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1 | 1 | # The `unsafe` keyword
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| -## Unsafe functions |
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| - |
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| -Unsafe functions are functions that are not safe in all contexts and/or for all |
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| -possible inputs. Such a function must be prefixed with the keyword `unsafe` and |
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| -can only be called from an `unsafe` block or another `unsafe` function. |
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| - |
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| -## Unsafe blocks |
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| - |
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| -A block of code can be prefixed with the `unsafe` keyword, to permit calling |
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| -`unsafe` functions or dereferencing raw pointers within a safe function. |
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| - |
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| -When a programmer has sufficient conviction that a sequence of potentially |
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| -unsafe operations is actually safe, they can encapsulate that sequence (taken |
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| -as a whole) within an `unsafe` block. The compiler will consider uses of such |
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| -code safe, in the surrounding context. |
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| - |
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| -Unsafe blocks are used to wrap foreign libraries, make direct use of hardware |
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| -or implement features not directly present in the language. For example, Rust |
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| -provides the language features necessary to implement memory-safe concurrency |
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| -in the language but the implementation of threads and message passing is in the |
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| -standard library. |
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| - |
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| -Rust's type system is a conservative approximation of the dynamic safety |
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| -requirements, so in some cases there is a performance cost to using safe code. |
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| -For example, a doubly-linked list is not a tree structure and can only be |
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| -represented with reference-counted pointers in safe code. By using `unsafe` |
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| -blocks to represent the reverse links as raw pointers, it can be implemented |
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| -with only boxes. |
| 3 | +The `unsafe` keyword can occur in several different contexts: |
| 4 | +unsafe functions (`unsafe fn`), unsafe blocks (`unsafe {}`), unsafe traits (`unsafe trait`), and unsafe trait implementations (`unsafe impl`). |
| 5 | +It plays several different roles, depending on where it is used and whether the `unsafe_op_in_unsafe_fn` lint is enabled: |
| 6 | +- it is used to mark code that *defines* extra safety conditions (`unsafe fn`, `unsafe trait`) |
| 7 | +- it is used to mark code that needs to *satisfy* extra safety conditions (`unsafe {}`, `unsafe impl`, `unsafe fn` without `unsafe_op_in_unsafe_fn`) |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +The following discusses each of these cases. |
| 10 | +See the [keyword documentation][keyword] for some illustrative examples. |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +[keyword]: ../std/keyword.unsafe.html |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +## Unsafe functions (`unsafe fn`) |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +Unsafe functions are functions that are not safe in all contexts and/or for all possible inputs. |
| 17 | +We say they have *extra safety conditions*, which are requirements that must be upheld by all callers and that the compiler does not check. |
| 18 | +For example, `get_unchecked` has the extra safety condition that the index must be in-bounds. |
| 19 | +The module defining an unsafe function is responsible for documenting what those extra safety conditions are. |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +Such a function must be prefixed with the keyword `unsafe` and can only be called from inside an `unsafe` block. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +## Unsafe blocks (`unsafe {}`) |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +A block of code can be prefixed with the `unsafe` keyword, to permit calling `unsafe` functions or dereferencing raw pointers. |
| 26 | +By default, the body of an unsafe function is also considered to be an unsafe block; |
| 27 | +this can be changed by enabling the `unsafe_op_in_unsafe_fn` lint. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +By putting operations into an unsafe block, the programmer states that they have taken care of satisfying the extra safety conditions of all operations inside that block. |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +Unsafe blocks are the logical dual to unsafe functions: |
| 32 | +where unsafe functions define a proof obligation that callers must uphold, unsafe blocks state that all relevant proof obligations have been discharged. |
| 33 | +There are many ways to discharge proof obligations; |
| 34 | +for example, there could be run-time checks or data structure invariants that guarantee that certain properties are definitely true, or the unsafe block could be inside an `unsafe fn` and use its own proof obligations to discharge the proof obligations of its callees. |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +Unsafe blocks are used to wrap foreign libraries, make direct use of hardware or implement features not directly present in the language. |
| 37 | +For example, Rust provides the language features necessary to implement memory-safe concurrency in the language but the implementation of threads and message passing in the standard library uses unsafe blocks. |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +Rust's type system is a conservative approximation of the dynamic safety requirements, so in some cases there is a performance cost to using safe code. |
| 40 | +For example, a doubly-linked list is not a tree structure and can only be represented with reference-counted pointers in safe code. |
| 41 | +By using `unsafe` blocks to represent the reverse links as raw pointers, it can be implemented without reference counting. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +## Unsafe traits (`unsafe trait`) |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +An unsafe trait is a trait that comes with extra safety conditions that must be upheld by *implementations* of the trait. |
| 46 | +The module defining an unsafe trait is responsible for documenting what those extra safety conditions are. |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +Such a trait must be prefixed with the keyword `unsafe` and can only be implemented by `unsafe impl` blocks. |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +## Unsafe trait implementations (`unsafe impl`) |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | +When implementing an unsafe trait, the implementation needs to be prefixed with the `unsafe` keyword. |
| 53 | +By writing `unsafe impl`, the programmer states that they have taken care of satisfying the extra safety conditions required by the trait. |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +Unsafe trait implementations are the logical dual to unsafe traits: where unsafe traits define a proof obligation that implementations must uphold, unsafe implementations state that all relevant proof obligations have been discharged. |
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