Do I have to implement a trait twice when implementing it for both reference and non-reference types?

This is a good example for the Borrow trait.

use std::borrow::Borrow;

struct Bar;

trait Foo {
    fn hi(&self);
}

impl<B: Borrow<Bar>> Foo for B {
    fn hi(&self) {
        print!("hi")
    }
}

fn main() {
    let bar = Bar;
    (&bar).hi();
    &bar.hi();
}

No, you do not have to duplicate code. Instead, you can delegate:

impl Foo for &'_ Bar {
    fn hi(&self) {
        (**self).hi()
    }
}

I would go one step further and implement the trait for all references to types that implement the trait:

impl<T: Foo> Foo for &'_ T {
    fn hi(&self) {
        (**self).hi()
    }
}

See also:

  • When should I not implement a trait for references to implementors of that trait?
  • Implementing a trait for reference and non reference types causes conflicting implementations

&bar.hi();

This code is equivalent to &(bar.hi()) and probably not what you intended.

See also:

  • Why is it legal to borrow a temporary?