FusedIterator marker trait and iter::Fuse specialization

text/0000-fused-iterator.md

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+- Feature Name: fused
+- Start Date: 2016-04-15
+- RFC PR: (leave this empty)
+- Rust Issue: (leave this empty)
+
+# Summary
+[summary]: #summary
+
+Add a marker trait `FusedIterator` to `std::iter` and implement it on `Fuse<I>` and
+applicable iterators and adapters. By implementing `FusedIterator`, an iterator
+promises to behave as if `Iterator::fuse()` had been called on it (i.e. return
+`None` forever after returning `None` once). Then, specialize `Fuse<I>` to be a
+no-op iff `I` implements `FusedIterator`.
+
+# Motivation
+[motivation]: #motivation
+
+Iterators are allowed to return whatever they want after returning `None` once.
+However, assuming that an iterator continues to return `None` can make
+implementing some algorithms/adapters easier. Therefore, `Fused` and
+`Iterator::fuse` exist. Unfortunately, the `Fused` iterator adapter introduces a
+noticeable overhead. Furthermore, many iterators (most if not all iterators in
+std) already act as if they were fused (this is considered to be the "polite"
+behavior). Therefore, it would be nice to be able to pay the `Fused` overhead
+iff necessary.
+
+Microbenchmarks:
+
+```text
+test fuse          ... bench:         200 ns/iter (+/- 13)
+test fuse_fuse     ... bench:         250 ns/iter (+/- 10)
+test myfuse        ... bench:          48 ns/iter (+/- 4)
+test myfuse_myfuse ... bench:          48 ns/iter (+/- 3)
+test range         ... bench:          48 ns/iter (+/- 2)
+```
+
+```rust
+#![feature(test, specialization)]
+extern crate test;
+
+use std::ops::Range;
+
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[must_use = "iterator adaptors are lazy and do nothing unless consumed"]
+pub struct MyFuse<I> {
+    iter: I,
+    done: bool
+}
+
+pub trait Fused: Iterator {}
+
+trait IterExt: Iterator + Sized {
+    fn myfuse(self) -> MyFuse<Self> {
+        MyFuse {
+            iter: self,
+            done: false,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<I> Fused for MyFuse<I> where MyFuse<I>: Iterator {}
+impl<T> Fused for Range<T> where Range<T>: Iterator {}
+
+impl<T: Iterator> IterExt for T {}
+
+impl<I> Iterator for MyFuse<I> where I: Iterator {
+    type Item = <I as Iterator>::Item;
+
+    #[inline]
+    default fn next(&mut self) -> Option<<I as Iterator>::Item> {
+        if self.done {
+            None
+        } else {
+            let next = self.iter.next();
+            self.done = next.is_none();
+            next
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<I> Iterator for MyFuse<I> where I: Iterator + Fused {
+    #[inline]
+    fn next(&mut self) -> Option<<I as Iterator>::Item> {
+        self.iter.next()
+    }
+}
+
+impl<I> ExactSizeIterator for MyFuse<I> where I: ExactSizeIterator {}
+
+#[bench]
+fn myfuse(b: &mut test::Bencher) {
+    b.iter(|| {
+        for i in (0..100).myfuse() {
+            test::black_box(i);
+        }
+    })
+}
+
+#[bench]
+fn myfuse_myfuse(b: &mut test::Bencher) {
+    b.iter(|| {
+        for i in (0..100).myfuse().myfuse() {
+            test::black_box(i);
+        }
+    });
+}
+
+
+#[bench]
+fn fuse(b: &mut test::Bencher) {
+    b.iter(|| {
+        for i in (0..100).fuse() {
+            test::black_box(i);
+        }
+    })
+}
+
+#[bench]
+fn fuse_fuse(b: &mut test::Bencher) {
+    b.iter(|| {
+        for i in (0..100).fuse().fuse() {
+            test::black_box(i);
+        }
+    });
+}
+
+#[bench]
+fn range(b: &mut test::Bencher) {
+    b.iter(|| {
+        for i in (0..100) {
+            test::black_box(i);
+        }
+    })
+}
+```
+
+# Detailed Design
+[design]: #detailed-design
+
+```
+trait FusedIterator: Iterator {}
+
+impl<I: Iterator> FusedIterator for Fuse<I> {}
+
+impl<A> FusedIterator for Range<A> {}
+// ...and for most std/core iterators...
+
+
+// Existing implementation of Fuse repeated for convenience
+pub struct Fuse<I> {
+    iterator: I,
+    done: bool,
+}
+
+impl<I> Iterator for Fuse<I> where I: Iterator {
+    type Item = I::Item;
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn next(&mut self) -> Self::Item {
+        if self.done {
+            None
+        } else {
+            let next = self.iterator.next();
+            self.done = next.is_none();
+            next
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// Then, specialize Fuse...
+impl<I> Iterator for Fuse<I> where I: FusedIterator {
+    type Item = I::Item;
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn next(&mut self) -> Self::Item {
+        // Ignore the done flag and pass through.
+        // Note: this means that the done flag should *never* be exposed to the
+        // user.
+        self.iterator.next()
+    }
+}
+
+```
+
+# Drawbacks
+[drawbacks]: #drawbacks
+
+1. Yet another special iterator trait.
+2. There is a useless done flag on no-op `Fuse` adapters.
+3. Fuse isn't used very often anyways. However, I would argue that it should be
+   used more often and people are just playing fast and loose. I'm hoping that
+   making `Fuse` free when unneeded will encourage people to use it when they should.
+
+# Alternatives
+
+## Do Nothing
+
+Just pay the overhead on the rare occasions when fused is actually used.
+
+## Associated Type
+
+Use an associated type (and set it to `Self` for iterators that already provide
+the fused guarantee) and an `IntoFused` trait:
+
+```rust
+#![feature(specialization)]
+use std::iter::Fuse;
+
+trait FusedIterator: Iterator {}
+
+trait IntoFused: Iterator + Sized {
+    type Fused: Iterator<Item = Self::Item>;
+    fn into_fused(self) -> Self::Fused;
+}
+
+impl<T> IntoFused for T where T: Iterator {
+    default type Fused = Fuse<Self>;
+    default fn into_fused(self) -> Self::Fused {
+        // Currently complains about a mismatched type but I think that's a
+        // specialization bug.
+        self.fuse()
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> IntoFused for T where T: FusedIterator {
+    type Fused = Self;
+
+    fn into_fused(self) -> Self::Fused {
+        self
+    }
+}
+```
+
+For now, this doesn't actually compile because rust believes that the associated
+type `Fused` could be specialized independent of the `into_fuse` function.
+
+While this method gets rid of memory overhead of a no-op `Fuse` wrapper, it adds
+complexity, needs to be implemented as a separate trait (because adding
+associated types is a breaking change), and can't be used to optimize the
+iterators returned from `Iterator::fuse` (users would *have* to call
+`IntoFused::into_fused`).
+
+# Unresolved questions
+[unresolved]: #unresolved-questions
+
+Should this trait be unsafe? I can't think of any way generic unsafe code could
+end up relying on the guarantees of `Fused`.