The Rust Programming Language

Traits: Defining Shared Behavior

Traits define shared behavior contracts that types can implement. They’re similar to interfaces in other languages but with some unique features.

Defining a Trait

A trait groups method signatures that define required behavior:

pub trait Summary {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String;
}

The trait declaration uses the trait keyword followed by method signatures. Each implementing type must provide its own implementation.

Implementing a Trait on a Type

pub trait Summary {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String;
}

pub struct NewsArticle {
    pub headline: String,
    pub location: String,
    pub author: String,
    pub content: String,
}

impl Summary for NewsArticle {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}, by {} ({})", self.headline, self.author, self.location)
    }
}

pub struct SocialPost {
    pub username: String,
    pub content: String,
    pub reply: bool,
    pub repost: bool,
}

impl Summary for SocialPost {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}: {}", self.username, self.content)
    }
}

Use the trait like any other method:

use aggregator::{SocialPost, Summary};

fn main() {
    let post = SocialPost {
        username: String::from("horse_ebooks"),
        content: String::from(
            "of course, as you probably already know, people",
        ),
        reply: false,
        repost: false,
    };

    println!("1 new post: {}", post.summarize());
}

Orphan rule: You can only implement a trait on a type if either the trait or the type (or both) are local to your crate. This prevents conflicting implementations.

Default Implementations

Traits can provide default method implementations:

pub trait Summary {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        String::from("(Read more...)")
    }
}

pub struct NewsArticle {
    pub headline: String,
    pub location: String,
    pub author: String,
    pub content: String,
}

impl Summary for NewsArticle {}

pub struct SocialPost {
    pub username: String,
    pub content: String,
    pub reply: bool,
    pub repost: bool,
}

impl Summary for SocialPost {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}: {}", self.username, self.content)
    }
}

Use an empty impl block to accept defaults:

impl Summary for NewsArticle {}

Default implementations can call other trait methods:

pub trait Summary {
    fn summarize_author(&self) -> String;

    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("(Read more from {}...)", self.summarize_author())
    }
}

pub struct SocialPost {
    pub username: String,
    pub content: String,
    pub reply: bool,
    pub repost: bool,
}

impl Summary for SocialPost {
    fn summarize_author(&self) -> String {
        format!("@{}", self.username)
    }
}

Traits as Parameters

Use the impl Trait syntax for function parameters:

pub trait Summary {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String;
}

pub struct NewsArticle {
    pub headline: String,
    pub location: String,
    pub author: String,
    pub content: String,
}

impl Summary for NewsArticle {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}, by {} ({})", self.headline, self.author, self.location)
    }
}

pub struct SocialPost {
    pub username: String,
    pub content: String,
    pub reply: bool,
    pub repost: bool,
}

impl Summary for SocialPost {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}: {}", self.username, self.content)
    }
}

pub fn notify(item: &impl Summary) {
    println!("Breaking news! {}", item.summarize());
}

Trait Bound Syntax

The full trait bound syntax is more verbose but more powerful:

pub fn notify<T: Summary>(item: &T) {
    println!("Breaking news! {}", item.summarize());
}

Use trait bounds when you need multiple parameters of the same type:

pub fn notify<T: Summary>(item1: &T, item2: &T) {

Multiple Trait Bounds

Specify multiple trait bounds with +:

pub fn notify(item: &(impl Summary + Display)) {

Or with generic syntax:

pub fn notify<T: Summary + Display>(item: &T) {

Where Clauses

For complex trait bounds, use where clauses for clarity:

fn some_function<T, U>(t: &T, u: &U) -> i32
where
    T: Display + Clone,
    U: Clone + Debug,
{
    unimplemented!()
}

Returning Types That Implement Traits

Return trait implementations without specifying concrete types:

pub trait Summary {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String;
}

pub struct NewsArticle {
    pub headline: String,
    pub location: String,
    pub author: String,
    pub content: String,
}

impl Summary for NewsArticle {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}, by {} ({})", self.headline, self.author, self.location)
    }
}

pub struct SocialPost {
    pub username: String,
    pub content: String,
    pub reply: bool,
    pub repost: bool,
}

impl Summary for SocialPost {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}: {}", self.username, self.content)
    }
}

fn returns_summarizable() -> impl Summary {
    SocialPost {
        username: String::from("horse_ebooks"),
        content: String::from(
            "of course, as you probably already know, people",
        ),
        reply: false,
        repost: false,
    }
}

Limitation: You can only return a single concrete type, not different types conditionally.

Conditional Implementation

Implement methods conditionally based on trait bounds:

use std::fmt::Display;

struct Pair<T> {
    x: T,
    y: T,
}

impl<T> Pair<T> {
    fn new(x: T, y: T) -> Self {
        Self { x, y }
    }
}

impl<T: Display + PartialOrd> Pair<T> {
    fn cmp_display(&self) {
        if self.x >= self.y {
            println!("The largest member is x = {}", self.x);
        } else {
            println!("The largest member is y = {}", self.y);
        }
    }
}

Blanket implementations implement a trait for any type that satisfies trait bounds:

impl<T: Display> ToString for T {
    // --snip--
}

This allows calling to_string() on any type implementing Display:

let s = 3.to_string();

Traits enable compile-time polymorphism while maintaining type safety and performance.