Commit 44e8cb3
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Rollup merge of #157153 - joboet:global_allocator, r=nia-e
allow `Allocator`s to be used as `#[global_allocator]`s
The (hopefully) immanent stabilisation of the `Allocator` trait raises the question of what is to be done about the older, already-stable `GlobalAlloc` trait. In my opinion, having two nearly-identical traits for the same purpose is needlessly confusing. Going forward, `Allocator` as the more modern interface should be _the_ allocator trait.
With `Allocator` being currently unstable, there is the possibility of implementing `GlobalAlloc` for all `Allocator`s, thereby allowing them to be used as `#[global_allocator]` and allowing crates to seamlessly (and semver-compatibly) switch to `Allocator`. However, unconditionally implementing `GlobalAlloc` presents a footgun to users, as e.g. using `Global` as `#[global_allocator]` will lead to infinite recursion. @nia-e initially tried to resolve this in e1b7097a8e36f9f3256f6a7972e2da8f1f2ca6d5 (rust-lang/rust#156882) by using weird trait trickery to implement `GlobalAlloc` for every allocator except `Global`. But this does not go far enough, e.g. a bump allocator that itself allocates from `Global` is similarly unsuitable as global allocator.
Thus, with this PR, I'd like to propose adding a new marker trait for allocators that can be used as `#[global_allocator]`:
```rust
// in core::alloc
trait GlobalAllocator: Allocator {}
```
`GlobalAlloc` can then be implemented for all `GlobalAllocator`s:
```rust
impl<A> GlobalAlloc for A
where
A: GlobalAllocator
{
/* ... */
}
```
This provides a backwards-compatible way for allocator libraries to switch to the new interface and allows deprecating `GlobalAlloc` (not done here). Over time, I expect that `GlobalAlloc` will become more and more of an implementation detail of the `#[global_allocator]` macro (for instance, one might add perma-unstable, hidden methods for things like `grow_zeroed` that are customised only by the blanket implementation).
With regards to naming, I chose `GlobalAllocator` to mirror `Allocator`. `GlobalAlloc` should probably be deprecated quickly after stabilising `GlobalAllocator` to avoid confusion. For the same reason, I think it'd be better to add `GlobalAllocator` before stabilising `Allocator` – but that is not a necessity.
r? @nia-e
@rustbot label +I-libs-api-nominated1 file changed
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