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Revise the crate-level docs.
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Lokathor committed Nov 26, 2023
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69 changes: 53 additions & 16 deletions src/lib.rs
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//! * `&[T]` uses [`cast_slice`]
//! * `&mut [T]` uses [`cast_slice_mut`]
//!
//! Some casts will never fail (eg: `cast::<u32, f32>` always works), other
//! casts might fail (eg: `cast_ref::<[u8; 4], u32>` will fail if the reference
//! isn't already aligned to 4). Each casting function has a "try" version which
//! will return a `Result`, and the "normal" version which will simply panic on
//! invalid input.
//! Depending on the function, the [`NoUninit`] and/or [`AnyBitPattern`] traits
//! are used to maintain memory safety.
//!
//! **Historical Note:** When the crate first started the [`Pod`] trait was used
//! instead, and so you may hear people refer to that, but it has the strongest
//! requirements and people eventually wanted the more fine-grained system, so
//! here we are. All types that impl `Pod` have a blanket impl to also support
//! `NoUninit` and `AnyBitPattern`. The traits unfortunately do not have a
//! perfectly clean hierarchy for semver reasons.
//!
//! ## Failures
//!
//! Some casts will never fail, and other casts might fail.
//!
//! * `cast::<u32, f32>` always works (and [`f32::from_bits`]).
//! * `cast_ref::<[u8; 4], u32>` might fail if the specific array reference
//! given at runtime doesn't have alignment 4.
//!
//! In addition to the "normal" forms of each function, which will panic on
//! invalid input, there's also `try_` versions which will return a `Result`.
//!
//! If you would like to statically ensure that a cast will work at runtime you
//! can use the `must_cast` crate feature and the `must_` casting functions. A
//! "must cast" that can't be statically known to be valid will cause a
//! compilation error (and sometimes a very hard to read compilation error).
//!
//! ## Using Your Own Types
//!
//! All the functions here are guarded by the [`Pod`] trait, which is a
//! All the functions listed above are guarded by the [`Pod`] trait, which is a
//! sub-trait of the [`Zeroable`] trait.
//!
//! If you're very sure that your type is eligible, you can implement those
//! traits for your type and then they'll have full casting support. However,
//! these traits are `unsafe`, and you should carefully read the requirements
//! before adding the them to your own types.
//! If you enable the crate's `derive` feature then these traits can be derived
//! on your own types. The derive macros will perform the necessary checks on
//! your type declaration, and trigger an error if your type does not qualify.
//!
//! The derive macros might not cover all edge cases, and sometimes they will
//! error when actually everything is fine. As a last resort you can impl these
//! traits manually. However, these traits are `unsafe`, and you should
//! carefully read the requirements before using a manual implementation.
//!
//! ## Cargo Features
//!
//! The crate supports Rust 1.34 when no features are enabled, and so there's
//! cargo features for thing that you might consider "obvious".
//!
//! ## Features
//! The cargo features **do not** promise any particular MSRV, and they may
//! increase their MSRV in new versions.
//!
//! * This crate is core only by default, but if you're using Rust 1.36 or later
//! you can enable the `extern_crate_alloc` cargo feature for some additional
//! methods related to `Box` and `Vec`. Note that the `docs.rs` documentation
//! is always built with `extern_crate_alloc` cargo feature enabled.
//! * `derive`: Provide derive macros for the various traits.
//! * `extern_crate_alloc`: Provide utilities for `alloc` related types such as
//! Box and Vec.
//! * `zeroable_maybe_uninit` and `zeroable_atomics`: Provide more [`Zeroable`]
//! impls.
//! * `wasm_simd` and `aarch64_simd`: Support more SIMD types.
//! * `min_const_generics`: Provides appropriate impls for arrays of all lengths
//! instead of just for a select list of array lengths.
//! * `must_cast`: Provides the `must_` functions, which will compile error if
//! the requested cast can't be statically verified.

#[cfg(all(target_arch = "aarch64", feature = "aarch64_simd"))]
use core::arch::aarch64;
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -131,7 +167,8 @@ mod contiguous;
pub use contiguous::*;

mod offset_of;
pub use offset_of::*;
// ^ no import, the module only has a macro_rules, which are cursed and don't
// follow normal import/export rules.

mod transparent;
pub use transparent::*;
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