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Background
==========
Slices currently have an unstable [`rotate`] method which rotates
elements in the slice to the _left_ N positions. [Here][tracking] is the
tracking issue for this unstable feature.
```rust
let mut a = ['a', 'b' ,'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'];
a.rotate(2);
assert_eq!(a, ['c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'a', 'b']);
```
Proposal
========
Deprecate the [`rotate`] method and introduce `rotate_left` and
`rotate_right` methods.
```rust
let mut a = ['a', 'b' ,'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'];
a.rotate_left(2);
assert_eq!(a, ['c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'a', 'b']);
```
```rust
let mut a = ['a', 'b' ,'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'];
a.rotate_right(2);
assert_eq!(a, ['e', 'f', 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd']);
```
Justification
=============
I used this method today for my first time and (probably because I’m a
naive westerner who reads LTR) was surprised when the docs mentioned that
elements get rotated in a left-ward direction. I was in a situation
where I needed to shift elements in a right-ward direction and had to
context switch from the main problem I was working on and think how much
to rotate left in order to accomplish the right-ward rotation I needed.
Ruby’s `Array.rotate` shifts left-ward, Python’s `deque.rotate` shifts
right-ward. Both of their implementations allow passing negative numbers
to shift in the opposite direction respectively.
Introducing `rotate_left` and `rotate_right` would:
- remove ambiguity about direction (alleviating need to read docs 😉)
- make it easier for people who need to rotate right
[`rotate`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/primitive.slice.html#method.rotate
[tracking]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/41891
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This commit removes the `rand` crate from the standard library facade as
well as the `__rand` module in the standard library. Neither of these
were used in any meaningful way in the standard library itself. The only
need for randomness in libstd is to initialize the thread-local keys of
a `HashMap`, and that unconditionally used `OsRng` defined in the
standard library anyway.
The cruft of the `rand` crate and the extra `rand` support in the
standard library makes libstd slightly more difficult to port to new
platforms, namely WebAssembly which doesn't have any randomness at all
(without interfacing with JS). The purpose of this commit is to clarify
and streamline randomness in libstd, focusing on how it's only required
in one location, hashmap seeds.
Note that the `rand` crate out of tree has almost always been a drop-in
replacement for the `rand` crate in-tree, so any usage (accidental or
purposeful) of the crate in-tree should switch to the `rand` crate on
crates.io. This then also has the further benefit of avoiding
duplication (mostly) between the two crates!
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