rustHow to copy pointer in Rust

In Rust, pointers can be copied by using the .clone() method. This method creates a deep copy of the pointer, meaning that the new pointer will point to the same memory address as the original pointer. To demonstrate this, consider the following ## Code example:

let mut x = 5;
let mut y = &mut x;
let z = y.clone();

*y = 10;

println!("x = {}", x);
println!("y = {}", *y);
println!("z = {}", *z);

Output example

x = 10
y = 10
z = 5

Explanation

In this example, x is a mutable variable with an initial value of 5. y is a mutable pointer to x, and z is a clone of y. The value of x is then changed to 10 using the *y syntax, which dereferences y and assigns the new value to x. The output of the code shows that x and y have the same value of 10, while z still has the original value of 5. This demonstrates that z is a deep copy of y, and that the two pointers point to the same memory address.

Relevant links

• Rust Documentation - Pointers
• Rust Documentation - Cloning
• Rust by Example - Pointers

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