False positive derivable_impls for type parameters with defaults

[willburden]

Summary

In certain cases involving type parameters with defaults, it is possible for clippy to suggest re-writing an impl block using a derive, when in fact a derive would be more generic and may even cause a compiler error.

Lint Name

derivable_impls

Reproducer

I tried this code:

#![allow(dead_code)]

#[derive(Default)]
struct DefaultType;

struct GenericType<T = DefaultType> {
    t: T,
}

impl Default for GenericType {
    fn default() -> Self {
        Self { t: Default::default() }
    }
}

This triggers the lint saying the impl can instead be derived:

$ cargo clippy
warning: this `impl` can be derived
  --> src/lib.rs:10:1
   |
10 | / impl Default for GenericType {
11 | |     fn default() -> Self {
12 | |         Self { t: Default::default() }
13 | |     }
14 | | }
   | |_^
   |
   = help: for further information visit https://rust-lang.github.io/rust-clippy/master/index.html#derivable_impls
   = note: `#[warn(clippy::derivable_impls)]` on by default
   = help: remove the manual implementation...
help: ...and instead derive it
   |
6  | #[derive(Default)]
   |

This is a false positive as a derive here would be semantically different. The impl block as written implements Default specifically for GenericType, which is equivalent to GenericType<DefaultType>. However a derive would implement Default for any GenericType<T: Default>.

A similar case is the following, with an additional layer of indirection:

#![allow(dead_code)]

#[derive(Default)]
struct DefaultType;

struct InnerGenericType<T> {
    t: T,
}

impl Default for InnerGenericType<DefaultType> {
    fn default() -> Self {
        Self { t: Default::default() }
    }
}

struct GenericType<T = DefaultType> {
    inner: InnerGenericType<T>,
}

impl Default for GenericType {
    fn default() -> Self {
        Self { inner: Default::default() }
    }
}

This triggers the lint:

$ cargo clippy
warning: this `impl` can be derived
  --> src/lib.rs:20:1
   |
20 | / impl Default for GenericType {
21 | |     fn default() -> Self {
22 | |         Self { inner: Default::default() }
23 | |     }
24 | | }
   | |_^
   |
   = help: for further information visit https://rust-lang.github.io/rust-clippy/master/index.html#derivable_impls
   = note: `#[warn(clippy::derivable_impls)]` on by default
   = help: remove the manual implementation...
help: ...and instead derive it
   |
16 | #[derive(Default)]
   |

But following the advice would create a compiler error:

...

#[derive(Default)]
struct GenericType<T = DefaultType> {
    inner: InnerGenericType<T>,
}

$ cargo clippy
error[E0277]: the trait bound `InnerGenericType<T>: std::default::Default` is not satisfied
  --> src/lib.rs:18:5
   |
16 | #[derive(Default)]
   |          ------- in this derive macro expansion
17 | struct GenericType<T = DefaultType> {
18 |     inner: InnerGenericType<T>,
   |     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the trait `std::default::Default` is not implemented for `InnerGenericType<T>`
   |
   = note: this error originates in the derive macro `Default` (in Nightly builds, run with -Z macro-backtrace for more info)
help: consider annotating `InnerGenericType<T>` with `#[derive(Default)]`
   |
6  | #[derive(Default)]
   |
help: consider introducing a `where` clause, but there might be an alternative better way to express this requirement
   |
17 | struct GenericType<T = DefaultType> where InnerGenericType<T>: std::default::Default {
   |                                     ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For more information about this error, try `rustc --explain E0277`.

The difference here is that the impl block implements Default for GenericType<DefaultType>, whereas the derive implements Default for GenericType<T: Default>. The derive therefore has the trait bound that InnerGenericType<T> implements Default for all T: Default, which isn't satisfied: only InnerGenericType<DefaultType> implements Default.

(And breathe.)

This is similar to #7655 which was fixed – this one still occurs likely because of the special case with the type parameter having a default (<T = DefaultType>). The lint isn't triggered if the type parameter is explicitly specified, i.e.:

impl Default for GenericType<DefaultType>

instead of

impl Default for GenericType

Version

rustc 1.67.1 (d5a82bbd2 2023-02-07)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: d5a82bbd26e1ad8b7401f6a718a9c57c96905483
commit-date: 2023-02-07
host: aarch64-apple-darwin
release: 1.67.1
LLVM version: 15.0.6

Additional Labels

No response