What's the meaning of E0310

help
1

the following code can't compile

fn main() {
  struct U<'a,T>(&'a u8,T) where &T:'a;
}

the error is

error[E0310]: the parameter type `T` may not live long enough

I can understand that a lifetime outlive another lifetime, how a type outlive a lifetime?

2

You are specifying that a reference to T has lifetime 'a, but T could have a shorter lifetime. This works:

fn main() {
  struct U<'a,T>(&'a u8,T) where T:'a;
}
3

Sometimes it helps to think of lifetime bounds as validity bounds. Ty: 'lt means that type Ty is valid for at least everywhere that lifetime 'lt indicates. String: 'static not because any given String will live forever, but because any given String could live forever -- it is valid everywhere.

In practice it usually means "the type contains no references more constrained than the lifetime".

See also.

struct U<'a, T>(&'a u8, T) where &T: 'a;

The first error is that you elided a lifetime where elision isn't allowed, so let's fix that first:

struct U<'a, T>(&'a u8, T) where &'a T: 'a;

This compiles. The first error was throwing off the compiler and the second suggestion was unnecessary. It is true that T: 'a must hold for &'a T to be valid, but the compiler is aware of this very common construction and takes it as an implied bound. Something similar is true for &'a T: 'a, so you can leave that off too:

struct U<'a, T>(&'a u8, T);
4

Thank you for the elaborated explanation . I'm not completely understood . But I known not all legal syntax make practical sense . I'm just trying to explore all the possibilities of the grammar and see what will happen.

5

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