rustobject-identity

Rust references don't implement Eq/Hash? How to use them as hash map key?


I want to build a hashmap where they keys are references. I want that equality for those references means reference equality, i.e. both references borrow the same object.

use std::collections::hash_map::HashMap;

struct SomeKey();
struct SomeValue();

fn main() {
    let m = HashMap::<&SomeKey, SomeValue>::new();
    
    let t = SomeKey();
    m.get(&t);
}

Unfortunately, this fails and the compiler tells me that &SomeKey doesn't implement Hash/Eq.

error[E0599]: the method `get` exists for struct `HashMap<&SomeKey, SomeValue>`, but its trait bounds were not satisfied
  --> src/main.rs:10:7
   |
10 |     m.get(&t);
   |       ^^^ method cannot be called on `HashMap<&SomeKey, SomeValue>` due to unsatisfied trait bounds
   |
   = note: the following trait bounds were not satisfied:
           `&SomeKey: Eq`
           `&SomeKey: Hash`

(Playground)

I noticed that if i implement Eq+Hash for SomeKey, then it works, but that'll likely use the underlying object equality then which is not what I want.

Is there a way I can use references as hash map keys based on pointer equality?


Solution

  • You could use the by_address crate. It wraps any pointer/reference type to compare objects by address instead of by contents.

    use std::collections::hash_map::HashMap;
    
    use by_address::ByAddress;
    
    struct SomeKey();
    struct SomeValue();
    
    fn main() {
        let mut m = HashMap::<ByAddress<&SomeKey>, SomeValue>::new();
    
        let t1 = SomeKey();
        let t2 = SomeKey();
    
        m.insert(ByAddress(&t1), SomeValue());
        assert!(m.get(&ByAddress(&t1)).is_some());
        assert!(m.get(&ByAddress(&t2)).is_none());
    }