Comparisons

These traits support comparisons between values. All traits can be derived for types containing fields that implement these traits.

PartialEq and Eq

PartialEq is a partial equivalence relation, with required method eq and provided method ne. The == and != operators will call these methods.

struct Key {
    id: u32,
    metadata: Option<String>,
}
impl PartialEq for Key {
    fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
        self.id == other.id
    }
}

Eq is a full equivalence relation (reflexive, symmetric, and transitive) and implies PartialEq. Functions that require full equivalence will use Eq as a trait bound.

PartialOrd and Ord

PartialOrd defines a partial ordering, with a partial_cmp method. It is used to implement the <, <=, >=, and > operators.

use std::cmp::Ordering;
#[derive(Eq, PartialEq)]
struct Citation {
    author: String,
    year: u32,
}
impl PartialOrd for Citation {
    fn partial_cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> Option<Ordering> {
        match self.author.partial_cmp(&other.author) {
            Some(Ordering::Equal) => self.year.partial_cmp(&other.year),
            author_ord => author_ord,
        }
    }
}

Ord is a total ordering, with cmp returning Ordering.

This slide should take about 5 minutes.

  • PartialEq can be implemented between different types, but Eq cannot, because it is reflexive:

    struct Key {
    id: u32,
    metadata: Option<String>,
}
impl PartialEq<u32> for Key {
    fn eq(&self, other: &u32) -> bool {
        self.id == *other
    }
}

  • In practice, it’s common to derive these traits, but uncommon to implement them.

  • When comparing references in Rust, it will compare the value of the things pointed to, it will NOT compare the references themselves. That means that references to two different things can compare as equal if the values pointed to are the same:

    fn main() {
    let a = "Hello";
    let b = String::from("Hello");
    assert_eq!(a, b);
}