Rollup merge of #120355 - the8472:doc-vec-fromiter, r=cuviper

document `FromIterator for Vec` allocation behaviors

[t-libs discussion](https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/259402-t-libs.2Fmeetings/topic/Meeting.202024-01-24/near/417686526) about #120091 didn't reach a strong consensus, but it was agreed that if we keep the current behavior it should at least be documented even though it is an implementation detail.

The language is intentionally non-committal. The previous (non-existent) documentation permits a lot of implementation leeway and we want retain that. In some cases we even must retain it to be able to rip out some code paths that rely on unstable features.

library/alloc/src/vec/mod.rs

@@ -2784,6 +2784,50 @@ fn index_mut(&mut self, index: I) -> &mut Self::Output {
     }
 }
 
+/// Collects an iterator into a Vec, commonly called via [`Iterator::collect()`]
+///
+/// # Allocation behavior
+///
+/// In general `Vec` does not guarantee any particular growth or allocation strategy.
+/// That also applies to this trait impl.
+///
+/// **Note:** This section covers implementation details and is therefore exempt from
+/// stability guarantees.
+///
+/// Vec may use any or none of the following strategies,
+/// depending on the supplied iterator:
+///
+/// * preallocate based on [`Iterator::size_hint()`]
+///   * and panic if the number of items is outside the provided lower/upper bounds
+/// * use an amortized growth strategy similar to `pushing` one item at a time
+/// * perform the iteration in-place on the original allocation backing the iterator
+///
+/// The last case warrants some attention. It is an optimization that in many cases reduces peak memory
+/// consumption and improves cache locality. But when big, short-lived allocations are created,
+/// only a small fraction of their items get collected, no further use is made of the spare capacity
+/// and the resulting `Vec` is moved into a longer-lived structure, then this can lead to the large
+/// allocations having their lifetimes unnecessarily extended which can result in increased memory
+/// footprint.
+///
+/// In cases where this is an issue, the excess capacity can be discarded with [`Vec::shrink_to()`],
+/// [`Vec::shrink_to_fit()`] or by collecting into [`Box<[T]>`][owned slice] instead, which additionally reduces
+/// the size of the long-lived struct.
+///
+/// [owned slice]: Box
+///
+/// ```rust
+/// # use std::sync::Mutex;
+/// static LONG_LIVED: Mutex<Vec<Vec<u16>>> = Mutex::new(Vec::new());
+///
+/// for i in 0..10 {
+///     let big_temporary: Vec<u16> = (0..1024).collect();
+///     // discard most items
+///     let mut result: Vec<_> = big_temporary.into_iter().filter(|i| i % 100 == 0).collect();
+///     // without this a lot of unused capacity might be moved into the global
+///     result.shrink_to_fit();
+///     LONG_LIVED.lock().unwrap().push(result);
+/// }
+/// ```
 #[cfg(not(no_global_oom_handling))]
 #[stable(feature = "rust1", since = "1.0.0")]
 impl<T> FromIterator<T> for Vec<T> {