In [RFC rust-lang#474][rfc474], the issue of how to handle Displaying a
Path was left as an open question. The problem is that a Path
may contain non-UTF-8 data on most platforms. In the
implementation of the RFC, a `display` method was added, which
returns an adapter that implements `Display` by replacing
non-UTF8 data with a unicode replacement character.
Though I can't find a record of the discussion around this
issue, I believe there were two primary reasons not to just
implement this behavior as the `Display` impl of `Path`:
1. The adapter allocated in the non-UTF8 case, and Rust as a
rule tries to avoid allocations that are not explicit in code.
2. The user may prefer an alternative solution than using the
unicode replacement character for handling non-UTF8 data.
In my view, the choice to provide an adapter rather than
implement Display has had a high cost in terms of user experience:
* I almost never remember that I need an adapter, forcing me to
go back and edit my code after compiling it and getting an error.
* It makes my code more noisy to have the display adapter; this
detail is rarely important.
* It is extremely uncommon to actually do something other than call
the display adapter when trying to display a path (I have never
wanted anything else myself).
* For new users, it is Yet Another Compiler Error that they have to
figure out how to solve, contributing to the sense that Rust nags
nags and obstructs rather than assists & guides.
Therefore, I think time has shown that this has been a detriment to
user experience, rather than a helpful reminder. That leaves only
the first reason not to implement this: implicit allocations. That
problem was happily resolved in June 2017: rust-lang#42613 provided an
alternative implementation which efficiently avoids allocations.
Given that, I think it is time that we implement `Display` for both
`Path` and `PathBuf` and deprecate the `Path::display` method.
r? @alexcrichton
cc @rust-lang/libs
[rfc474]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs/blob/master/text/0474-path-reform.md)