+//@ Even though our code from the first part works, we can still learn a
+//@ lot by making it prettier. That's because Rust is an "expression-based" language, which
+//@ means that most of the terms you write down are not just *statements* (executing code), but
+//@ *expressions* (returning a value). This applies even to the body of entire functions!
+
+// ## Expression-based programming
+//@ For example, consider `sqr`:
+fn sqr(i: i32) -> i32 { i * i }
+//@ Between the curly braces, we are giving the *expression* that computes the return value.
+//@ So we can just write `i * i`, the expression that returns the square of `i`!
+//@ This is very close to how mathematicians write down functions (but with more types).
+
+// Conditionals are also just expressions. This is comparable to the ternary `? :` operator
+// from languages like C.
+fn abs(i: i32) -> i32 { if i >= 0 { i } else { -i } }
+
+//@ And the same applies to case distinction with `match`: Every `arm` of the match
+//@ gives the expression that is returned in the respective case.
+//@ (We repeat the definition from the previous part here.)
+enum NumberOrNothing {
+ Number(i32),
+ Nothing
+}
+use self::NumberOrNothing::{Number,Nothing};
+fn number_or_default(n: NumberOrNothing, default: i32) -> i32 {
+ match n {
+ Nothing => default,
+ Number(n) => n,
+ }
+}
+
+// It is even the case that blocks are expressions, evaluating to the last expression they contain.
+fn compute_stuff(x: i32) -> i32 {
+ let y = { let z = x*x; z + 14 };
+ y*y
+}
+
+// Let us now refactor `vec_min`.
+fn vec_min(v: Vec<i32>) -> NumberOrNothing {
+ //@ Remember that helper function `min_i32`? Rust allows us to define such helper functions
+ //@ *inside* other functions. This is just a matter of namespacing, the inner function has no
+ //@ access to the data of the outer one. Still, being able to nicely group functions can
+ //@ significantly increase readability.
+ fn min_i32(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 {
+ if a < b { a } else { b } /*@*/
+ }
+
+ let mut min = Nothing;
+ for e in v {
+ //@ Notice that all we do here is compute a new value for `min`, and that it will always end
+ //@ up being a `Number` rather than `Nothing`. In Rust, the structure of the code
+ //@ can express this uniformity.
+ min = Number(match min { /*@*/
+ Nothing => e, /*@*/
+ Number(n) => min_i32(n, e) /*@*/
+ }); /*@*/
+ }
+ //@ The `return` keyword exists in Rust, but it is rarely used. Instead, we typically
+ //@ make use of the fact that the entire function body is an expression, so we can just
+ //@ write down the desired return value.
+ min