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<ol class="chapter"><li class="expanded affix "><a href="title-page.html">The Rust Programming Language</a></li><li class="expanded affix "><a href="foreword.html">Foreword</a></li><li class="expanded affix "><a href="ch00-00-introduction.html">Introduction</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch01-00-getting-started.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.</strong> Getting Started</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch01-01-installation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.1.</strong> Installation</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch01-02-hello-world.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.2.</strong> Hello, World!</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch01-03-hello-cargo.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.3.</strong> Hello, Cargo!</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch02-00-guessing-game-tutorial.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.</strong> Programming a Guessing Game</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch03-00-common-programming-concepts.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.</strong> Common Programming Concepts</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch03-01-variables-and-mutability.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.1.</strong> Variables and Mutability</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch03-02-data-types.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.2.</strong> Data Types</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch03-03-how-functions-work.html" class="active"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.3.</strong> Functions</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch03-04-comments.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.4.</strong> Comments</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch03-05-control-flow.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.5.</strong> Control Flow</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch04-00-understanding-ownership.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.</strong> Understanding Ownership</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch04-01-what-is-ownership.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.1.</strong> What is Ownership?</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch04-02-references-and-borrowing.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.2.</strong> References and Borrowing</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch04-03-slices.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.3.</strong> The Slice Type</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch05-00-structs.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.</strong> Using Structs to Structure Related Data</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch05-01-defining-structs.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.1.</strong> Defining and Instantiating Structs</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch05-02-example-structs.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.2.</strong> An Example Program Using Structs</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch05-03-method-syntax.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.3.</strong> Method Syntax</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch06-00-enums.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.</strong> Enums and Pattern Matching</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch06-01-defining-an-enum.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.1.</strong> Defining an Enum</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch06-02-match.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.2.</strong> The match Control Flow Operator</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch06-03-if-let.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.3.</strong> Concise Control Flow with if let</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch07-00-managing-growing-projects-with-packages-crates-and-modules.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.</strong> Managing Growing Projects with Packages, Crates, and Modules</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch07-01-packages-and-crates.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.1.</strong> Packages and Crates</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch07-02-defining-modules-to-control-scope-and-privacy.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.2.</strong> Defining Modules to Control Scope and Privacy</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch07-03-paths-for-referring-to-an-item-in-the-module-tree.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.3.</strong> Paths for Referring to an Item in the Module Tree</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch07-04-bringing-paths-into-scope-with-the-use-keyword.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.4.</strong> Bringing Paths Into Scope with the use Keyword</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch07-05-separating-modules-into-different-files.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.5.</strong> Separating Modules into Different Files</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch08-00-common-collections.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">8.</strong> Common Collections</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch08-01-vectors.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">8.1.</strong> Storing Lists of Values with Vectors</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch08-02-strings.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">8.2.</strong> Storing UTF-8 Encoded Text with Strings</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch08-03-hash-maps.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">8.3.</strong> Storing Keys with Associated Values in Hash Maps</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch09-00-error-handling.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.</strong> Error Handling</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch09-01-unrecoverable-errors-with-panic.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.1.</strong> Unrecoverable Errors with panic!</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch09-02-recoverable-errors-with-result.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.2.</strong> Recoverable Errors with Result</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch09-03-to-panic-or-not-to-panic.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.3.</strong> To panic! or Not To panic!</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch10-00-generics.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">10.</strong> Generic Types, Traits, and Lifetimes</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch10-01-syntax.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">10.1.</strong> Generic Data Types</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch10-02-traits.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">10.2.</strong> Traits: Defining Shared Behavior</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch10-03-lifetime-syntax.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">10.3.</strong> Validating References with Lifetimes</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch11-00-testing.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.</strong> Writing Automated Tests</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch11-01-writing-tests.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.1.</strong> How to Write Tests</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch11-02-running-tests.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.2.</strong> Controlling How Tests Are Run</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch11-03-test-organization.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.3.</strong> Test Organization</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch12-00-an-io-project.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.</strong> An I/O Project: Building a Command Line Program</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch12-01-accepting-command-line-arguments.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.1.</strong> Accepting Command Line Arguments</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch12-02-reading-a-file.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.2.</strong> Reading a File</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch12-03-improving-error-handling-and-modularity.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.3.</strong> Refactoring to Improve Modularity and Error Handling</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch12-04-testing-the-librarys-functionality.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.4.</strong> Developing the Library’s Functionality with Test Driven Development</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch12-05-working-with-environment-variables.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.5.</strong> Working with Environment Variables</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch12-06-writing-to-stderr-instead-of-stdout.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.6.</strong> Writing Error Messages to Standard Error Instead of Standard Output</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch13-00-functional-features.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">13.</strong> Functional Language Features: Iterators and Closures</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch13-01-closures.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">13.1.</strong> Closures: Anonymous Functions that Can Capture Their Environment</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch13-02-iterators.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">13.2.</strong> Processing a Series of Items with Iterators</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch13-03-improving-our-io-project.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">13.3.</strong> Improving Our I/O Project</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch13-04-performance.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">13.4.</strong> Comparing Performance: Loops vs. Iterators</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch14-00-more-about-cargo.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">14.</strong> More about Cargo and Crates.io</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch14-01-release-profiles.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">14.1.</strong> Customizing Builds with Release Profiles</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch14-02-publishing-to-crates-io.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">14.2.</strong> Publishing a Crate to Crates.io</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch14-03-cargo-workspaces.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">14.3.</strong> Cargo Workspaces</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch14-04-installing-binaries.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">14.4.</strong> Installing Binaries from Crates.io with cargo install</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch14-05-extending-cargo.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">14.5.</strong> Extending Cargo with Custom Commands</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch15-00-smart-pointers.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.</strong> Smart Pointers</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch15-01-box.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.1.</strong> Using Box<T> to Point to Data on the Heap</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch15-02-deref.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.2.</strong> Treating Smart Pointers Like Regular References with the Deref Trait</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch15-03-drop.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.3.</strong> Running Code on Cleanup with the Drop Trait</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch15-04-rc.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.4.</strong> Rc<T>, the Reference Counted Smart Pointer</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch15-05-interior-mutability.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.5.</strong> RefCell<T> and the Interior Mutability Pattern</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch15-06-reference-cycles.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.6.</strong> Reference Cycles Can Leak Memory</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch16-00-concurrency.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">16.</strong> Fearless Concurrency</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch16-01-threads.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">16.1.</strong> Using Threads to Run Code Simultaneously</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch16-02-message-passing.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">16.2.</strong> Using Message Passing to Transfer Data Between Threads</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch16-03-shared-state.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">16.3.</strong> Shared-State Concurrency</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch16-04-extensible-concurrency-sync-and-send.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">16.4.</strong> Extensible Concurrency with the Sync and Send Traits</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch17-00-oop.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.</strong> Object Oriented Programming Features of Rust</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch17-01-what-is-oo.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.1.</strong> Characteristics of Object-Oriented Languages</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch17-02-trait-objects.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.2.</strong> Using Trait Objects That Allow for Values of Different Types</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch17-03-oo-design-patterns.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.3.</strong> Implementing an Object-Oriented Design Pattern</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch18-00-patterns.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">18.</strong> Patterns and Matching</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch18-01-all-the-places-for-patterns.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">18.1.</strong> All the Places Patterns Can Be Used</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch18-02-refutability.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">18.2.</strong> Refutability: Whether a Pattern Might Fail to Match</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch18-03-pattern-syntax.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">18.3.</strong> Pattern Syntax</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch19-00-advanced-features.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">19.</strong> Advanced Features</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch19-01-unsafe-rust.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">19.1.</strong> Unsafe Rust</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch19-03-advanced-traits.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">19.2.</strong> Advanced Traits</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch19-04-advanced-types.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">19.3.</strong> Advanced Types</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch19-05-advanced-functions-and-closures.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">19.4.</strong> Advanced Functions and Closures</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch19-06-macros.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">19.5.</strong> Macros</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch20-00-final-project-a-web-server.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">20.</strong> Final Project: Building a Multithreaded Web Server</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="ch20-01-single-threaded.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">20.1.</strong> Building a Single-Threaded Web Server</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch20-02-multithreaded.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">20.2.</strong> Turning Our Single-Threaded Server into a Multithreaded Server</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="ch20-03-graceful-shutdown-and-cleanup.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">20.3.</strong> Graceful Shutdown and Cleanup</a></li></ol></li><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-00.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.</strong> Appendix</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-01-keywords.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.1.</strong> A - Keywords</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-02-operators.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.2.</strong> B - Operators and Symbols</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-03-derivable-traits.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.3.</strong> C - Derivable Traits</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-04-useful-development-tools.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.4.</strong> D - Useful Development Tools</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-05-editions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.5.</strong> E - Editions</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-06-translation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.6.</strong> F - Translations of the Book</a></li><li class="expanded "><a href="appendix-07-nightly-rust.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.7.</strong> G - How Rust is Made and “Nightly Rust”</a></li></ol></li></ol>
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<main>
<h2><a class="header" href="#functions" id="functions">Functions</a></h2>
<p>Functions are pervasive in Rust code. You’ve already seen one of the most
important functions in the language: the <code>main</code> function, which is the entry
point of many programs. You’ve also seen the <code>fn</code> keyword, which allows you to
declare new functions.</p>
<p>Rust code uses <em>snake case</em> as the conventional style for function and variable
names. In snake case, all letters are lowercase and underscores separate words.
Here’s a program that contains an example function definition:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">fn main() {
println!("Hello, world!");
another_function();
}
fn another_function() {
println!("Another function.");
}
</code></pre></pre>
<p>Function definitions in Rust start with <code>fn</code> and have a set of parentheses
after the function name. The curly brackets tell the compiler where the
function body begins and ends.</p>
<p>We can call any function we’ve defined by entering its name followed by a set
of parentheses. Because <code>another_function</code> is defined in the program, it can be
called from inside the <code>main</code> function. Note that we defined <code>another_function</code>
<em>after</em> the <code>main</code> function in the source code; we could have defined it before
as well. Rust doesn’t care where you define your functions, only that they’re
defined somewhere.</p>
<p>Let’s start a new binary project named <em>functions</em> to explore functions
further. Place the <code>another_function</code> example in <em>src/main.rs</em> and run it. You
should see the following output:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">$ cargo run
Compiling functions v0.1.0 (file:///projects/functions)
Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.28 secs
Running `target/debug/functions`
Hello, world!
Another function.
</code></pre>
<p>The lines execute in the order in which they appear in the <code>main</code> function.
First, the “Hello, world!” message prints, and then <code>another_function</code> is
called and its message is printed.</p>
<h3><a class="header" href="#function-parameters" id="function-parameters">Function Parameters</a></h3>
<p>Functions can also be defined to have <em>parameters</em>, which are special variables
that are part of a function’s signature. When a function has parameters, you
can provide it with concrete values for those parameters. Technically, the
concrete values are called <em>arguments</em>, but in casual conversation, people tend
to use the words <em>parameter</em> and <em>argument</em> interchangeably for either the
variables in a function’s definition or the concrete values passed in when you
call a function.</p>
<p>The following rewritten version of <code>another_function</code> shows what parameters
look like in Rust:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">fn main() {
another_function(5);
}
fn another_function(x: i32) {
println!("The value of x is: {}", x);
}
</code></pre></pre>
<p>Try running this program; you should get the following output:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">$ cargo run
Compiling functions v0.1.0 (file:///projects/functions)
Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.21 secs
Running `target/debug/functions`
The value of x is: 5
</code></pre>
<p>The declaration of <code>another_function</code> has one parameter named <code>x</code>. The type of
<code>x</code> is specified as <code>i32</code>. When <code>5</code> is passed to <code>another_function</code>, the
<code>println!</code> macro puts <code>5</code> where the pair of curly brackets were in the format
string.</p>
<p>In function signatures, you <em>must</em> declare the type of each parameter. This is
a deliberate decision in Rust’s design: requiring type annotations in function
definitions means the compiler almost never needs you to use them elsewhere in
the code to figure out what you mean.</p>
<p>When you want a function to have multiple parameters, separate the parameter
declarations with commas, like this:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">fn main() {
another_function(5, 6);
}
fn another_function(x: i32, y: i32) {
println!("The value of x is: {}", x);
println!("The value of y is: {}", y);
}
</code></pre></pre>
<p>This example creates a function with two parameters, both of which are <code>i32</code>
types. The function then prints the values in both of its parameters. Note that
function parameters don’t all need to be the same type, they just happen to be
in this example.</p>
<p>Let’s try running this code. Replace the program currently in your <em>functions</em>
project’s <em>src/main.rs</em> file with the preceding example and run it using <code>cargo run</code>:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">$ cargo run
Compiling functions v0.1.0 (file:///projects/functions)
Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.31 secs
Running `target/debug/functions`
The value of x is: 5
The value of y is: 6
</code></pre>
<p>Because we called the function with <code>5</code> as the value for <code>x</code> and <code>6</code> is passed
as the value for <code>y</code>, the two strings are printed with these values.</p>
<h3><a class="header" href="#function-bodies-contain-statements-and-expressions" id="function-bodies-contain-statements-and-expressions">Function Bodies Contain Statements and Expressions</a></h3>
<p>Function bodies are made up of a series of statements optionally ending in an
expression. So far, we’ve only covered functions without an ending expression,
but you have seen an expression as part of a statement. Because Rust is an
expression-based language, this is an important distinction to understand.
Other languages don’t have the same distinctions, so let’s look at what
statements and expressions are and how their differences affect the bodies of
functions.</p>
<p>We’ve actually already used statements and expressions. <em>Statements</em> are
instructions that perform some action and do not return a value. <em>Expressions</em>
evaluate to a resulting value. Let’s look at some examples.</p>
<p>Creating a variable and assigning a value to it with the <code>let</code> keyword is a
statement. In Listing 3-1, <code>let y = 6;</code> is a statement.</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">fn main() {
let y = 6;
}
</code></pre></pre>
<p><span class="caption">Listing 3-1: A <code>main</code> function declaration containing one statement</span></p>
<p>Function definitions are also statements; the entire preceding example is a
statement in itself.</p>
<p>Statements do not return values. Therefore, you can’t assign a <code>let</code> statement
to another variable, as the following code tries to do; you’ll get an error:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore does_not_compile">fn main() {
let x = (let y = 6);
}
</code></pre>
<p>When you run this program, the error you’ll get looks like this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">$ cargo run
Compiling functions v0.1.0 (file:///projects/functions)
error: expected expression, found statement (`let`)
--> src/main.rs:2:14
|
2 | let x = (let y = 6);
| ^^^
|
= note: variable declaration using `let` is a statement
</code></pre>
<p>The <code>let y = 6</code> statement does not return a value, so there isn’t anything for
<code>x</code> to bind to. This is different from what happens in other languages, such as
C and Ruby, where the assignment returns the value of the assignment. In those
languages, you can write <code>x = y = 6</code> and have both <code>x</code> and <code>y</code> have the value
<code>6</code>; that is not the case in Rust.</p>
<p>Expressions evaluate to something and make up most of the rest of the code that
you’ll write in Rust. Consider a simple math operation, such as <code>5 + 6</code>, which
is an expression that evaluates to the value <code>11</code>. Expressions can be part of
statements: in Listing 3-1, the <code>6</code> in the statement <code>let y = 6;</code> is an
expression that evaluates to the value <code>6</code>. Calling a function is an
expression. Calling a macro is an expression. The block that we use to create
new scopes, <code>{}</code>, is an expression, for example:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">fn main() {
let x = 5;
let y = {
let x = 3;
x + 1
};
println!("The value of y is: {}", y);
}
</code></pre></pre>
<p>This expression:</p>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore">{
let x = 3;
x + 1
}
</code></pre>
<p>is a block that, in this case, evaluates to <code>4</code>. That value gets bound to <code>y</code>
as part of the <code>let</code> statement. Note the <code>x + 1</code> line without a semicolon at
the end, which is unlike most of the lines you’ve seen so far. Expressions do
not include ending semicolons. If you add a semicolon to the end of an
expression, you turn it into a statement, which will then not return a value.
Keep this in mind as you explore function return values and expressions next.</p>
<h3><a class="header" href="#functions-with-return-values" id="functions-with-return-values">Functions with Return Values</a></h3>
<p>Functions can return values to the code that calls them. We don’t name return
values, but we do declare their type after an arrow (<code>-></code>). In Rust, the return
value of the function is synonymous with the value of the final expression in
the block of the body of a function. You can return early from a function by
using the <code>return</code> keyword and specifying a value, but most functions return
the last expression implicitly. Here’s an example of a function that returns a
value:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">fn five() -> i32 {
5
}
fn main() {
let x = five();
println!("The value of x is: {}", x);
}
</code></pre></pre>
<p>There are no function calls, macros, or even <code>let</code> statements in the <code>five</code>
function—just the number <code>5</code> by itself. That’s a perfectly valid function in
Rust. Note that the function’s return type is specified too, as <code>-> i32</code>. Try
running this code; the output should look like this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">$ cargo run
Compiling functions v0.1.0 (file:///projects/functions)
Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.30 secs
Running `target/debug/functions`
The value of x is: 5
</code></pre>
<p>The <code>5</code> in <code>five</code> is the function’s return value, which is why the return type
is <code>i32</code>. Let’s examine this in more detail. There are two important bits:
first, the line <code>let x = five();</code> shows that we’re using the return value of a
function to initialize a variable. Because the function <code>five</code> returns a <code>5</code>,
that line is the same as the following:</p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">
<span class="boring">#![allow(unused_variables)]
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span>let x = 5;
<span class="boring">}
</span></code></pre></pre>
<p>Second, the <code>five</code> function has no parameters and defines the type of the
return value, but the body of the function is a lonely <code>5</code> with no semicolon
because it’s an expression whose value we want to return.</p>
<p>Let’s look at another example:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><pre class="playpen"><code class="language-rust">fn main() {
let x = plus_one(5);
println!("The value of x is: {}", x);
}
fn plus_one(x: i32) -> i32 {
x + 1
}
</code></pre></pre>
<p>Running this code will print <code>The value of x is: 6</code>. But if we place a
semicolon at the end of the line containing <code>x + 1</code>, changing it from an
expression to a statement, we’ll get an error.</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore does_not_compile">fn main() {
let x = plus_one(5);
println!("The value of x is: {}", x);
}
fn plus_one(x: i32) -> i32 {
x + 1;
}
</code></pre>
<p>Compiling this code produces an error, as follows:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">error[E0308]: mismatched types
--> src/main.rs:7:28
|
7 | fn plus_one(x: i32) -> i32 {
| ____________________________^
8 | | x + 1;
| | - help: consider removing this semicolon
9 | | }
| |_^ expected i32, found ()
|
= note: expected type `i32`
found type `()`
</code></pre>
<p>The main error message, “mismatched types,” reveals the core issue with this
code. The definition of the function <code>plus_one</code> says that it will return an
<code>i32</code>, but statements don’t evaluate to a value, which is expressed by <code>()</code>,
an empty tuple. Therefore, nothing is returned, which contradicts the function
definition and results in an error. In this output, Rust provides a message to
possibly help rectify this issue: it suggests removing the semicolon, which
would fix the error.</p>
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