linux.git/rust/kernel/types, branch v7.2-rc1 Linux kernel source tree rust: types: add `ForLt` trait for higher-ranked lifetime support 2026-05-27T14:24:59+00:00 Gary Guo gary@garyguo.net 2026-05-25T20:21:09+00:00 e189bdb687a56bcf389798f1d3a2f261fff2ef54 There are a few cases, e.g. when dealing with data referencing each other, one might want to write code that is generic over lifetimes. For example, if you want to take a function that takes `&'a Foo` and gives `Bar<'a>`, you can write: f: impl for<'a> FnOnce(&'a Foo) -> Bar<'a>, However, it becomes tricky when you want that function to not have a fixed `Bar`, but have it be generic again. In this case, one needs something that is generic over types that are themselves generic over lifetimes. `ForLt` provides such support. It provides a trait `ForLt` which describes a type generic over a lifetime. One may use `ForLt::Of<'a>` to get an instance of a type for a specific lifetime. For the case of cross referencing, one would almost always want the lifetime to be covariant. Therefore this is also made a requirement for the `ForLt` trait, so functions with `ForLt` trait bound can assume covariance. A macro `ForLt!()` is provided to be able to obtain a type that implements `ForLt`. For example, `ForLt!(for<'a> Bar<'a>)` would yield a type that `<TheType as ForLt>::Of<'a>` is `Bar<'a>`. This also works with lifetime elision, e.g. `ForLt!(Bar<'_>)` or for types without lifetime at all, e.g. `ForLt!(u32)`. The API design draws inspiration from the higher-kinded-types [1] crate, however a different design decision has been taken (e.g. covariance requirement) and the implementation is independent. License headers use "Apache-2.0 OR MIT" because I anticipate this to be used in pin-init crate too which is licensed as such. Link: https://docs.rs/higher-kinded-types/ [1] Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org> Reviewed-by: Eliot Courtney <ecourtney@nvidia.com> Signed-off-by: Gary Guo <gary@garyguo.net> Acked-by: Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@kernel.org> Reviewed-by: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@nvidia.com> Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260525202921.124698-23-dakr@kernel.org [ Handle macro_rules! invocations in the ForLt! proc macro's covariance and WF checks. Since proc macros cannot expand macro_rules!, add a visit_macro() implementation to conservatively assume macro invocations may contain lifetimes, forcing them through the compiler-assisted covariance proof. Fix a few typos in the documentation and in the commit message, add empty lines before samples, add missing periods and consistently use markdown. - Danilo ] Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org> 
There are a few cases, e.g. when dealing with data referencing each
other, one might want to write code that is generic over lifetimes. For
example, if you want to take a function that takes `&'a Foo` and gives
`Bar<'a>`, you can write:

    f: impl for<'a> FnOnce(&'a Foo) -> Bar<'a>,

However, it becomes tricky when you want that function to not have a
fixed `Bar`, but have it be generic again. In this case, one needs
something that is generic over types that are themselves generic over
lifetimes.

`ForLt` provides such support. It provides a trait `ForLt` which
describes a type generic over a lifetime. One may use `ForLt::Of<'a>` to
get an instance of a type for a specific lifetime.

For the case of cross referencing, one would almost always want the
lifetime to be covariant. Therefore this is also made a requirement for
the `ForLt` trait, so functions with `ForLt` trait bound can assume
covariance.

A macro `ForLt!()` is provided to be able to obtain a type that
implements `ForLt`. For example, `ForLt!(for<'a> Bar<'a>)` would yield a
type that `<TheType as ForLt>::Of<'a>` is `Bar<'a>`. This also works
with lifetime elision, e.g. `ForLt!(Bar<'_>)` or for types without
lifetime at all, e.g. `ForLt!(u32)`.

The API design draws inspiration from the higher-kinded-types [1] crate,
however a different design decision has been taken (e.g. covariance
requirement) and the implementation is independent.

License headers use "Apache-2.0 OR MIT" because I anticipate this to be
used in pin-init crate too which is licensed as such.

Link: https://docs.rs/higher-kinded-types/ [1]
Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Reviewed-by: Eliot Courtney <ecourtney@nvidia.com>
Signed-off-by: Gary Guo <gary@garyguo.net>
Acked-by: Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@nvidia.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260525202921.124698-23-dakr@kernel.org
[ Handle macro_rules! invocations in the ForLt! proc macro's covariance
  and WF checks. Since proc macros cannot expand macro_rules!, add a
  visit_macro() implementation to conservatively assume macro
  invocations may contain lifetimes, forcing them through the
  compiler-assisted covariance proof.

  Fix a few typos in the documentation and in the commit message, add
  empty lines before samples, add missing periods and consistently use
  markdown.

  - Danilo ]
Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>