How does Rust handle memory safety without a garbage collector?

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How does Rust handle memory safety without a garbage collector?

Asked on Dec 28, 2025

Answer

Rust ensures memory safety without a garbage collector by using a system of ownership with rules that the compiler checks at compile time. This system enforces strict borrowing and lifetime rules, preventing data races and ensuring that memory is accessed safely.

Example Concept: Rust's ownership model is based on three main principles: each value in Rust has a single owner, ownership can be transferred (moved), and values are automatically deallocated when their owner goes out of scope. Borrowing allows references to data without taking ownership, and the borrow checker ensures that references do not outlive the data they point to, preventing dangling pointers and ensuring thread safety.

Additional Comment:

Rust's borrow checker enforces rules at compile time, reducing runtime overhead.
Ownership and borrowing rules prevent common bugs like null pointer dereferencing and buffer overflows.
Rust's memory model allows for fine-grained control over resource management, making it suitable for systems programming.

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