Comparisons

These traits support comparisons between values. All traits can be derived for types containing fields that implement these traits.

PartialEq and Eq

PartialEq is a partial equivalence relation, with required method eq and provided method ne. The == and != operators will call these methods.

struct Key { id: u32, metadata: Option<String> }
impl PartialEq for Key {
    fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
        self.id == other.id
    }
}

Eq is a full equivalence relation (reflexive, symmetric, and transitive) and implies PartialEq. Functions that require full equivalence will use Eq as a trait bound.

PartialOrd and Ord

PartialOrd defines a partial ordering, with a partial_cmp method. It is used to implement the <, <=, >=, and > operators.

use std::cmp::Ordering;
#[derive(Eq, PartialEq)]
struct Citation { author: String, year: u32 }
impl PartialOrd for Citation {
    fn partial_cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> Option<Ordering> {
        match self.author.partial_cmp(&other.author) {
            Some(Ordering::Equal) => self.year.partial_cmp(&other.year),
            author_ord => author_ord,
        }
    }
}

Ord is a total ordering, with cmp returning Ordering.

struct Key { id: u32, metadata: Option<String> }
impl PartialEq<u32> for Key {
    fn eq(&self, other: &u32) -> bool {
        self.id == *other
    }
}