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by lurr 3103 days ago
No, it's more "I know the lifetimes are right, but I can't figure out how to convince the compiler. I give up, I'm just going to go write it in C++".

I'm not the only one to make such comments. They made sure to try and address this in v2 of the book. It still sucks.
2 comments
vvanders 3103 days ago
In that case RefCell[1] is the right approach. I use it a ton with C callbacks where like you said you can't get the compiler to understand lifetimes. You get the added bonus of Rust validating the lifetime at runtime and catching any regressions.

In the rare case where the lifetime check is too expensive you're free to turn the types into pointers and use an unsafe block, which gives you the exact same constraints as you have in C++.

[1] https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/cell/index.html

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steveklabnik 3103 days ago
Sorry that you had this experience. If you have the time, any concrete specifics about things would be helpful.
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