Arc And Shared References

Shared References in Rust Disallow Mutation by Default

Arc and Shared References

Shared references in Rust disallow mutation by default and Arc is no exception.

Rust's Sharing Model

In Rust, shared references are used to allow multiple threads to access the same data concurrently. To ensure data integrity, Rust's sharing model prevents multiple threads from mutating the same data simultaneously.

Arc's Behavior

Arc, short for Atomic Reference Counter, is a Rust type that allows multiple threads to share a single value. However, like other shared references, Arc prohibits direct mutation of the underlying data.

This restriction exists to prevent race conditions and data corruption. If multiple threads could mutate the same data concurrently, it would be difficult to guarantee the data's consistency.

To modify data within an Arc, you must use techniques like interior mutability, which involves creating a mutable reference to a specific field within the Arc's data structure.