Chapter 11: Traits, Generics, and Lifetimes

In this chapter, we examine three foundational concepts in Rust that enable code reuse, abstraction, and strong memory safety: traits, generics, and lifetimes. These features are closely connected, allowing you to write flexible and efficient code while preserving strict type safety at compile time.

• Traits define shared behaviors (similar to interfaces or contracts), ensuring that types implementing a given trait provide the required methods.
• Generics allow you to write code that seamlessly adapts to multiple data types without code duplication.
• Lifetimes ensure that references remain valid throughout their usage, preventing dangling pointers without needing a garbage collector.

While these features may feel unfamiliar—especially to C programmers who typically rely on function pointers, macros, or manual memory management—they are essential for mastering Rust. In this chapter, you’ll learn how traits, generics, and lifetimes work both individually and in concert, and you’ll see how to use them effectively in your Rust code.