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name: m14-mental-model description: "Use when learning Rust concepts. Keywords: mental model, how to think about ownership, understanding borrow checker, visualizing memory layout, analogy, misconception, explaining ownership, why does Rust, help me understand, confused about, learning Rust, explain like I'm, ELI5, intuition for, coming from Java, coming from Python, 心智模型, 如何理解所有权, 学习 Rust, Rust 入门, 为什么 Rust"

Mental Models

Layer 2: Design Choices

Core Question

What's the right way to think about this Rust concept?

When learning or explaining Rust:

• What's the correct mental model?
• What misconceptions should be avoided?
• What analogies help understanding?

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Key Mental Models

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Coming From Other Languages

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Thinking Prompt

When confused about Rust:

1. What's the ownership model?

   • Who owns this data?
   • How long does it live?
   • Who can access it?

2. What guarantee is Rust providing?

   • No data races
   • No dangling pointers
   • No use-after-free

3. What's the compiler telling me?

   • Error = violation of safety rule
   • Solution = work with the rules

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Trace Up ↑

To design understanding (Layer 2):

Copy"Why can't I do X in Rust?"
    ↑ Ask: What safety guarantee would be violated?
    ↑ Check: m01-m07 for the rule being enforced
    ↑ Ask: What's the intended design pattern?

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Trace Down ↓

To implementation (Layer 1):

Copy"I understand the concept, now how do I implement?"
    ↓ m01-ownership: Ownership patterns
    ↓ m02-resource: Smart pointer choice
    ↓ m07-concurrency: Thread safety

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Common Misconceptions

Deprecated Thinking

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Ownership Visualization

CopyStack                          Heap
+----------------+            +----------------+
| main()         |            |                |
|   s1 ─────────────────────> │ "hello"        |
|                |            |                |
| fn takes(s) {  |            |                |
|   s2 (moved) ─────────────> │ "hello"        |
| }              |            | (s1 invalid)   |
+----------------+            +----------------+

After move: s1 is no longer valid

Reference Visualization

Copy+----------------+
| data: String   |────────────> "hello"
+----------------+
       ↑
       │ &data (immutable borrow)
       │
+------+------+
| reader1    reader2    (multiple OK)
+------+------+

+----------------+
| data: String   |────────────> "hello"
+----------------+
       ↑
       │ &mut data (mutable borrow)
       │
+------+
| writer (only one)
+------+

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Learning Path

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Related Skills