Memory and Allocations in Rust

Key Points:

• String literals (like "Hello") are hardcoded into the program, so they are fast and efficient because their size is known before the program runs.

• String type (String) is different because its size is not known beforehand and can change while the program is running.

• Since String is flexible, it needs to store data in heap memory, which has to be allocated at runtime.

Memory Handling:

1. Requesting Memory:

   • When we use String::from("Hello"), Rust asks for memory from the system at runtime to store the text.

2. Releasing Memory:

   • Some languages (like Go) use Garbage Collection (GC) to clean up memory automatically.

   • Other languages (like C/C++) require developers to manually free memory, which can lead to bugs.

   • Rust solves this differently:

     • When a variable goes out of scope, Rust automatically frees the memory.

     • It does this using a built-in function called drop, which runs when the variable’s scope ends.

Example:

{
    let s = String::from("Hello World!");  
    // `s` is valid here.
} 
// Now, `s` is out of scope, and Rust automatically frees its memory.

This approach prevents memory leaks without needing a garbage collector or manual memory management.

What’s next?

If you need any Rust guidance and are just curious about learning Rust then you can check out the YouTube playlist “Rust for Beginners“ where I have covered all of the basic concepts in a simple way for you to understand.

If you're interested to learn Rust then I have a 2-month mentorship program for you called Rust for Beginners that will help you build a solid foundation & build amazing projects. Book a FREE call.

Happy Coding!