Rust Notes — Module 5
Rust Notes — Module 5: Generics, Closures & Iterators 1. Generics Generics let you write code that works for any type, with the compiler generating specialized versions at compile time. Zero runtime overhead — same as C++ templates. Generic Functions // T is a type parameter — placeholder for any concrete type fn largest<T: PartialOrd>(list: &[T]) -> &T { let mut largest = &list[0]; for item in list { if item > largest { largest = item; } } largest } // works for any type that implements PartialOrd let nums = vec![1, 5, 3, 2]; let chars = vec!['a', 'z', 'm']; println!("{}", largest(&nums)); // 5 println!("{}", largest(&chars)); // z Generic Structs struct Stack<T> { elements: Vec<T>, } // impl block also needs <T> impl<T> Stack<T> { fn new() -> Self { Stack { elements: Vec::new() } } fn push(&mut self, item: T) { self.elements.push(item); } fn pop(&mut self) -> Option<T> { self.elements.pop() } fn peek(&self) -> Option<&T> { self.elements.last() } fn is_empty(&self) -> bool { self.elements.is_empty() } } // type parameter inferred from usage let mut int_stack = Stack::new(); int_stack.push(1); int_stack.push(2); // or explicit let mut move_stack: Stack<Move> = Stack::new(); Generic Enums You’ve already used these — Option<T> and Result<T, E> are generic enums: ...