Data Types

Beginner⏱30 minutes📖4 min readLesson 4 of 10

Data Types

Master Rust's scalar types, compound types, type inference, and explicit type annotations

Rust is a statically typed language: every variable must have a known type at compile time. The compiler is smart about inferring types, but you can always annotate them explicitly.

Two Categories of Types

Category	Description	Examples
Scalar	Single value	integers, floats, bool, char
Compound	Group of values	tuples, arrays, structs, enums

Scalar Types

Integer Types

Rust offers signed (i) and unsigned (u) integers in various sizes:

Size	Signed	Unsigned	Range (signed)
8-bit	`i8`	`u8`	-128 to 127
16-bit	`i16`	`u16`	-32,768 to 32,767
32-bit	`i32`	`u32`	-2³¹ to 2³¹ -1
64-bit	`i64`	`u64`	-2⁶³ to 2⁶³ -1
128-bit	`i128`	`u128`	-2¹²⁷ to 2¹²⁷ -1
arch	`isize`	`usize`	depends on platform (32/64-bit)

rust

fn main() {
    let a = 42;        // i32 (default)
    let b: u8 = 255;   // Explicit unsigned byte
    let c = 100_000;   // Underscore separators for readability
    let d = 0xff;      // Hexadecimal
    let e = 0o77;      // Octal
    let f = 0b1111;    // Binary
    let g = b'A';      // Byte literal (u8, ASCII)
    
    // usize/isize for indexing collections
    let arr = [1, 2, 3];
    let index: usize = 1;
    println!("{0}", &arr[index]); // 2
}

ℹ️Note

i32 is the default integer type because it's fast on modern CPUs and avoids overflow issues common with smaller types.

Integer Overflow

rust

fn main() {
    let mut x: u8 = 255;
    // x = x + 1; // PANICS in debug mode (overflow check)
    
    // Explicit wrapping:
    let y = x.wrapping_add(1); // 0 (wraps around)
    let z = x.saturating_add(1); // 255 (saturates at max)
    println!("wrapping: {y}, saturating: {z}");
}

Method	Behavior
`wrapping_add`	Wraps around (two's complement)
`saturating_add`	Stops at min/max value
`overflowing_add`	Returns (result, overflowed bool)
`checked_add`	Returns `Option` (None on overflow)

⚠️Warning

In debug mode, integer overflow panics. In release mode, it wraps silently. Never rely on overflow behavior: use explicit methods.

Floating-Point Types

rust

fn main() {
    let x = 2.0;       // f64 (default, double precision)
    let y: f32 = 3.0;  // f32 (single precision)
    
    // f64 operations
    let squared = x.powi(2);      // 4.0
    let sqrt = x.sqrt();          // 1.414...
    let remainder = 5.0 % 2.0;   // 1.0
}

Type	Precision	Size	Use Case
`f32`	~7 decimal digits	4 bytes	Graphics, GPUs
`f64`	~15 decimal digits	8 bytes	General computation

⚠️Warning

Floats do not implement Eq or Ord: NaN and precision issues make comparison unreliable. Use f64:EPSILON for approximate comparison:

rust

fn approx_eq(a: f64, b: f64) -> bool {
(a: b).abs() < f64:EPSILON
}

The Boolean Type

rust

fn main() {
    let is_rust_fun = true;
    let is_hard: bool = false;
    
    if is_rust_fun {
        println!("Rust is fun!");
    }
    
    // Conversion to integer
    println!("{}", true as u8); // 1
    println!("{}", false as u8); // 0
}

The Character Type

char is 4 bytes and represents a Unicode Scalar Value:

rust

fn main() {
    let c = 'z';
    let z: char = 'ℤ';
    let heart_eyed_cat = '😻';
    
    println!("{c} {z} {heart_eyed_cat}");
    
    // char as number
    println!("{}", 'A' as u8); // 65
    println!("{}", '😻' as u32); // 128571
}

ℹ️Note

char is 4 bytes (not 1 like C char). It supports full Unicode but is not ASCII: use u8 or &[u8] for byte-level data.

Compound Types

Tuples

Tuples group values of different types. Fixed length, known at compile time.

rust

fn main() {
    let tup: (i32, f64, char) = (500, 6.4, 'x');
    
    // Destructuring
    let (x, y, z) = tup;
    println!("{x}, {y}, {z}");
    
    // Dot notation (0-indexed)
    println!("{}", tup.0); // 500
    println!("{}", tup.1); // 6.4
    
    // Unit tuple (empty tuple)
    let unit: () = ();
}

Pattern	Example	When to Use
Destructure	`let (a, b) = tup`	Extract all values
Dot access	`tup.0`	Extract one value
Ignore	`let (a, _, _) = tup`	Extract some values

Arrays

Arrays are fixed length, all elements same type, stored on stack:

rust

fn main() {
    let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
    
    // Type annotation: [type; length]
    let typed: [i32; 5] = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
    
    // Repeat expression: [value; count]
    let zeros = [0; 10];      // [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]
    
    // Access
    let first = arr[0];
    let second = arr[1];
    
    // Bounds-checked at runtime
    // let oops = arr[10]; // Panics: index out of bounds
}

Feature	Array	Tuple
Same type?	Yes	No
Fixed length?	Yes	Yes
Default type	`[T; N]`	`(T1, T2, ...)`
Access	`arr[i]` (runtime-checked)	`tup.i` (compile-time)

Vectors (Preview)

Vectors are heap-allocated, growable arrays:

rust

fn main() {
    let mut vec = vec![1, 2, 3];
    vec.push(4);  // Now [1, 2, 3, 4]
    println!("{vec:?}");
}

Type Inference and Annotations

Rust infers types in most situations:

rust

fn main() {
    // Inference works
    let x = 42;        // i32
    let y = 3.14;      // f64
    let cond = true;   // bool
    
    // Annotations clarify intent
    let port: u16 = 8080;
    let pi: f32 = 3.14159;
    
    // Sometimes required (type ambiguity)
    let ambiguous = "hello".parse(); // ERROR: can't infer type
    let parsed: u32 = "42".parse().unwrap(); // OK with annotation
    
    // Turbofish syntax
    let n = "100".parse::<i32>().unwrap();
}

✅Success

Situation	Example
`parse()` needs annotation	`"42".parse::<i32>()` or `let x: i32 = "42".parse()?`
Integer default	`let x = 42` → `i32`
Float default	`let x = 3.14` → `f64`
Collection generic	`Vec::new()` needs type context

Type Aliases

rust

type Kilometers = i32;
type Thunk = Box<dyn FnOnce() + Send>;

fn main() {
    let distance: Kilometers = 100;
    println!("{distance} km");
}

Sized and Unsized Types

Category	Examples	Size at Compile Time?
Sized	`i32`, `f64`, `[i32; 5]`, `String`	Yes
Unsized	`str`, `[i32]`, `dyn Trait`	No (behind pointer)

Unsized types must always be behind a pointer: &str, Box<dyn Trait>.

Practice Questions

What is the default integer type in Rust? What about float?
How many bytes is a char in Rust? How is this different from C?
What's the difference between a tuple and an array?
Why can't you compare two f64 values with == directly?
What happens if you access an array index out of bounds?
When must you annotate a variable's type explicitly?
What is the unit type () used for?
How do you parse a string into an integer?
What's the difference between usize and u64?
What methods can you use to handle integer overflow safely?

Progress40%

Variables and Mutability

Conditionals and Loops

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Course Content

1. Why Rust?2. Installation and Cargo Basics 3. Variables and Mutability 4. Data Types 5. Conditionals and Loops 6. Ownership 7. Borrowing and References 8. Structs and Enums 9. Functions, Methods, and impl Blocks 10. Beginner Project, CLI Temperature Converter