How to program in Rust as if it was old school C++ with pointers
Basically wrap your data struct in Option>> Better yet, use your custom type that provides few helper functions that make using it as nice as old C++ pointers. Obviously there's no pointer arithmetic, but it works great for dynamically allocated structures like trees or linked lists. Please comment how it's a horrible idea that will bring doom to me and my family. fn main() { struct Data { pub number: i32 } // struct Data { int number; }; let mut p:Pointer = Pointer(None); // Data *p = NULL; println!("{}", p.is_none()); // printf(p == NULL ? "true\n" :…
How to program in Rust as if it was old school C++ with pointers launched on December 20, 2022 with 24 votes, #1,097 of 3,688 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches.
In plain words
This is a Rust library that wraps data structures in Option<Rc<RefCell<>>> to mimic C++ pointer behavior for developers familiar with that paradigm. It provides helper functions like `is_none()`, `new()`, and `pointed()` to simplify syntax when working with dynamically allocated structures such as trees or linked lists. The tool targets Rust programmers transitioning from C++ who want familiar pointer-like interfaces, though it acknowledges this approach diverges from Rust's safety principles.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Basically wrap your data struct in Option<Rc<RefCell<_>>> Better yet, use your custom type that provides few helper functions that make using it as nice as old C++ pointers. Obviously there's no pointer arithmetic, but it works great for dynamically allocated structures like trees or linked lists. Please comment how…
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