| The compiler could not infer a type and asked for a type annotation. |
| |
| Erroneous code example: |
| |
| ```compile_fail,E0282 |
| let x = "hello".chars().rev().collect(); |
| ``` |
| |
| This error indicates that type inference did not result in one unique possible |
| type, and extra information is required. In most cases this can be provided |
| by adding a type annotation. Sometimes you need to specify a generic type |
| parameter manually. |
| |
| A common example is the `collect` method on `Iterator`. It has a generic type |
| parameter with a `FromIterator` bound, which for a `char` iterator is |
| implemented by `Vec` and `String` among others. Consider the following snippet |
| that reverses the characters of a string: |
| |
| In the first code example, the compiler cannot infer what the type of `x` should |
| be: `Vec<char>` and `String` are both suitable candidates. To specify which type |
| to use, you can use a type annotation on `x`: |
| |
| ``` |
| let x: Vec<char> = "hello".chars().rev().collect(); |
| ``` |
| |
| It is not necessary to annotate the full type. Once the ambiguity is resolved, |
| the compiler can infer the rest: |
| |
| ``` |
| let x: Vec<_> = "hello".chars().rev().collect(); |
| ``` |
| |
| Another way to provide the compiler with enough information, is to specify the |
| generic type parameter: |
| |
| ``` |
| let x = "hello".chars().rev().collect::<Vec<char>>(); |
| ``` |
| |
| Again, you need not specify the full type if the compiler can infer it: |
| |
| ``` |
| let x = "hello".chars().rev().collect::<Vec<_>>(); |
| ``` |
| |
| Apart from a method or function with a generic type parameter, this error can |
| occur when a type parameter of a struct or trait cannot be inferred. In that |
| case it is not always possible to use a type annotation, because all candidates |
| have the same return type. For instance: |
| |
| ```compile_fail,E0282 |
| struct Foo<T> { |
| num: T, |
| } |
| |
| impl<T> Foo<T> { |
| fn bar() -> i32 { |
| 0 |
| } |
| |
| fn baz() { |
| let number = Foo::bar(); |
| } |
| } |
| ``` |
| |
| This will fail because the compiler does not know which instance of `Foo` to |
| call `bar` on. Change `Foo::bar()` to `Foo::<T>::bar()` to resolve the error. |