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The Option Type

Option<T> encodes presence (Some(T)) or absence (None) in the type system, replacing null pointers; the compiler forces every consumer to handle both arms before touching the value. Niche optimization makes Option<&T> the same size as a raw pointer.

Questions this Concept answers

Why does modelling absence with `Option` remove the family of bugs caused by null pointers?

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The Option Type for Representing Nullable Values in Rust

The Option type is a generic enum with two variants, `Some(T)` (holding a present value of type T) and `None` (representing absence), that lets a language express "a value might not exist" within the…