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add typestate pattern chapter for idiomatic rust #2821
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--- | ||
minutes: 30 | ||
--- | ||
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## Typestate Pattern: Problem | ||
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How can we ensure that only valid operations are allowed on a value based on its | ||
current state? | ||
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```rust,editable | ||
use std::fmt::Write as _; | ||
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#[derive(Default)] | ||
struct Serializer { | ||
output: String, | ||
} | ||
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impl Serializer { | ||
fn serialize_struct_start(&mut self, name: &str) { | ||
let _ = writeln!(&mut self.output, "{name} {{"); | ||
} | ||
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fn serialize_struct_field(&mut self, key: &str, value: &str) { | ||
let _ = writeln!(&mut self.output, " {key}={value};"); | ||
} | ||
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fn serialize_struct_end(&mut self) { | ||
self.output.push_str("}\n"); | ||
} | ||
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fn finish(self) -> String { | ||
self.output | ||
} | ||
} | ||
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fn main() { | ||
let mut serializer = Serializer::default(); | ||
serializer.serialize_struct_start("User"); | ||
serializer.serialize_struct_field("id", "42"); | ||
serializer.serialize_struct_field("name", "Alice"); | ||
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// serializer.serialize_struct_end(); // ← Oops! Forgotten | ||
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println!("{}", serializer.finish()); | ||
} | ||
``` | ||
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<details> | ||
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- This `Serializer` is meant to write a structured value. The expected usage | ||
follows this sequence: | ||
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```bob | ||
serialize struct start | ||
-+--------------------- | ||
| | ||
+--> serialize struct field | ||
-+--------------------- | ||
| | ||
+--> serialize struct field | ||
-+--------------------- | ||
| | ||
+--> serialize struct end | ||
``` | ||
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- However, in this example we forgot to call `serialize_struct_end()` before | ||
`finish()`. As a result, the serialized output is incomplete or syntactically | ||
incorrect. | ||
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- One approach to fix this would be to track internal state manually, and return | ||
a `Result` from methods like `serialize_struct_field()` or `finish()` if the | ||
current state is invalid. | ||
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- But this has downsides: | ||
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- It is easy to get wrong as an implementer. Rust’s type system cannot help | ||
enforce the correctness of our state transitions. | ||
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- It also adds unnecessary burden on the user, who must handle `Result` values | ||
for operations that are misused in source code rather than at runtime. | ||
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- A better solution is to model the valid state transitions directly in the type | ||
system. | ||
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In the next slide, we will apply the **typestate pattern** to enforce correct | ||
usage at compile time and make it impossible to call incompatible methods or | ||
forget to do a required action. | ||
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</details> |
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. I think for this slide, rather than showing a bunch of stubbed out code, it might be better to show an example of the more complex serialized output that we want to support. That would then lead nicely into a few slides showing how we can build the more complex serializer. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Sure thing, your other comments seem to allude to how to do that. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Sounds good! Also, feel free to reach out if you want to further discuss any of my suggestions, I'm happy to discuss and brainstorm further. |
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## Beyond Simple Typestate | ||
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How do we manage increasingly complex configuration flows with many possible | ||
states and transitions, while still preventing incompatible operations? | ||
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```rust | ||
struct Serializer {/* [...] */} | ||
struct SerializeStruct {/* [...] */} | ||
struct SerializeStructProperty {/* [...] */} | ||
struct SerializeList {/* [...] */} | ||
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impl Serializer { | ||
// TODO, implement: | ||
// | ||
// fn serialize_struct(self, name: &str) -> SerializeStruct | ||
// fn finish(self) -> String | ||
} | ||
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impl SerializeStruct { | ||
// TODO, implement: | ||
// | ||
// fn serialize_property(mut self, name: &str) -> SerializeStructProperty | ||
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// TODO, | ||
// How should we finish this struct? This depends on where it appears: | ||
// - At the root level: return `Serializer` | ||
// - As a property inside another struct: return `SerializeStruct` | ||
// - As a value inside a list: return `SerializeList` | ||
// | ||
// fn finish(self) -> ??? | ||
} | ||
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impl SerializeStructProperty { | ||
// TODO, implement: | ||
// | ||
// fn serialize_string(self, value: &str) -> SerializeStruct | ||
// fn serialize_struct(self, name: &str) -> SerializeStruct | ||
// fn serialize_list(self) -> SerializeList | ||
// fn finish(self) -> SerializeStruct | ||
} | ||
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impl SerializeList { | ||
// TODO, implement: | ||
// | ||
// fn serialize_string(mut self, value: &str) -> Self | ||
// fn serialize_struct(mut self, value: &str) -> SerializeStruct | ||
// fn serialize_list(mut self) -> SerializeList | ||
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// TODO: | ||
// Like `SerializeStruct::finish`, the return type depends on nesting. | ||
// | ||
// fn finish(mut self) -> ??? | ||
} | ||
``` | ||
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<details> | ||
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- Building on our previous serializer, we now want to support **nested | ||
structures** and **lists**. | ||
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- However, this introduces both **duplication** and **structural complexity**. | ||
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- Even more critically, we now hit a **type system limitation**: we cannot | ||
cleanly express what `finish()` should return without duplicating variants for | ||
every nesting context (e.g. root, struct, list). | ||
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- To better understand this limitation, let’s map the valid transitions: | ||
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```bob | ||
+-----------+ +---------+------------+-----+ | ||
| | | | | | | ||
V | V | V | | ||
+ | | ||
serializer --> structure --> property --> list +-+ | ||
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| | ^ | ^ | ||
V | | | | | ||
| +-----------+ | | ||
String | | | ||
+--------------------------+ | ||
``` | ||
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- From this diagram, we can observe: | ||
- The transitions are recursive | ||
- The return types depend on _where_ a substructure or list appears | ||
- Each context requires a return path to its parent | ||
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- With only concrete types, this becomes unmanageable. Our current approach | ||
leads to an explosion of types and manual wiring. | ||
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- In the next chapter, we’ll see how **generics** let us model recursive flows | ||
with less boilerplate, while still enforcing valid operations at compile time. | ||
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</details> |
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## Typestate Pattern: Example | ||
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The typestate pattern encodes part of a value’s runtime state into its type. | ||
This allows us to prevent invalid or inapplicable operations at compile time. | ||
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```rust,editable | ||
use std::fmt::Write as _; | ||
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#[derive(Default)] | ||
struct Serializer { | ||
output: String, | ||
} | ||
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struct SerializeStruct { | ||
serializer: Serializer, | ||
} | ||
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impl Serializer { | ||
fn serialize_struct(mut self, name: &str) -> SerializeStruct { | ||
writeln!(&mut self.output, "{name} {{").unwrap(); | ||
SerializeStruct { serializer: self } | ||
} | ||
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fn finish(self) -> String { | ||
self.output | ||
} | ||
} | ||
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impl SerializeStruct { | ||
fn serialize_field(mut self, key: &str, value: &str) -> Self { | ||
writeln!(&mut self.serializer.output, " {key}={value};").unwrap(); | ||
self | ||
} | ||
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fn finish_struct(mut self) -> Serializer { | ||
self.serializer.output.push_str("}\n"); | ||
self.serializer | ||
} | ||
} | ||
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fn main() { | ||
let serializer = Serializer::default() | ||
.serialize_struct("User") | ||
.serialize_field("id", "42") | ||
.serialize_field("name", "Alice") | ||
.finish_struct(); | ||
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println!("{}", serializer.finish()); | ||
} | ||
``` | ||
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<details> | ||
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- This example is inspired by Serde’s | ||
[`Serializer` trait](https://docs.rs/serde/latest/serde/ser/trait.Serializer.html). | ||
Serde uses typestates internally to ensure serialization follows a valid | ||
structure. For more, see: <https://serde.rs/impl-serializer.html> | ||
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- The key idea behind typestate is that state transitions happen by consuming a | ||
value and producing a new one. At each step, only operations valid for that | ||
state are available. | ||
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```bob | ||
+------------+ serialize struct +-----------------+ | ||
| Serializer | ------------------> | SerializeStruct | <------+ | ||
+------------+ +-----------------+ | | ||
| | ||
| ^ | | | | ||
| | finish struct | | serialize field | | ||
| +-----------------------------+ +------------------+ | ||
| | ||
+---> finish | ||
``` | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. I think this diagram would be useful to show to students, so I think we should move it into the slide. There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. In that case it will however no longer fit in the screen I think, when combined with the code. That is not an issue? There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. I think it's fine in this case. We do have a few slides that are a bit longer because they have some diagrams in them, e.g. the Move Semantics slide, and I've found those reasonable to cover in class. |
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- In this example: | ||
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- We begin with a `Serializer`, which only allows us to start serializing a | ||
struct. | ||
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- Once we call `.serialize_struct(...)`, ownership moves into a | ||
`SerializeStruct` value. From that point on, we can only call methods | ||
related to serializing struct fields. | ||
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- The original `Serializer` is no longer accessible — preventing us from | ||
mixing modes (such as starting another _struct_ mid-struct) or calling | ||
`finish()` too early. | ||
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- Only after calling `.finish_struct()` do we receive the `Serializer` back. | ||
At that point, the output can be finalized or reused. | ||
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- If we forget to call `finish_struct()` and drop the `SerializeStruct` early, | ||
the `Serializer` is also dropped. This ensures incomplete output cannot leak | ||
into the system. | ||
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- By contrast, if we had implemented everything on `Serializer` directly — as | ||
seen on the previous slide, nothing would stop someone from skipping important | ||
steps or mixing serialization flows. | ||
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</details> |
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I don't think we need this diagram. The intended flow here is pretty straightforward since the methods are intended to be used in the order they're declared. If you think it's worth explicitly calling out the intended flow then I think just writing it in a note would be enough.
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Sure, will handle that. Thank you for pointing it out.