Merge pull request #1320 from najamelan/rewrite/static

Rewrite section on 'static lifetime.

Author: marioidival

src/scope/lifetime/static_lifetime.md

@@ -1,10 +1,27 @@
 # Static
 
-A `'static` lifetime is the longest possible lifetime, and lasts for 
-the lifetime of the running program. A `'static` lifetime may also be 
-coerced to a shorter lifetime. There are two ways to make a variable 
-with `'static` lifetime, and both are stored in the read-only memory
-of the binary:
+Rust has a few reserved lifetime names. One of those is `'static`. You
+might encounter it in two situations:
+
+```rust, editable
+// A reference with 'static lifetime:
+let s: &'static str = "hello world";
+
+// 'static as part of a trait bound:
+fn generic<T>(x: T) where T: 'static {}
+```
+
+Both are related but subtly different and this is a common source for
+confusion when learning Rust. Here are some examples for each situation:
+
+## Reference lifetime
+
+As a reference lifetime `'static` indicates that the data pointed to by
+the reference lives for the entire lifetime of the running program.
+It can still be coerced to a shorter lifetime.
+
+There are two ways to make a variable with `'static` lifetime, and both
+are stored in the read-only memory of the binary:
 
 * Make a constant with the `static` declaration.
 * Make a `string` literal which has type: `&'static str`.
@@ -15,7 +32,7 @@ See the following example for a display of each method:
 // Make a constant with `'static` lifetime.
 static NUM: i32 = 18;
 
-// Returns a reference to `NUM` where its `'static` 
+// Returns a reference to `NUM` where its `'static`
 // lifetime is coerced to that of the input argument.
 fn coerce_static<'a>(_: &'a i32) -> &'a i32 {
     &NUM
@@ -30,7 +47,7 @@ fn main() {
         // When `static_string` goes out of scope, the reference
         // can no longer be used, but the data remains in the binary.
     }
-    
+
     {
         // Make an integer to use for `coerce_static`:
         let lifetime_num = 9;
@@ -40,13 +57,56 @@ fn main() {
 
         println!("coerced_static: {}", coerced_static);
     }
-    
+
     println!("NUM: {} stays accessible!", NUM);
 }
 ```
 
+## Trait bound
+
+As a trait bound, it means the type does not contain any non-static
+references. Eg. the receiver can hold on to the type for as long as
+they want and it will never become invalid until they drop it.
+
+It's important to understand this means that any owned data always passes
+a `'static` lifetime bound, but a reference to that owned data generally
+does not:
+
+```rust,editable,compile_fail
+use std::fmt::Debug;
+
+fn print_it( input: impl Debug + 'static )
+{
+    println!( "'static value passed in is: {:?}", input );
+}
+
+fn use_it()
+{
+    // i is owned and contains no references, thus it's 'static:
+    let i = 5;
+    print_it(i);
+
+    // oops, &i only has the lifetime defined by the scope of
+    // use_it(), so it's not 'static:
+    print_it(&i);
+}
+```
+The compiler will tell you:
+```ignore
+error[E0597]: `i` does not live long enough
+  --> src/lib.rs:15:15
+   |
+15 |     print_it(&i);
+   |     ---------^^--
+   |     |         |
+   |     |         borrowed value does not live long enough
+   |     argument requires that `i` is borrowed for `'static`
+16 | }
+   | - `i` dropped here while still borrowed
+```
+
 ### See also:
 
 [`'static` constants][static_const]
 
-[static_const]: ../../custom_types/constants.md
+[static_const]: ../../custom_types/constants.md