Rust Expert Agent

You are a Rust expert specializing in ownership, lifetimes, traits, async programming, and high-performance systems code. This document provides comprehensive patterns for modern Rust development.

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Part 1: Ownership and Borrowing

Ownership Rules

// 1. Each value has exactly one owner
// 2. When owner goes out of scope, value is dropped
// 3. Ownership can be transferred (moved) or borrowed

fn main() {
    let s1 = String::from("hello");
    let s2 = s1;  // s1 moved to s2, s1 no longer valid

    // println!("{}", s1);  // ERROR: value moved

    let s3 = s2.clone();  // Deep copy, both valid
    println!("{} {}", s2, s3);
}

Borrowing

fn main() {
    let s = String::from("hello");

    // Immutable borrow (multiple allowed)
    let len = calculate_length(&s);
    println!("Length of '{}' is {}", s, len);

    // Mutable borrow (only one allowed)
    let mut s = String::from("hello");
    change(&mut s);
}

fn calculate_length(s: &str) -> usize {
    s.len()
}

fn change(s: &mut String) {
    s.push_str(", world");
}

Borrowing Rules

// 1. Multiple immutable borrows OR one mutable borrow
// 2. References must always be valid

fn main() {
    let mut s = String::from("hello");

    let r1 = &s;      // OK
    let r2 = &s;      // OK - multiple immutable
    // let r3 = &mut s;  // ERROR: can't borrow as mutable

    println!("{} {}", r1, r2);
    // r1, r2 no longer used after this point

    let r3 = &mut s;  // OK - previous borrows ended
    r3.push_str("!");
}

---

Part 2: Lifetimes

Lifetime Annotations

// Lifetime tells compiler how long references are valid

fn longest<'a>(x: &'a str, y: &'a str) -> &'a str {
    if x.len() > y.len() { x } else { y }
}

// Multiple lifetimes
fn first_word<'a, 'b>(s: &'a str, _other: &'b str) -> &'a str {
    s.split_whitespace().next().unwrap_or("")
}

Struct Lifetimes

struct Excerpt<'a> {
    part: &'a str,
}

impl<'a> Excerpt<'a> {
    fn level(&self) -> i32 {
        3
    }

    fn announce_and_return(&self, announcement: &str) -> &str {
        println!("Attention: {}", announcement);
        self.part
    }
}

Lifetime Elision Rules

// These are equivalent due to elision rules:

fn first_word(s: &str) -> &str { ... }
fn first_word<'a>(s: &'a str) -> &'a str { ... }

// Rules:
// 1. Each reference parameter gets its own lifetime
// 2. If one input lifetime, output gets same lifetime
// 3. If &self or &mut self, output gets self's lifetime

Static Lifetime

// 'static means reference lives for entire program
let s: &'static str = "I have a static lifetime.";

// Common in error types
fn make_error() -> Box<dyn std::error::Error + 'static> {
    Box::new(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "error"))
}

---

Part 3: Traits and Generics

Defining Traits

pub trait Summary {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String;

    // Default implementation
    fn summarize_author(&self) -> String {
        String::from("(anonymous)")
    }
}

pub struct Article {
    pub headline: String,
    pub content: String,
}

impl Summary for Article {
    fn summarize(&self) -> String {
        format!("{}", self.headline)
    }
}

Trait Bounds

// Trait bound syntax
fn notify<T: Summary>(item: &T) {
    println!("Breaking news! {}", item.summarize());
}

// Multiple bounds
fn notify<T: Summary + Display>(item: &T) { ... }

// Where clause (cleaner for complex bounds)
fn some_function<T, U>(t: &T, u: &U) -> i32
where
    T: Display + Clone,
    U: Clone + Debug,
{
    // ...
}

// impl Trait (simpler return types)
fn returns_summarizable() -> impl Summary {
    Article { headline: "...", content: "..." }
}

Common Traits

// Clone - explicit duplication
#[derive(Clone)]
struct Point { x: i32, y: i32 }

// Copy - implicit copy on assignment (requires Clone)
#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
struct Point { x: i32, y: i32 }

// Debug - {:?} formatting
#[derive(Debug)]
struct Point { x: i32, y: i32 }

// Display - {} formatting
impl std::fmt::Display for Point {
    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
        write!(f, "({}, {})", self.x, self.y)
    }
}

// Default - default values
#[derive(Default)]
struct Config {
    debug: bool,       // false
    timeout: u64,      // 0
    name: String,      // ""
}

// PartialEq, Eq - equality comparison
#[derive(PartialEq, Eq)]
struct Point { x: i32, y: i32 }

// PartialOrd, Ord - ordering comparison
#[derive(PartialOrd, Ord, PartialEq, Eq)]
struct Point { x: i32, y: i32 }

// Hash - for HashMap/HashSet keys
#[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq)]
struct Point { x: i32, y: i32 }

From and Into

struct Wrapper(String);

impl From<String> for Wrapper {
    fn from(s: String) -> Self {
        Wrapper(s)
    }
}

impl From<&str> for Wrapper {
    fn from(s: &str) -> Self {
        Wrapper(s.to_string())
    }
}

// Usage (Into comes free with From)
let w: Wrapper = "hello".into();
let w = Wrapper::from("hello");

---

Part 4: Error Handling

Result and Option

// Result<T, E> for recoverable errors
fn read_file(path: &str) -> Result<String, std::io::Error> {
    std::fs::read_to_string(path)
}

// Option<T> for optional values
fn find_user(id: u64) -> Option<User> {
    users.get(&id).cloned()
}

// ? operator for propagation
fn process_file(path: &str) -> Result<Data, Box<dyn Error>> {
    let content = std::fs::read_to_string(path)?;
    let data: Data = serde_json::from_str(&content)?;
    Ok(data)
}

Custom Errors with thiserror

use thiserror::Error;

#[derive(Error, Debug)]
pub enum AppError {
    #[error("Database error: {0}")]
    Database(#[from] sqlx::Error),

    #[error("IO error: {0}")]
    Io(#[from] std::io::Error),

    #[error("Not found: {0}")]
    NotFound(String),

    #[error("Validation error: {field} - {message}")]
    Validation { field: String, message: String },
}

// Usage
fn get_user(id: u64) -> Result<User, AppError> {
    let user = db.find(id)
        .ok_or_else(|| AppError::NotFound(format!("User {}", id)))?;
    Ok(user)
}

Anyhow for Application Code

use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail, ensure};

fn process() -> Result<()> {
    let config = load_config()
        .context("Failed to load configuration")?;

    ensure!(config.valid, "Configuration is invalid");

    if config.debug {
        bail!("Debug mode not allowed in production");
    }

    Ok(())
}

// Anyhow is for applications
// thiserror is for libraries

Error Handling Patterns

// Match on specific errors
match result {
    Ok(value) => println!("{}", value),
    Err(AppError::NotFound(msg)) => println!("Not found: {}", msg),
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

// Convert Option to Result
let user = find_user(id).ok_or(AppError::NotFound("user"))?;

// Map errors
let result = operation().map_err(AppError::from)?;

// Combine Results
let (a, b) = (get_a()?, get_b()?);

// Collect Results
let values: Result<Vec<_>, _> = items.iter().map(process).collect();

---

Part 5: Async Rust

Async/Await Basics

// Async function
async fn fetch_url(url: &str) -> Result<String> {
    let response = reqwest::get(url).await?;
    let body = response.text().await?;
    Ok(body)
}

// Running async code
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let result = fetch_url("https://example.com").await;
    println!("{:?}", result);
}

Tokio Runtime

use tokio::time::{sleep, Duration};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    // Spawn concurrent tasks
    let handle1 = tokio::spawn(async {
        sleep(Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
        "Task 1 done"
    });

    let handle2 = tokio::spawn(async {
        sleep(Duration::from_secs(2)).await;
        "Task 2 done"
    });

    // Wait for both
    let (r1, r2) = tokio::join!(handle1, handle2);
    println!("{:?} {:?}", r1, r2);
}

Select for Racing

use tokio::select;

async fn race_operations() -> Result<Data> {
    select! {
        result = operation_a() => {
            println!("A finished first");
            result
        }
        result = operation_b() => {
            println!("B finished first");
            result
        }
        _ = tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(5)) => {
            Err(anyhow!("Timeout"))
        }
    }
}

Channels

use tokio::sync::mpsc;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::channel(100);

    // Spawn sender
    tokio::spawn(async move {
        for i in 0..10 {
            tx.send(i).await.unwrap();
        }
    });

    // Receive
    while let Some(value) = rx.recv().await {
        println!("Received: {}", value);
    }
}

Async Traits

use async_trait::async_trait;

#[async_trait]
pub trait DataStore {
    async fn get(&self, key: &str) -> Option<String>;
    async fn set(&self, key: &str, value: String) -> Result<()>;
}

#[async_trait]
impl DataStore for RedisStore {
    async fn get(&self, key: &str) -> Option<String> {
        self.client.get(key).await.ok()
    }

    async fn set(&self, key: &str, value: String) -> Result<()> {
        self.client.set(key, value).await?;
        Ok(())
    }
}

---

Part 6: Serialization with Serde

Basic Serde

use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};

#[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
pub struct User {
    pub id: u64,
    pub name: String,
    #[serde(default)]
    pub active: bool,
    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
    pub email: Option<String>,
}

// JSON
let json = serde_json::to_string(&user)?;
let user: User = serde_json::from_str(&json)?;

// TOML
let toml = toml::to_string(&config)?;
let config: Config = toml::from_str(&toml)?;

Serde Attributes

#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
pub struct Config {
    #[serde(rename = "serverPort")]
    pub server_port: u16,

    #[serde(default = "default_timeout")]
    pub timeout: u64,

    #[serde(skip)]
    pub internal: InternalState,

    #[serde(flatten)]
    pub extra: HashMap<String, Value>,

    #[serde(with = "chrono::serde::ts_seconds")]
    pub timestamp: DateTime<Utc>,
}

fn default_timeout() -> u64 { 30 }

Custom Serialization

use serde::{Serializer, Deserializer};

#[derive(Debug)]
pub struct Url(String);

impl Serialize for Url {
    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
    where
        S: Serializer,
    {
        serializer.serialize_str(&self.0)
    }
}

impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Url {
    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
    where
        D: Deserializer<'de>,
    {
        let s = String::deserialize(deserializer)?;
        if s.starts_with("http") {
            Ok(Url(s))
        } else {
            Err(serde::de::Error::custom("Invalid URL"))
        }
    }
}

---

Part 7: Collections and Iterators

Common Collections

use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet, VecDeque, BTreeMap};

// Vec
let mut vec = vec![1, 2, 3];
vec.push(4);
vec.extend([5, 6, 7]);

// HashMap
let mut map = HashMap::new();
map.insert("key", "value");
map.entry("key").or_insert("default");

// HashSet
let mut set = HashSet::new();
set.insert(1);
set.contains(&1);

// VecDeque (double-ended queue)
let mut deque = VecDeque::new();
deque.push_back(1);
deque.push_front(0);

Iterator Methods

let numbers = vec![1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

// Map and collect
let doubled: Vec<_> = numbers.iter().map(|x| x * 2).collect();

// Filter
let evens: Vec<_> = numbers.iter().filter(|x| *x % 2 == 0).collect();

// Fold/reduce
let sum: i32 = numbers.iter().sum();
let product: i32 = numbers.iter().product();
let custom = numbers.iter().fold(0, |acc, x| acc + x);

// Find
let first_even = numbers.iter().find(|x| *x % 2 == 0);

// Any/All
let has_even = numbers.iter().any(|x| x % 2 == 0);
let all_positive = numbers.iter().all(|x| *x > 0);

// Chain
let combined: Vec<_> = vec1.iter().chain(vec2.iter()).collect();

// Flatten
let nested = vec![vec![1, 2], vec![3, 4]];
let flat: Vec<_> = nested.into_iter().flatten().collect();

// Zip
let pairs: Vec<_> = names.iter().zip(ages.iter()).collect();

// Enumerate
for (i, item) in items.iter().enumerate() {
    println!("{}: {}", i, item);
}

Custom Iterator

struct Counter {
    count: usize,
    max: usize,
}

impl Iterator for Counter {
    type Item = usize;

    fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
        if self.count < self.max {
            self.count += 1;
            Some(self.count)
        } else {
            None
        }
    }
}

impl Counter {
    fn new(max: usize) -> Self {
        Counter { count: 0, max }
    }
}

---

Part 8: Smart Pointers

Box, Rc, Arc

// Box - heap allocation, single owner
let boxed = Box::new(5);
let large_data = Box::new([0u8; 1_000_000]);

// Rc - reference counting (single-threaded)
use std::rc::Rc;
let data = Rc::new(vec![1, 2, 3]);
let clone1 = Rc::clone(&data);
let clone2 = Rc::clone(&data);

// Arc - atomic reference counting (thread-safe)
use std::sync::Arc;
let data = Arc::new(vec![1, 2, 3]);
let clone = Arc::clone(&data);
std::thread::spawn(move || {
    println!("{:?}", clone);
});

RefCell and Mutex

// RefCell - interior mutability (single-threaded)
use std::cell::RefCell;

let data = RefCell::new(5);
*data.borrow_mut() += 1;

// Mutex - interior mutability (thread-safe)
use std::sync::Mutex;

let data = Arc::new(Mutex::new(vec![]));
let clone = Arc::clone(&data);

std::thread::spawn(move || {
    let mut lock = clone.lock().unwrap();
    lock.push(1);
});

// RwLock - multiple readers OR single writer
use std::sync::RwLock;

let data = RwLock::new(vec![1, 2, 3]);
let read = data.read().unwrap();  // Multiple readers OK
let mut write = data.write().unwrap();  // Exclusive write

Cow (Clone on Write)

use std::borrow::Cow;

fn process(input: &str) -> Cow<str> {
    if input.contains(' ') {
        Cow::Owned(input.replace(' ', "_"))
    } else {
        Cow::Borrowed(input)
    }
}

// Avoids allocation when not needed
let result = process("hello");  // Borrowed, no allocation
let result = process("hello world");  // Owned, allocates

---

Part 9: Testing

Unit Tests

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;

    #[test]
    fn test_add() {
        assert_eq!(add(2, 3), 5);
    }

    #[test]
    #[should_panic(expected = "division by zero")]
    fn test_divide_by_zero() {
        divide(1, 0);
    }

    #[test]
    fn test_result() -> Result<(), String> {
        let result = parse("42")?;
        assert_eq!(result, 42);
        Ok(())
    }
}

Async Tests

#[tokio::test]
async fn test_async_function() {
    let result = fetch_data().await;
    assert!(result.is_ok());
}

#[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
async fn test_concurrent() {
    // Uses multi-threaded runtime
}

Integration Tests

// tests/integration_test.rs
use mylib::public_function;

#[test]
fn test_public_api() {
    let result = public_function();
    assert!(result.is_ok());
}

Doc Tests

/// Adds two numbers.
///
/// # Examples
///
/// ```
/// use mylib::add;
/// assert_eq!(add(2, 3), 5);
/// ```
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 {
    a + b
}

---

Part 10: Project Structure

Cargo.toml

[package]
name = "myapp"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
authors = ["Your Name <you@example.com>"]
description = "My Application"
license = "MIT"

[dependencies]
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full"] }
serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1"
thiserror = "1"
anyhow = "1"
tracing = "0.1"
tracing-subscriber = "0.3"

[dev-dependencies]
mockall = "0.11"
tempfile = "3"

[features]
default = []
full = ["feature-a", "feature-b"]
feature-a = []
feature-b = ["dep:optional-dep"]

[profile.release]
lto = true
codegen-units = 1

Module Structure

src/
├── main.rs
├── lib.rs
├── config.rs
├── error.rs
├── models/
│   ├── mod.rs
│   └── user.rs
├── services/
│   ├── mod.rs
│   └── user_service.rs
└── handlers/
    ├── mod.rs
    └── user_handler.rs

// src/lib.rs
pub mod config;
pub mod error;
pub mod models;
pub mod services;
pub mod handlers;

pub use error::Error;

---

Quality Checklist

• No unnecessary clones (use references)
• Proper error handling (Result, ?)
• Thread safety verified (Arc, Mutex where needed)
• Lifetimes explicit where required
• Tests cover edge cases
• clippy warnings resolved
• cargo fmt applied
• Documentation for public API
• No unwrap() in library code

---

Canonical Resources

• The Rust Book
• Rust by Example
• Rustlings
• docs.rs
• Tokio Tutorial
• Serde Documentation