65 Must-Know Rust Interview Questions and Answers 2025

Rust Fundamentals

1.
What is cargo and how do you create a new Rust project with it?
2.
Describe the structure of a basic Rust program.
3.
Explain the use of main function in Rust.
4.
How does Rust handle null or nil values?
5.
What data types does Rust support for scalar values?
6.
How do you declare and use an array in Rust?
7.
Can you explain the differences between let and let mut in Rust?
8.
What is shadowing in Rust and give an example of how it’s used?
9.
What is the purpose of match statements in Rust?

Ownership and Borrowing

10.
What is ownership in Rust and why is it important?
11.
Explain the borrowing rules in Rust.
12.
What is a lifetime and how does it relate to references?
13.
How do you create a reference in Rust?
14.
Describe the difference between a shared reference and a mutable reference.
15.
How does the borrow checker help prevent race conditions?
16.
Can a variable hold multiple mutable references at the same time?
17.
What are slices and how do they work in relation to ownership?
18.
Explain lifetimes in function signatures and why they’re necessary.
19.
What is a dangling reference and how does Rust prevent it?

Error Handling

20.
How does Rust handle error propagation?
21.
Explain the use of Option and Result types in Rust.
22.
How do you use the unwrap and expect methods with Result types?
23.
What are panics in Rust and when should they be used?
24.
How can you handle recoverable errors without panic!ing?

Concurrency

25.
Explain how Rust ensures memory safety in concurrent programs.
26.
Describe the difference between std::thread::spawn and tokio::spawn.
27.
How do channels work in Rust and what types of channels are available?
28.
What is async/await and how does it work in Rust?
29.
What is the purpose of the Mutex type in Rust?

Rust's Type System

30.
What are traits in Rust?
31.
How do you define and implement a generic function or struct in Rust?
32.
What are associated types in Rust and how are they different from generics?
33.
Explain Rust’s orphan rule in the context of trait implementations.
34.
Describe how to use trait bounds in Rust.

Pattern Matching and Enums

35.
What are enums and how are they used in Rust?
36.
How does pattern matching work with enums in Rust?
37.
Give an example of a function that uses pattern matching to handle different errors.
38.
Can you explain destructuring in the context of pattern matching in Rust?

Macros and Metaprogramming

39.
What are macros in Rust and how do you define them?
40.
Give an example of when you would use a macro in Rust.
41.
What is the difference between declarative macros and procedural macros in Rust?

Memory Management

42.
How does Rust achieve memory safety without a garbage collector?
43.
Describe the concept of reference counting in Rust.
44.
What is the significance of the Drop trait in Rust?

Rust Ecosystem and Tooling

45.
How do you manage Rust project dependencies?
46.
Name some widely-used crates in the Rust ecosystem.
47.
What features does Rust offer for package documentation?
48.
How do you format Rust code for readability?

Advanced Topics

49.
Explain what unsafe code is in Rust and when to use it.
50.
How does Rust interface with other languages (FFI)?
51.
What are some of the considerations for using Rust in embedded systems?
52.
Discuss Rust’s support for compile-time function execution (const fn).
53.
How can you compile Rust code for a different target platform?
54.
How is procedural macro expansion handled in Rust?

Best Practices in Rust Development

55.
What are some common idiomatic practices in Rust for error handling?
56.
Describe effective use of the Rust module system in large projects.
57.
Explain how you would optimize Rust code for performance.
58.
What’s the recommended way to write unit tests in Rust?

Real-world Application and Projects

59.
How would you approach writing a web server in Rust?
60.
Discuss the use of Rust for network programming and available libraries.
61.
What factors might lead you to choose Rust for a new command-line tool development?
62.
Describe how you would implement file I/O operations in Rust.
63.
What are some challenges you might face when integrating Rust in a larger, language-diverse codebase?

Miscellaneous

64.
How does Rust handle default parameter values in functions?
65.
Discuss Rust’s release channels and the stability guarantee.

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65 Rust interview questions

What is cargo and how do you create a new Rust project with it?

Describe the structure of a basic Rust program.

Explain the use of main function in Rust.

How does Rust handle null or nil values?

What data types does Rust support for scalar values?

How do you declare and use an array in Rust?

Can you explain the differences between let and let mut in Rust?

What is shadowing in Rust and give an example of how it’s used?

What is the purpose of match statements in Rust?

What is ownership in Rust and why is it important?

Explain the borrowing rules in Rust.

What is a lifetime and how does it relate to references?

How do you create a reference in Rust?

Describe the difference between a shared reference and a mutable reference.

How does the borrow checker help prevent race conditions?

Can a variable hold multiple mutable references at the same time?

What are slices and how do they work in relation to ownership?

Explain lifetimes in function signatures and why they’re necessary.

What is a dangling reference and how does Rust prevent it?

How does Rust handle error propagation?

Explain the use of Option and Result types in Rust.

How do you use the unwrap and expect methods with Result types?

What are panics in Rust and when should they be used?

How can you handle recoverable errors without panic!ing?

Explain how Rust ensures memory safety in concurrent programs.

Describe the difference between std::thread::spawn and tokio::spawn.

How do channels work in Rust and what types of channels are available?

What is async/await and how does it work in Rust?

What is the purpose of the Mutex type in Rust?

What are traits in Rust?

How do you define and implement a generic function or struct in Rust?

What are associated types in Rust and how are they different from generics?

Explain Rust’s orphan rule in the context of trait implementations.

Describe how to use trait bounds in Rust.

What are enums and how are they used in Rust?

How does pattern matching work with enums in Rust?

Give an example of a function that uses pattern matching to handle different errors.

Can you explain destructuring in the context of pattern matching in Rust?

What are macros in Rust and how do you define them?

Give an example of when you would use a macro in Rust.

What is the difference between declarative macros and procedural macros in Rust?

How does Rust achieve memory safety without a garbage collector?

Describe the concept of reference counting in Rust.

What is the significance of the Drop trait in Rust?

How do you manage Rust project dependencies?

Name some widely-used crates in the Rust ecosystem.

What features does Rust offer for package documentation?

How do you format Rust code for readability?

Explain what unsafe code is in Rust and when to use it.

How does Rust interface with other languages (FFI)?

What are some of the considerations for using Rust in embedded systems?

Discuss Rust’s support for compile-time function execution (const fn).

How can you compile Rust code for a different target platform?

How is procedural macro expansion handled in Rust?

What are some common idiomatic practices in Rust for error handling?

Describe effective use of the Rust module system in large projects.

Explain how you would optimize Rust code for performance.

What’s the recommended way to write unit tests in Rust?

How would you approach writing a web server in Rust?

Discuss the use of Rust for network programming and available libraries.

What factors might lead you to choose Rust for a new command-line tool development?

Describe how you would implement file I/O operations in Rust.

What are some challenges you might face when integrating Rust in a larger, language-diverse codebase?

How does Rust handle default parameter values in functions?

Discuss Rust’s release channels and the stability guarantee.

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Explain the use of `main` function in Rust.

Can you explain the differences between `let` and `let mut` in Rust?

What is the purpose of `match` statements in Rust?

Explain the use of `Option` and `Result` types in Rust.

How do you use the `unwrap` and `expect` methods with `Result` types?

How can you handle recoverable errors without `panic!`ing?

Describe the difference between `std::thread::spawn` and `tokio::spawn`.

What is `async/await` and how does it work in Rust?

What is the purpose of the `Mutex` type in Rust?

What is the significance of the `Drop` trait in Rust?

Explain what `unsafe` code is in Rust and when to use it.