X-Git-Url: https://git.ralfj.de/rust-101.git/blobdiff_plain/e2374eed1c3ae8d0063138ea011e86bbd42473ab..f9bb29fcf0e25966dddd1dca29d70d392a5dfdca:/src/part05.rs?ds=inline diff --git a/src/part05.rs b/src/part05.rs index d7cf64a..03c10d3 100644 --- a/src/part05.rs +++ b/src/part05.rs @@ -2,27 +2,24 @@ // ======================== // ## Big Numbers -// In the course of the next few parts, we are going to build a data-structure for -// computations with *bug* numbers. We would like to not have an upper bound -// to how large these numbers can get, with the memory of the machine being the -// only limit. +// In the course of the next few parts, we are going to build a data-structure for computations with +// *big* numbers. We would like to not have an upper bound to how large these numbers can get, with +// the memory of the machine being the only limit. // // We start by deciding how to represent such big numbers. One possibility here is -// to use a vector of "small" numbers, which we will then consider the "digits" -// of the big number. This is like "1337" being a vector of 4 small numbers (1, 3, 3, 7), -// except that we will use `u64` as type of our base numbers. Now we just have to decide -// the order in which we store numbers. I decided that we will store the least significant +// to use a vector "digits" of the number. This is like "1337" being a vector of four digits (1, 3, 3, 7), +// except that we will use `u64` as type of our digits, meaning we have 2^64 individual digits. Now we just +// have to decide the order in which we store numbers. I decided that we will store the least significant // digit first. This means that "1337" would actually become (7, 3, 3, 1).
// Finally, we declare that there must not be any trailing zeros (corresponding to // useless leading zeros in our usual way of writing numbers). This is to ensure that // the same number can only be stored in one way. // To write this down in Rust, we use a `struct`, which is a lot like structs in C: -// Just a collection of a bunch of named fields. Every field can be private to the current module -// (which is the default), or public (which would be indicated by a `pub` in front of the name). -// For the sake of the tutorial, we make `dat` public - otherwise, the next parts of this -// course could not work on `BigInt`s. Of course, in a real program, one would make the field -// private to ensure that the invariant (no trailing zeros) is maintained. +// Just a bunch of named fields. Every field can be private to the current module (which is the default), +// or public (which is indicated by a `pub` in front of the name). For the sake of the tutorial, we make +// `data` public - otherwise, the next parts of this course could not work on `BigInt`s. Of course, in a +// real program, one would make the field private to ensure that the invariant (no trailing zeros) is maintained. pub struct BigInt { pub data: Vec, } @@ -52,19 +49,19 @@ impl BigInt { // We can convert any vector of digits into a number, by removing trailing zeros. The `mut` // declaration for `v` here is just like the one in `let mut ...`, it says that we will locally - // change the vector `v`. In this case, we need to make that annotation to be able to call `pop` - // on `v`. + // change the vector `v`. + // + // **Exercise 05.1**: Implement this function. + // + // *Hint*: You can use `pop()` to remove the last element of a vector. pub fn from_vec(mut v: Vec) -> Self { - while v.len() > 0 && v[v.len()-1] == 0 { - v.pop(); - } - BigInt { data: v } + unimplemented!() } } // ## Cloning // If you have a close look at the type of `BigInt::from_vec`, you will notice that it -// consumes the vector `v`. The caller hence loses access. There is however something +// consumes the vector `v`. The caller hence loses access to its vector. There is however something // we can do if we don't want that to happen: We can explicitly `clone` the vector, // which means that a full (or *deep*) copy will be performed. Technically, // `clone` takes a borrowed vector, and returns a fully owned one. @@ -88,6 +85,8 @@ impl Clone for BigInt { // Making a type clonable is such a common exercise that Rust can even help you doing it: // If you add `#[derive(Clone)]` right in front of the definition of `BigInt`, Rust will // generate an implementation of `Clone` that simply clones all the fields. Try it! +// These `#[...]` annotations at types (and functions, modules, crates) are called *attributes*. +// We will see some more examples of attributes later. // We can also make the type `SomethingOrNothing` implement `Clone`. However, that // can only work if `T` is `Clone`! So we have to add this bound to `T` when we introduce @@ -120,7 +119,7 @@ enum Variant { Text(String), } // Now consider the following piece of code. Like above, `n` will be a borrow of a part of `var`, -// and since we wrote `ref mut`, they will be mutable borrows. In other words, right after the match, `ptr` +// and since we wrote `ref mut`, the borrow will be mutable. In other words, right after the match, `ptr` // points to the number that's stored in `var`, where `var` is a `Number`. Remember that `_` means // "we don't care". fn work_on_variant(mut var: Variant, text: String) { @@ -141,6 +140,6 @@ fn work_on_variant(mut var: Variant, text: String) { // that address, and Rust would eat your laundry - or whatever.) // // I hope this example clarifies why Rust has to rule out mutation in the presence of aliasing *in general*, -// not just for the specific +// not just for the specific case of a buffer being reallocated, and old pointers becoming hence invalid. // [index](main.html) | [previous](part04.html) | [next](part06.html)