Function std::future::poll_fn

pub fn poll_fn<T, F>(f: F) -> PollFn<F> where
    F: FnMut(&mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<T>,

Creates a future that wraps a function returning Poll.

Polling the future delegates to the wrapped function. If the returned future is pinned, then the captured environment of the wrapped function is also pinned in-place, so as long as the closure does not move out of its captures it can soundly create pinned references to them.

Examples

use core::future::poll_fn;
use std::task::{Context, Poll};

fn read_line(_cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<String> {
    Poll::Ready("Hello, World!".into())
}

let read_future = poll_fn(read_line);
assert_eq!(read_future.await, "Hello, World!".to_owned());

Capturing a pinned state

Example of a closure wrapping inner futures:

use core::future::{self, Future};
use core::task::Poll;

/// Resolves to the first future that completes. In the event of a tie, `a` wins.
fn naive_select<T>(
    a: impl Future<Output = T>,
    b: impl Future<Output = T>,
) -> impl Future<Output = T>
{
    let (mut a, mut b) = (Box::pin(a), Box::pin(b));
    future::poll_fn(move |cx| {
        if let Poll::Ready(r) = a.as_mut().poll(cx) {
            Poll::Ready(r)
        } else if let Poll::Ready(r) = b.as_mut().poll(cx) {
            Poll::Ready(r)
        } else {
            Poll::Pending
        }
    })
}

let a = async { 42 };
let b = future::pending();
let v = naive_select(a, b).await;
assert_eq!(v, 42);

let a = future::pending();
let b = async { 27 };
let v = naive_select(a, b).await;
assert_eq!(v, 27);

let a = async { 42 };
let b = async { 27 };
let v = naive_select(a, b).await;
assert_eq!(v, 42); // biased towards `a` in case of tie!

This time without Box::pinning:

use core::future::{self, Future};
use core::pin::pin;
use core::task::Poll;

/// Resolves to the first future that completes. In the event of a tie, `a` wins.
fn naive_select<T>(
    a: impl Future<Output = T>,
    b: impl Future<Output = T>,
) -> impl Future<Output = T>
{
    async {
        let (mut a, mut b) = (pin!(a), pin!(b));
        future::poll_fn(move |cx| {
            if let Poll::Ready(r) = a.as_mut().poll(cx) {
                Poll::Ready(r)
            } else if let Poll::Ready(r) = b.as_mut().poll(cx) {
                Poll::Ready(r)
            } else {
                Poll::Pending
            }
        }).await
    }
}

let a = async { 42 };
let b = future::pending();
let v = naive_select(a, b).await;
assert_eq!(v, 42);

• Notice how, by virtue of being in an async context, we have been able to make the pin! macro work, thereby avoiding any need for the unsafe Pin::new_unchecked(&mut fut) constructor.