Hands-On Data Structures and Algorithms with Rust

Going wrong

Other than classes, Rust comes without another well-known companion: null. In the absence of pointers and with a very different memory management model, there is no typical null pointer/reference.

Instead, the language works with Option and Result types that let developers model success or failure. In fact, there is no exception system either, so any failed execution of a function should be indicated in the return type. Only in rare cases when immediate termination is required does the language provide a macro for panicking: panic!().

Option<T> and Result<T, E> both encapsulate one (Option<T>) or two (Result<T, E>) values that can be returned to communicate an error or whether something was found or not. For example, a find() ...