Ownership and Borrowing
Ownership and Borrowing is a core memory management system in the Rust programming language that ensures memory safety without a garbage collector. It enforces strict rules at compile time about how data can be accessed and modified, preventing common bugs like null pointer dereferences, data races, and memory leaks. This system is based on three key principles: ownership (each value has a single owner), borrowing (temporary references to data), and lifetimes (ensuring references are valid).
Developers should learn Ownership and Borrowing when working with Rust to write safe, concurrent, and high-performance systems software, such as operating systems, game engines, or web servers. It is essential for avoiding undefined behavior and memory-related errors, making it particularly valuable in safety-critical applications like embedded systems or financial technology where reliability is paramount. Mastering this concept allows developers to leverage Rust's zero-cost abstractions while maintaining strict control over resources.