Ownership is also a way to reason about resource lifetime.

Rust associates values with owners and releases owned resources when they go out of scope. Moving a value transfers ownership; borrowing lets other code use it without taking ownership. The compiler checks these rules before the program runs. Learning the model helps explain API choices as well as memory safety.

The Rust Book

Why it matters

A durable reference for designing Rust boundaries and understanding why a value cannot be reused after a move.

More context

Follow the book’s String examples step by step. Distinguish moving ownership from copying a simple value, then connect scope exit to cleanup. These ideas make later borrowing and lifetime diagnostics much easier to interpret.

Keep in mind

This chapter introduces the model. Shared ownership, interior mutability, and unsafe boundaries need additional rules.

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