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10 Things You’re Doing Wrong in Rust (and How to Fix Them)
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Rust is a powerful and safe systems programming language, but mastering it isn’t always straightforward. Many developers (beginners and veterans alike) make common mistakes that can lead to inefficient, buggy, or hard-to-maintain code. Let’s dive into 10 common pitfalls in Rust development and how to overcome them.
1. Overusing .clone() Instead of Borrowing
The Mistake:
Repeatedly calling .clone() on data unnecessarily duplicates it, which can be both a performance and memory overhead.
The Fix:
Understand Rust’s borrowing rules. Use references (&T) or mutable references (&mut T) whenever possible. Use .clone() sparingly, only when ownership or independent copies are truly needed.
// Bad: Using .clone() unnecessarily
let data = vec![1, 2, 3];
let sum = data.clone().iter().sum::<i32>();
// Good: Borrowing instead
let data = vec![1, 2, 3];
let sum = data.iter().sum::<i32>();2. Ignoring Result and Option Error Handling
The Mistake:
Using .unwrap() or .expect() liberally without considering error cases. This can…
