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# The `Default` Trait
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## Description
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Many types in Rust have a [constructor]. However, this is *specific* to the
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type; Rust cannot abstract over "everything that has a `new()` method". To
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allow this, the [`Default`] trait was conceived, which can be used with
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containers and other generic types (e.g. see [`Option::unwrap_or_default()`]).
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Notably, some containers already implement it where applicable.
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Not only do one-element containers like `Cow`, `Box` or `Arc` implement
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`Default` for contained `Default` types, one can automatically
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`#[derive(Default)]` for structs whose fields all implement it, so the more
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types implement `Default`, the more useful it becomes.
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On the other hand, constructors can take multiple arguments, while the
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`default()` method does not. There can even be multiple constructors with
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different names, but there can only be one `Default` implementation per type.
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## Example
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```rust
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// note that we can simply auto-derive Default here.
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#[derive(Default)]
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struct MyConfiguration {
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// Option defaults to None
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output: Option<Path>,
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// Vecs default to empty vector
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search_path: Vec<Path>,
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// Duration defaults to zero time
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timeout: Duration,
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// bool defaults to false
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check: bool,
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}
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impl MyConfiguration {
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// add setters here
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}
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```
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## See also
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- The [constructor] idiom is another way to generate instances that may or may
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not be "default"
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- The [`Default`] documentation (scroll down for the list of implementors)
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- [`Option::unwrap_or_default()`]
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- [`derive(new)`]
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[constructor]: ctor.md
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[`Default`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/std/default/trait.Default.html
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[`Option::unwrap_or_default()`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/std/option/enum.Option.html#method.unwrap_or_default
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[`derive(new)`]: https://crates.io/crates/derive-new/
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