Guide: complex data types

Author: steveklabnik

src/doc/guide.md

@@ -948,11 +948,281 @@ comments
 
 ## Compound Data Types
 
-Tuples
+Rust, like many programming languages, has a number of different data types
+that are built-in. You've already done some simple work with integers and
+strings, but next, let's talk about some more complicated ways of storing data.
 
-Structs
+### Tuples
 
-Enums
+The first compound data type we're going to talk about are called **tuple**s.
+Tuples are an ordered list of a fixed size. Like this:
+
+```rust
+let x = (1i, "hello");
+```
+
+The parenthesis and commas form this two-length tuple. Here's the same code, but
+with the type annotated:
+
+```rust
+let x: (int, &str) = (1, "hello");
+```
+
+As you can see, the type of a tuple looks just like the tuple, but with each
+position having a type name rather than the value. Careful readers will also
+note that tuples are heterogeneous: we have an `int` and a `&str` in this tuple.
+You haven't seen `&str` as a type before, and we'll discuss the details of
+strings later. In systems programming languages, strings are a bit more complex
+than in other languages. For now, just read `&str` as "a string slice," and
+we'll learn more soon.
+
+You can access the fields in a tuple through a **destructuring let**. Here's
+an example:
+
+```rust
+let (x, y, z) = (1i, 2i, 3i);
+
+println!("x is {}", x);
+```
+
+Remember before when I said the left hand side of a `let` statement was more
+powerful than just assigning a binding? Here we are. We can put a pattern on
+the left hand side of the `let`, and if it matches up to the right hand side,
+we can assign multiple bindings at once. In this case, `let` 'destructures,'
+or 'breaks up,' the tuple, and assigns the bits to three bindings.
+
+This pattern is very powerful, and we'll see it repeated more later.
+
+The last thing to say about tuples is that they are only equivalent if
+the arity, types, and values are all identical.
+
+```rust
+let x = (1i, 2i, 3i);
+let y = (2i, 3i, 4i);
+
+if x == y {
+    println!("yes");
+} else {
+    println!("no");
+}
+```
+
+This will print `no`, as the values aren't equal.
+
+One other use of tuples is to return multiple values from a function:
+
+```rust
+fn next_two(x: int) -> (int, int) { (x + 1i, x + 2i) }
+
+fn main() {
+    let (x, y) = next_two(5i);
+    println!("x, y = {}, {}", x, y);
+}
+```
+
+Even though Rust functions can only return one value, a tuple _is_ one value,
+that happens to be made up of two. You can also see in this example how you
+can destructure a pattern returned by a function, as well.
+
+Tuples are a very simple data structure, and so are not often what you want.
+Let's move on to their bigger sibling, structs.
+
+### Structs
+
+A struct is another form of a 'record type,' just like a tuple. There's a
+difference: structs give each element that they contain a name, called a
+'field' or a 'member.' Check it out:
+
+```rust
+struct Point {
+    x: int,
+    y: int,
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    let origin = Point { x: 0i, y:  0i };
+
+    println!("The origin is at ({}, {})", origin.x, origin.y);
+}
+```
+
+There's a lot going on here, so let's break it down. We declare a struct with
+the `struct` keyword, and then with a name. By convention, structs begin with a
+capital letter and are also camel cased: `PointInSpace`, not `Point_In_Space`.
+
+We can create an instance of our struct via `let`, as usual, but we use a `key:
+value` style syntax to set each field. The order doesn't need to be the same as
+in the original declaration.
+
+Finally, because fields have names, we can access the field through dot
+notation: `origin.x`.
+
+The values in structs are immutable, like other bindings in Rust. However, you
+can use `mut` to make them mutable:
+
+```rust
+struct Point {
+    x: int,
+    y: int,
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    let mut point = Point { x: 0i, y:  0i };
+
+    point.x = 5;
+
+    println!("The point is at ({}, {})", point.x, point.y);
+}
+```
+
+This will print `The point is at (5, 0)`.
+
+### Tuple Structs and Newtypes
+
+Rust has another data type that's like a hybrid between a tuple and a struct,
+called a **tuple struct**. Tuple structs do have a name, but their fields
+don't:
+
+
+```
+struct Color(int, int, int);
+struct Point(int, int, int);
+```
+
+These two will not be equal, even if they have the same values:
+
+```{rust,ignore}
+let black  = Color(0, 0, 0);
+let origin = Point(0, 0, 0);
+```
+
+It is almost always better to use a struct than a tuple struct. We would write
+`Color` and `Point` like this instead:
+
+```rust
+struct Color {
+    red: int,
+    blue: int,
+    green: int,
+}
+
+struct Point {
+    x: int,
+    y: int,
+    z: int,
+}
+```
+
+Now, we have actual names, rather than positions. Good names are important,
+and with a struct, we have actual names.
+
+There _is_ one case when a tuple struct is very useful, though, and that's a
+tuple struct with only one element. We call this a 'newtype,' because it lets
+you create a new type that's a synonym for another one:
+
+```
+struct Inches(int);
+struct Centimeters(int);
+
+let length = Inches(10);
+
+let Inches(integer_length) = length;
+println!("length is {} inches", integer_length);
+```
+
+As you can see here, you can extract the inner integer type through a
+destructuring `let`.
+
+### Enums
+
+Finally, Rust has a "sum type", an **enum**. Enums are an incredibly useful
+feature of Rust, and are used throughout the standard library. Enums look
+like this:
+
+```
+enum Ordering {
+    Less,
+    Equal,
+    Greater,
+}
+```
+
+This is an enum that is provided by the Rust standard library. An `Ordering`
+can only be _one_ of `Less`, `Equal`, or `Greater` at any given time. Here's
+an example:
+
+```rust
+let x = 5i;
+let y = 10i;
+
+let ordering = x.cmp(&y);
+
+if ordering == Less {
+    println!("less");
+} else if ordering == Greater {
+    println!("greater");
+} else if ordering == Equal {
+    println!("equal");
+}
+```
+
+`cmp` is a function that compares two things, and returns an `Ordering`. The
+call looks a little bit strange: rather than `cmp(x, y)`, we say `x.cmp(&y)`.
+We haven't covered methods and references yet, so it should look a little bit
+foreign. Right now, just pretend it says `cmp(x, y)`, and we'll get to those
+details soon.
+
+The `ordering` variable has the type `Ordering`, and so contains one of the
+three values. We can then do a bunch of `if`/`else` comparisons to check
+which one it is.
+
+However, repeated `if`/`else` comparisons get quite tedious. Rust has a feature
+that not only makes them nicer to read, but also makes sure that you never
+miss a case. Before we get to that, though, let's talk about another kind of
+enum: one with values.
+
+This enum has two variants, one of which has a value.:
+
+```
+enum OptionalInt {
+    Value(int),
+    Missing
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    let x = Value(5);
+    let y = Missing;
+
+    match x {
+        Value(n) => println!("x is {:d}", n),
+        Missing  => println!("x is missing!"),
+    }
+
+    match y {
+        Value(n) => println!("y is {:d}", n),
+        Missing  => println!("y is missing!"),
+    }
+}
+```
+
+This enum represents an `int` that we may or may not have. In the `Missing`
+case, we have no value, but in the `Value` case, we do. This enum is specific
+to `int`s, though. We can make it usable by any type, but we haven't quite
+gotten there yet!
+
+You can have any number of values in an enum:
+
+```
+enum OptionalColor {
+    Color(int, int, int),
+    Missing
+}
+```
+
+Enums with values are quite useful, but as I mentioned, they're even more
+useful when they're generic across types. But before we get to generics, let's
+talk about how to fix this big `if`/`else` statements we've been writing. We'll
+do that with `match`.
 
 ## Match