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mojuba • yesterday at 12:30 PM • 2 replies • view on HN

I don't know Rust but, can this `defer` evaluate after the `return` statement is evaluated like in Swift? Because in Swift you can do this:

    func atomic_get_and_inc() -> Int {
        sem.wait()
        defer {
            value += 1
            sem.signal()
        }
        return value
    }

Replies

kibwen • yesterday at 1:34 PM

It's easy to demonstrate that destructors run after evaluating `return` in Rust:

    struct PrintOnDrop;
    
    impl Drop for PrintOnDrop {
        fn drop(&mut self) {
            println!("dropped");
        }
    }
    
    fn main() {
        let p = PrintOnDrop;
        return println!("returning");
    }
But the idea of altering the return value of a function from within a `defer` block after a `return` is evaluated is zany. Please never do that, in any language.
ninkendo • yesterday at 1:09 PM

EDIT: I don’t think you can actually put a return in a defer, I may have misremembered, it’s been several years. Disregard this comment chain.

It gets even better in swift, because you can put the return statement in the defer, creating a sort of named return value:

    func getInt() -> Int {
        let i: Int // declared but not
                   // defined yet!

        defer { return i }

        // all code paths must define i
        // exactly once, or it’s a compiler
        // error
        if foo() {
            i = 0
        } else {
            i = 1
        }

        doOtherStuff()
    }
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