowerHex)]
    MultipleFields {
        // ...and you can also covert error type
        #[from(IoErrorUnit)]
        // rest of parameters must implement `Default`
        io: IoError,

        #[display(ToHex::to_hex)]
        details: String,
    },
}

More information is given in amplify_derive crate README.

Macros

• none! as an alias for Default::default() on collection types and types for which semantics makes it sensible to emphasize that the operation initializes empty structure.
• s! for fast &str -> String conversions
• Collection-generating macros:
  • map! & bmap! for a rappid HashMap and BTreeMap creation
  • set! & bset! for a rappid HashSet and BTreeSet creation
  • list! for LinkedList

Wapper type

Wrapper trait helps in creating wrapped rust newtypes, Wrapped types are used for allowing implemeting foreign traits to foreign types: https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/rust-by-example/generics/new_types.html

Trait defines convenient methods for accessing inner data, construct and deconstruct newtype. It also serves as a marker trait for newtypes.

The trait works well with #[derive(Wrapper)] from amplify_derive crate

Build

cargo build --all
cargo test

As a reminder, minimum supported rust compiler version (MSRV) is 1.41.1, so it can be build with either nightly, dev, stable or 1.41+ version of the rust compiler. Use rustup for getting the proper version, or add +toolchain parameter to both cargo build and cargo test commands.