Re: [PATCH 2/2] rust: num: add `cv!` macro to create values from constant expressions

["Gary Guo" <gary@garyguo.net>]

On Fri Aug 28, 2026 at 1:03 PM BST, Gary Guo wrote:
> Currently, constructing a `NonZero` or `Bounded` from a constant is
> verbose. The former would require `const { NonZero::new(...).unwrap() }`
> and the latter require turbofish. Similarly, the `num::casts` exposes
> methods that cast numbers using turbofish syntax, which is unergonomic and
> unnecessarily causes the value to flow into the type system, which is very
> restrictive without `generic_const_exprs`.
>
> Implement a macro `cv!` (short for constant value) which converts a const
> integer to types that implements `FromConst` trait and validate them during
> const evaluation.
>
> The usage is of form
>
>     cv!(<expression>)
>
> for inferred type and
>
>     cv!(<expression> => <type>)
>
> for explicit type specification.
>
> As we do not have const trait implementation yet, dark magic is used. The
> dark magic is documented in the code, but in essence it defines inherent
> `__from_const` impls on types, which can be marked const, and rely on
> Rust's method resolution algorithm to pick the correct function. Multiple
> helpers are defined to aid type inference to work properly.

Here's a generalized version that work for any trait methods (same limitation,
that you cannot use this trick if you have only `T: Trait` instead of a specific
`T`):

// Inference helper.
const fn would_call<T, U, F: FnOnce(T) -> U>(_: T, _: F) -> U {
    todo!()
}

// We can have a single helper type for *all* fake const traits, as long as
// method names don't duplicate.
struct Const<T>(T);

impl<T> core::ops::Deref for Const<T> {
    type Target = T;
    
    #[inline]
    fn deref(&self) -> &T {
        &self.0
    }
}

// Const call!
macro_rules! cc {
    (($e:expr).$ident:ident($($args:tt)*)) => {
        if false {
            // The normal "runtime" call path for type inference.
            would_call($e, |x| x.$ident($($args)*));
        } else {
            // Dispatch via inherent methods. Type already known with the above
            // helper!
            // A drawback here is that `$e` -> `&$e` autoref won't work here, as
            // `Deref` impl is not const.
            Const($e).$ident($($args)*)
        }
    }
}

// Imagine this being an attribute macro.
macro_rules! const_trait {
    (impl const $tr:ident for $ty:ty {
        fn $method:ident(self: $self_ty:ty) $body:block
    }) => {
        impl $tr for $ty {
            fn $method(self: $self_ty) {
                Const(self).$method()
            }
        }
        
        impl $ty {
            pub const fn $method(self: Const<$self_ty>) $body
        }
    }
}

struct MyStruct;

trait MyTrait {
    fn foo(self: Self);
}

const_trait!{
    impl const MyTrait for MyStruct {
        fn foo(self: Self) {}
    }
}

fn test() {
    const {
        let x = MyStruct;
        // MAGIC!
        cc!((x).foo());
    }
}