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+`async fn`s are not yet supported in traits in Rust.
+
+Erroneous code example:
+
+```compile_fail,edition2018
+trait T {
+ // Neither case is currently supported.
+ async fn foo() {}
+ async fn bar(&self) {}
+}
+```
+
+`async fn`s return an `impl Future`, making the following two examples
+equivalent:
+
+```edition2018,ignore (example-of-desugaring-equivalence)
+async fn foo() -> User {
+ unimplemented!()
+}
+// The async fn above gets desugared as follows:
+fn foo(&self) -> impl Future<Output = User> + '_ {
+ unimplemented!()
+}
+```
+
+But when it comes to supporting this in traits, there are [a few implementation
+issues][async-is-hard]. One of them is returning `impl Trait` in traits is not
+supported, as it would require [Generic Associated Types] to be supported:
+
+```edition2018,ignore (example-of-desugaring-equivalence)
+impl MyDatabase {
+ async fn get_user(&self) -> User {
+ unimplemented!()
+ }
+}
+
+impl MyDatabase {
+ fn get_user(&self) -> impl Future<Output = User> + '_ {
+ unimplemented!()
+ }
+}
+```
+
+Until these issues are resolved, you can use the [`async-trait` crate], allowing
+you to use `async fn` in traits by desugaring to "boxed futures"
+(`Pin<Box<dyn Future + Send + 'async>>`).
+
+Note that using these trait methods will result in a heap allocation
+per-function-call. This is not a significant cost for the vast majority of
+applications, but should be considered when deciding whether to use this
+functionality in the public API of a low-level function that is expected to be
+called millions of times a second.
+
+You might be interested in visiting the [async book] for further information.
+
+[`async-trait` crate]: https://crates.io/crates/async-trait
+[async-is-hard]: https://smallcultfollowing.com/babysteps/blog/2019/10/26/async-fn-in-traits-are-hard/
+[Generic Associated Types]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/44265
+[async book]: https://rust-lang.github.io/async-book/07_workarounds/06_async_in_traits.html