Program Memory

In Rust programming, memory can be categorized primarily into stack memory and heap memory, each serving different purposes and having different characteristics.

Here’s a breakdown of the different types of memory in Rust:

1. Stack Memory

• Characteristics:
• Continuous area of memory for local variables.
• Fast allocation and deallocation.
• Data is stored in a Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) manner.
• Limited in size.
• Suitable for data with a known, fixed size at compile time.
• Usage:
• Local variables.
• Function arguments.
• Return values.

2. Heap Memory

• Characteristics:
• Slower allocation and deallocation compared to the stack.
• Data can be of dynamic size.
• Larger in size than the stack.
• Suitable for data that needs to live beyond the scope of a function.
• Usage:
• Dynamic data structures like vectors, strings, and hash maps.
• Data that needs to be shared or transferred across different parts of a program.

Examples:

Stack Allocation:

fn main() {
  let x = 5;
  let y = x; // Both x and y are on the stack
}

Heap Allocation:

fn main() {
  let s = String::from("hello"); // s is on the heap
}