Variable Bindings in Rust

Rust provides type safety via static typing. Variable bindings can be type annotated when declared. However, in most cases, the compiler will be able to infer the type of the variable from the context, heavily reducing the annotation burden.

Values (like literals) can be bound to variables, using the let binding.

fn main() {
    let an_integer = 1u32;
    let a_boolean = true;
    let unit = ();

    // copy `an_integer` into `copied_integer`
    let copied_integer = an_integer;

    println!("An integer: {:?}", copied_integer);
    println!("A boolean: {:?}", a_boolean);
    println!("Meet the unit value: {:?}", unit);

    // The compiler warns about unused variable bindings; these warnings can
    // be silenced by prefixing the variable name with an underscore
    let _unused_variable = 3u32;

    let noisy_unused_variable = 2u32;
    // FIXME ^ Prefix with an underscore to suppress the warning
    // Please note that warnings may not be shown in a browser
}

Mutability

Variable bindings are immutable by default, but this can be overridden using the mut modifier.

fn main() {
    let _immutable_binding = 1;
    let mut mutable_binding = 1;

    println!("Before mutation: {}", mutable_binding);

    // Ok
    mutable_binding += 1;

    println!("After mutation: {}", mutable_binding);

    // Error! Cannot assign a new value to an immutable variable
    _immutable_binding += 1;
}

The compiler will throw a detailed diagnostic about mutability errors.

Scope and Shadowing

Variable bindings have a scope, and are constrained to live in a block. A block is a collection of statements enclosed by braces {}.

fn main() {
    // This binding lives in the main function
    let long_lived_binding = 1;

    // This is a block, and has a smaller scope than the main function
    {
        // This binding only exists in this block
        let short_lived_binding = 2;

        println!("inner short: {}", short_lived_binding);
    }
    // End of the block

    // Error! `short_lived_binding` doesn't exist in this scope
    println!("outer short: {}", short_lived_binding);
    // FIXME ^ Comment out this line

    println!("outer long: {}", long_lived_binding);
}

Also, variable shadowing is allowed.

fn main() {
    let shadowed_binding = 1;

    {
        println!("before being shadowed: {}", shadowed_binding);

        // This binding *shadows* the outer one
        let shadowed_binding = "abc";

        println!("shadowed in inner block: {}", shadowed_binding);
    }
    println!("outside inner block: {}", shadowed_binding);

    // This binding *shadows* the previous binding
    let shadowed_binding = 2;
    println!("shadowed in outer block: {}", shadowed_binding);
}

Declare first

It's possible to declare variable bindings first, and initialize them later. However, this form is seldom used, as it may lead to the use of uninitialized variables.

fn main() {
    // Declare a variable binding
    let a_binding;

    {
        let x = 2;

        // Initialize the binding
        a_binding = x * x;
    }

    println!("a binding: {}", a_binding);

    let another_binding;

    // Error! Use of uninitialized binding
    println!("another binding: {}", another_binding);
    // FIXME ^ Comment out this line

    another_binding = 1;

    println!("another binding: {}", another_binding);
}

The compiler forbids use of uninitialized variables, as this would lead to undefined behavior.

Freezing

When data is bound by the same name immutably, it also freezes. Frozen data can't be modified until the immutable binding goes out of scope:

fn main() {
    let mut _mutable_integer = 7i32;

    {
        // Shadowing by immutable `_mutable_integer`
        let _mutable_integer = _mutable_integer;

        // Error! `_mutable_integer` is frozen in this scope
        _mutable_integer = 50;
        // FIXME ^ Comment out this line

        // `_mutable_integer` goes out of scope
    }

    // Ok! `_mutable_integer` is not frozen in this scope
    _mutable_integer = 3;
}