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<ol class="chapter"><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../about-this-guide.html">About this guide</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../getting-started.html">Getting Started</a></li><li class="spacer"></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><li class="part-title">Building and debugging rustc</li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../building/how-to-build-and-run.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.</strong> How to Build and Run the Compiler</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../building/prerequisites.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.1.</strong> Prerequisites</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../building/suggested.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.2.</strong> Suggested Workflows</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../building/build-install-distribution-artifacts.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.3.</strong> Distribution artifacts</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../building/compiler-documenting.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.4.</strong> Documenting Compiler</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../rustdoc.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.5.</strong> Rustdoc overview</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../building/new-target.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.6.</strong> Adding a new target</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../tests/intro.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.</strong> The compiler testing framework</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../tests/running.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.1.</strong> Running tests</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../tests/adding.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.2.</strong> Adding new tests</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../compiletest.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.3.</strong> Using compiletest commands to control test execution</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../compiler-debugging.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.</strong> Debugging the Compiler</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../tracing.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.1.</strong> Using the tracing/logging instrumentation</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../profiling.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.</strong> Profiling the compiler</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../profiling/with_perf.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.1.</strong> with the linux perf tool</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../profiling/wpa_profiling.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.2.</strong> with Windows Performance Analyzer</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../crates-io.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">5.</strong> crates.io Dependencies</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><li class="part-title">Contributing to Rust</li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../contributing.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">6.</strong> Introduction</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../compiler-team.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">7.</strong> About the compiler team</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../git.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">8.</strong> Using Git</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../rustbot.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">9.</strong> Mastering @rustbot</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../walkthrough.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">10.</strong> Walkthrough: a typical contribution</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../bug-fix-procedure.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">11.</strong> Bug Fix Procedure</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../implementing_new_features.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">12.</strong> Implementing new features</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../stability.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">13.</strong> Stability attributes</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../stabilization_guide.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">14.</strong> Stabilizing Features</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../feature-gates.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">15.</strong> Feature Gates</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../conventions.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">16.</strong> Coding conventions</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../notification-groups/about.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.</strong> Notification groups</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../notification-groups/arm.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.1.</strong> ARM</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../notification-groups/cleanup-crew.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.2.</strong> Cleanup Crew</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../notification-groups/llvm.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.3.</strong> LLVM</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../notification-groups/risc-v.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.4.</strong> RISC-V</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../notification-groups/windows.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">17.5.</strong> Windows</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../licenses.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">18.</strong> Licenses</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><li class="part-title">High-level Compiler Architecture</li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../part-2-intro.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">19.</strong> Prologue</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../overview.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">20.</strong> Overview of the Compiler</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../compiler-src.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">21.</strong> The compiler source code</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../building/bootstrapping.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">22.</strong> Bootstrapping</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../query.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">23.</strong> Queries: demand-driven compilation</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../queries/query-evaluation-model-in-detail.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">23.1.</strong> The Query Evaluation Model in Detail</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../queries/incremental-compilation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">23.2.</strong> Incremental compilation</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../queries/incremental-compilation-in-detail.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">23.3.</strong> Incremental compilation In Detail</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../incrcomp-debugging.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">23.4.</strong> Debugging and Testing</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../salsa.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">23.5.</strong> Salsa</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../memory.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">24.</strong> Memory Management in Rustc</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../serialization.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">25.</strong> Serialization in Rustc</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../parallel-rustc.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">26.</strong> Parallel Compilation</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../rustdoc-internals.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">27.</strong> Rustdoc internals</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><li class="part-title">Source Code Representation</li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../part-3-intro.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">28.</strong> Prologue</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../cli.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">29.</strong> Command-line arguments</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../rustc-driver.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">30.</strong> The Rustc Driver and Interface</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../rustc-driver-interacting-with-the-ast.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">30.1.</strong> Ex: Type checking through rustc_interface</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../rustc-driver-getting-diagnostics.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">30.2.</strong> Ex: Getting diagnostics through rustc_interface</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../syntax-intro.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.</strong> Syntax and the AST</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../the-parser.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.1.</strong> Lexing and Parsing</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../macro-expansion.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.2.</strong> Macro expansion</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../name-resolution.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.3.</strong> Name resolution</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../test-implementation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.4.</strong> #[test] Implementation</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../panic-implementation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.5.</strong> Panic Implementation</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../ast-validation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.6.</strong> AST Validation</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../feature-gate-ck.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.7.</strong> Feature Gate Checking</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../lang-items.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">31.8.</strong> Lang Items</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../hir.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">32.</strong> The HIR (High-level IR)</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../lowering.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">32.1.</strong> Lowering AST to HIR</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../hir-debugging.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">32.2.</strong> Debugging</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../thir.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">33.</strong> The THIR (Typed High-level IR)</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="../mir/index.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">34.</strong> The MIR (Mid-level IR)</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="../mir/construction.html" class="active"><strong aria-hidden="true">34.1.</strong> MIR construction</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../mir/visitor.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">34.2.</strong> MIR visitor and traversal</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../mir/passes.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">34.3.</strong> MIR passes: getting the MIR for a function</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../identifiers.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">35.</strong> Identifiers in the Compiler</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../closure.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">36.</strong> Closure expansion</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><li class="part-title">Analysis</li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../part-4-intro.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">37.</strong> Prologue</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../ty.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">38.</strong> The ty module: representing types</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../generics.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">38.1.</strong> Generics and substitutions</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../ty-fold.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">38.2.</strong> TypeFolder and TypeFoldable</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../generic_arguments.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">38.3.</strong> Generic arguments</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../constants.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">38.4.</strong> Constants in the type system</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../type-inference.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">39.</strong> Type inference</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/resolution.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.</strong> Trait solving</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../early-late-bound.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.1.</strong> Early and Late Bound Parameters</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/hrtb.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.2.</strong> Higher-ranked trait bounds</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/caching.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.3.</strong> Caching subtleties</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/specialization.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.4.</strong> Specialization</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/chalk.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.5.</strong> Chalk-based trait solving</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/lowering-to-logic.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.5.1.</strong> Lowering to logic</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/goals-and-clauses.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.5.2.</strong> Goals and clauses</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../traits/canonical-queries.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">40.5.3.</strong> Canonical queries</a></li></ol></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../type-checking.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">41.</strong> Type checking</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../method-lookup.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">41.1.</strong> Method Lookup</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../variance.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">41.2.</strong> Variance</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../opaque-types-type-alias-impl-trait.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">41.3.</strong> Opaque Types</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../pat-exhaustive-checking.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">42.</strong> Pattern and Exhaustiveness Checking</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../mir/dataflow.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">43.</strong> MIR dataflow</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.</strong> The borrow checker</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/moves_and_initialization.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.1.</strong> Tracking moves and initialization</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/moves_and_initialization/move_paths.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.1.1.</strong> Move paths</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/type_check.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.2.</strong> MIR type checker</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/region_inference.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.3.</strong> Region inference</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/region_inference/constraint_propagation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.3.1.</strong> Constraint propagation</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/region_inference/lifetime_parameters.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.3.2.</strong> Lifetime parameters</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/region_inference/member_constraints.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.3.3.</strong> Member constraints</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/region_inference/placeholders_and_universes.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.3.4.</strong> Placeholders and universes</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/region_inference/closure_constraints.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.3.5.</strong> Closure constraints</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/region_inference/error_reporting.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.3.6.</strong> Error reporting</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../borrow_check/two_phase_borrows.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">44.4.</strong> Two-phase-borrows</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../param_env.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">45.</strong> Parameter Environments</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../diagnostics.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">46.</strong> Errors and Lints</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../diagnostics/sessiondiagnostic.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">46.1.</strong> Creating Errors With SessionDiagnostic</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../diagnostics/lintstore.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">46.2.</strong> LintStore</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../diagnostics/diagnostic-codes.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">46.3.</strong> Diagnostic Codes</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../diagnostics/diagnostic-items.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">46.4.</strong> Diagnostic Items</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><li class="part-title">MIR to Binaries</li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../part-5-intro.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">47.</strong> Prologue</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../mir/optimizations.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">48.</strong> MIR optimizations</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../mir/debugging.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">49.</strong> Debugging</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../const-eval.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">50.</strong> Constant evaluation</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../miri.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">50.1.</strong> miri const evaluator</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/monomorph.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">51.</strong> Monomorphization</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/lowering-mir.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">52.</strong> Lowering MIR</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/codegen.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">53.</strong> Code Generation</a><a class="toggle"><div></div></a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/updating-llvm.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">53.1.</strong> Updating LLVM</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/debugging.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">53.2.</strong> Debugging LLVM</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/backend-agnostic.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">53.3.</strong> Backend Agnostic Codegen</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/implicit-caller-location.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">53.4.</strong> Implicit Caller Location</a></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../backend/libs-and-metadata.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">54.</strong> Libraries and Metadata</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../profile-guided-optimization.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">55.</strong> Profile-guided Optimization</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../llvm-coverage-instrumentation.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">56.</strong> LLVM Source-Based Code Coverage</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../sanitizers.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">57.</strong> Sanitizers Support</a></li><li class="chapter-item "><a href="../debugging-support-in-rustc.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">58.</strong> Debugging Support in the Rust Compiler</a></li><li class="spacer"></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../appendix/background.html">Appendix A: Background topics</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../appendix/glossary.html">Appendix B: Glossary</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../appendix/code-index.html">Appendix C: Code Index</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../appendix/compiler-lecture.html">Appendix D: Compiler Lecture Series</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../appendix/bibliography.html">Appendix E: Bibliography</a></li><li class="chapter-item affix "><a href="../appendix/humorust.html">Appendix Z: HumorRust</a></li><li class="spacer"></li></ol>
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<h1 id="mir-construction"><a class="header" href="#mir-construction">MIR construction</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#unpack-all-the-things"><code>unpack!</code> all the things</a></li>
<li><a href="#lowering-expressions-into-the-desired-mir">Lowering expressions into the desired MIR</a></li>
<li><a href="#operator-lowering">Operator lowering</a></li>
<li><a href="#method-call-lowering">Method call lowering</a></li>
<li><a href="#conditions">Conditions</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#pattern-matching">Pattern matching</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#aggregate-construction">Aggregate construction</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The lowering of <a href="../hir.html">HIR</a> to <a href="./index.html">MIR</a> occurs for the following (probably incomplete)
list of items:</p>
<ul>
<li>Function and closure bodies</li>
<li>Initializers of <code>static</code> and <code>const</code> items</li>
<li>Initializers of enum discriminants</li>
<li>Glue and shims of any kind
<ul>
<li>Tuple struct initializer functions</li>
<li>Drop code (the <code>Drop::drop</code> function is not called directly)</li>
<li>Drop implementations of types without an explicit <code>Drop</code> implementation</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The lowering is triggered by calling the <a href="https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/nightly-rustc/rustc_mir_build/build/fn.mir_built.html"><code>mir_built</code></a> query. The MIR builder does
not actually use the HIR but operates on the <a href="https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/nightly-rustc/rustc_mir_build/thir/index.html">THIR</a> instead, processing THIR
expressions recursively.</p>
<p>The lowering creates local variables for every argument as specified in the signature.
Next, it creates local variables for every binding specified (e.g. <code>(a, b): (i32, String)</code>)
produces 3 bindings, one for the argument, and two for the bindings. Next, it generates
field accesses that read the fields from the argument and writes the value to the binding
variable.</p>
<p>With this initialization out of the way, the lowering triggers a recursive call
to a function that generates the MIR for the body (a <code>Block</code> expression) and
writes the result into the <code>RETURN_PLACE</code>.</p>
<h2 id="unpack-all-the-things"><a class="header" href="#unpack-all-the-things"><code>unpack!</code> all the things</a></h2>
<p>Functions that generate MIR tend to fall into one of two patterns.
First, if the function generates only statements, then it will take a
basic block as argument onto which those statements should be appended.
It can then return a result as normal:</p>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore">fn generate_some_mir(&amp;mut self, block: BasicBlock) -&gt; ResultType {
...
}
</code></pre>
<p>But there are other functions that may generate new basic blocks as well.
For example, lowering an expression like <code>if foo { 22 } else { 44 }</code>
requires generating a small &quot;diamond-shaped graph&quot;.
In this case, the functions take a basic block where their code starts
and return a (potentially) new basic block where the code generation ends.
The <code>BlockAnd</code> type is used to represent this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore">fn generate_more_mir(&amp;mut self, block: BasicBlock) -&gt; BlockAnd&lt;ResultType&gt; {
...
}
</code></pre>
<p>When you invoke these functions, it is common to have a local variable <code>block</code>
that is effectively a &quot;cursor&quot;. It represents the point at which we are adding new MIR.
When you invoke <code>generate_more_mir</code>, you want to update this cursor.
You can do this manually, but it's tedious:</p>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore">let mut block;
let v = match self.generate_more_mir(..) {
BlockAnd { block: new_block, value: v } =&gt; {
block = new_block;
v
}
};
</code></pre>
<p>For this reason, we offer a macro that lets you write
<code>let v = unpack!(block = self.generate_more_mir(...))</code>.
It simply extracts the new block and overwrites the
variable <code>block</code> that you named in the <code>unpack!</code>.</p>
<h2 id="lowering-expressions-into-the-desired-mir"><a class="header" href="#lowering-expressions-into-the-desired-mir">Lowering expressions into the desired MIR</a></h2>
<p>There are essentially four kinds of representations one might want of an expression:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>Place</code> refers to a (or part of a) preexisting memory location (local, static, promoted)</li>
<li><code>Rvalue</code> is something that can be assigned to a <code>Place</code></li>
<li><code>Operand</code> is an argument to e.g. a <code>+</code> operation or a function call</li>
<li>a temporary variable containing a copy of the value</li>
</ul>
<p>The following image depicts a general overview of the interactions between the
representations:</p>
<img src="mir_overview.svg">
<p><a href="mir_detailed.svg">Click here for a more detailed view</a></p>
<p>We start out with lowering the function body to an <code>Rvalue</code> so we can create an
assignment to <code>RETURN_PLACE</code>, This <code>Rvalue</code> lowering will in turn trigger lowering to
<code>Operand</code> for its arguments (if any). <code>Operand</code> lowering either produces a <code>const</code>
operand, or moves/copies out of a <code>Place</code>, thus triggering a <code>Place</code> lowering. An
expression being lowered to a <code>Place</code> can in turn trigger a temporary to be created
if the expression being lowered contains operations. This is where the snake bites its
own tail and we need to trigger an <code>Rvalue</code> lowering for the expression to be written
into the local.</p>
<h2 id="operator-lowering"><a class="header" href="#operator-lowering">Operator lowering</a></h2>
<p>Operators on builtin types are not lowered to function calls (which would end up being
infinite recursion calls, because the trait impls just contain the operation itself
again). Instead there are <code>Rvalue</code>s for binary and unary operators and index operations.
These <code>Rvalue</code>s later get codegened to llvm primitive operations or llvm intrinsics.</p>
<p>Operators on all other types get lowered to a function call to their <code>impl</code> of the
operator's corresponding trait.</p>
<p>Regardless of the lowering kind, the arguments to the operator are lowered to <code>Operand</code>s.
This means all arguments are either constants, or refer to an already existing value
somewhere in a local or static.</p>
<h2 id="method-call-lowering"><a class="header" href="#method-call-lowering">Method call lowering</a></h2>
<p>Method calls are lowered to the same <code>TerminatorKind</code> that function calls are.
In <a href="./index.html">MIR</a> there is no difference between method calls and function calls anymore.</p>
<h2 id="conditions"><a class="header" href="#conditions">Conditions</a></h2>
<p><code>if</code> conditions and <code>match</code> statements for <code>enum</code>s without variants with fields are
lowered to <code>TerminatorKind::SwitchInt</code>. Each possible value (so <code>0</code> and <code>1</code> for <code>if</code>
conditions) has a corresponding <code>BasicBlock</code> to which the code continues.
The argument being branched on is (again) an <code>Operand</code> representing the value of
the if condition.</p>
<h3 id="pattern-matching"><a class="header" href="#pattern-matching">Pattern matching</a></h3>
<p><code>match</code> statements for <code>enum</code>s with variants that have fields are lowered to
<code>TerminatorKind::SwitchInt</code>, too, but the <code>Operand</code> refers to a <code>Place</code> where the
discriminant of the value can be found. This often involves reading the discriminant
to a new temporary variable.</p>
<h2 id="aggregate-construction"><a class="header" href="#aggregate-construction">Aggregate construction</a></h2>
<p>Aggregate values of any kind (e.g. structs or tuples) are built via <code>Rvalue::Aggregate</code>.
All fields are
lowered to <code>Operator</code>s. This is essentially equivalent to one assignment
statement per aggregate field plus an assignment to the discriminant in the
case of <code>enum</code>s.</p>
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