[codetrotter]

> To "get around" this (but see the next paragraph), we usually associate each node to a simple identifier such as an integer (usize), and store all nodes into a Vec. [...]

> Honestly, I think this is good practice even outside of Rust.

It is, and they use this way of writing their code a lot in game dev. They call it Entity Component System, or ECS for short. The concept of ECS extends a bit beyond what you described above but fundamentally I perceive your description to fall in line with ECS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system

An ECS library for Rust exists, named Specs. It might be of interest.

https://slide-rs.github.io/specs/

[Twisol]

I am indeed alluding to the principles of ECS! I didn’t want to beat readers over the head with what might be perceived as “a whole new way to architect your software!!1!”, but this is the next step in that direction.