Destructuring Arrays and Slices in Rust

Introduction

In this lab, you can learn about how arrays and slices can be destructured in Rust, demonstrated through a code example that showcases different patterns for matching values in the array and binding them to variables.

Note: If the lab does not specify a file name, you can use any file name you want. For example, you can use main.rs, compile and run it with rustc main.rs && ./main.

Skills Graph

arrays/slices

Like tuples, arrays and slices can be destructured this way:

fn main() {
    // Try changing the values in the array, or make it a slice!
    let array = [1, -2, 6];

    match array {
        // Binds the second and the third elements to the respective variables
        [0, second, third] =>
            println!("array[0] = 0, array[1] = {}, array[2] = {}", second, third),

        // Single values can be ignored with _
        [1, _, third] => println!(
            "array[0] = 1, array[2] = {} and array[1] was ignored",
            third
        ),

        // You can also bind some and ignore the rest
        [-1, second, ..] => println!(
            "array[0] = -1, array[1] = {} and all the other ones were ignored",
            second
        ),
        // The code below would not compile
        // [-1, second] => ...

        // Or store them in another array/slice (the type depends on
        // that of the value that is being matched against)
        [3, second, tail @ ..] => println!(
            "array[0] = 3, array[1] = {} and the other elements were {:?}",
            second, tail
        ),

        // Combining these patterns, we can, for example, bind the first and
        // last values, and store the rest of them in a single array
        [first, middle @ .., last] => println!(
            "array[0] = {}, middle = {:?}, array[2] = {}",
            first, middle, last
        ),
    }
}

Summary

Congratulations! You have completed the Arrays/Slices lab. You can practice more labs in LabEx to improve your skills.