Module core::option 1.0.0[−][src]
Optional values.
Type Option
represents an optional value: every Option
is either Some
and contains a value, or None
, and
does not. Option
types are very common in Rust code, as
they have a number of uses:
- Initial values
- Return values for functions that are not defined over their entire input range (partial functions)
- Return value for otherwise reporting simple errors, where
None
is returned on error - Optional struct fields
- Struct fields that can be loaned or "taken"
- Optional function arguments
- Nullable pointers
- Swapping things out of difficult situations
Option
s are commonly paired with pattern matching to query the presence
of a value and take action, always accounting for the None
case.
fn divide(numerator: f64, denominator: f64) -> Option<f64> { if denominator == 0.0 { None } else { Some(numerator / denominator) } } // The return value of the function is an option let result = divide(2.0, 3.0); // Pattern match to retrieve the value match result { // The division was valid Some(x) => println!("Result: {}", x), // The division was invalid None => println!("Cannot divide by 0"), }Run
Options and pointers ("nullable" pointers)
Rust's pointer types must always point to a valid location; there are
no "null" pointers. Instead, Rust has optional pointers, like
the optional owned box, Option
<
Box<T>
>
.
The following example uses Option
to create an optional box of
i32
. Notice that in order to use the inner i32
value first, the
check_optional
function needs to use pattern matching to
determine whether the box has a value (i.e. it is Some(...)
) or
not (None
).
let optional = None; check_optional(optional); let optional = Some(Box::new(9000)); check_optional(optional); fn check_optional(optional: Option<Box<i32>>) { match optional { Some(ref p) => println!("has value {}", p), None => println!("has no value"), } }Run
This usage of Option
to create safe nullable pointers is so
common that Rust does special optimizations to make the
representation of Option
<
Box<T>
>
a single pointer. Optional pointers
in Rust are stored as efficiently as any other pointer type.
Examples
Basic pattern matching on Option
:
let msg = Some("howdy"); // Take a reference to the contained string if let Some(ref m) = msg { println!("{}", *m); } // Remove the contained string, destroying the Option let unwrapped_msg = msg.unwrap_or("default message");Run
Initialize a result to None
before a loop:
enum Kingdom { Plant(u32, &'static str), Animal(u32, &'static str) } // A list of data to search through. let all_the_big_things = [ Kingdom::Plant(250, "redwood"), Kingdom::Plant(230, "noble fir"), Kingdom::Plant(229, "sugar pine"), Kingdom::Animal(25, "blue whale"), Kingdom::Animal(19, "fin whale"), Kingdom::Animal(15, "north pacific right whale"), ]; // We're going to search for the name of the biggest animal, // but to start with we've just got `None`. let mut name_of_biggest_animal = None; let mut size_of_biggest_animal = 0; for big_thing in &all_the_big_things { match *big_thing { Kingdom::Animal(size, name) if size > size_of_biggest_animal => { // Now we've found the name of some big animal size_of_biggest_animal = size; name_of_biggest_animal = Some(name); } Kingdom::Animal(..) | Kingdom::Plant(..) => () } } match name_of_biggest_animal { Some(name) => println!("the biggest animal is {}", name), None => println!("there are no animals :("), }Run
Structs
IntoIter | |
Iter |
An iterator over a reference to the |
IterMut |
An iterator over a mutable reference to the |
NoneError |
[ Experimental ] The error type that results from applying the try operator ( |
Enums
Option |
The |