Concise Control Flow with if let and let else

Concise Control Flow with `if let` and `let else`

if let provides concise pattern matching for single patterns, trading exhaustiveness checking for brevity.

Basic `if let` Syntax

Instead of verbose match for single-pattern cases:

fn main() {
    let config_max = Some(3u8);
    match config_max {
        Some(max) => println!("The maximum is configured to be {max}"),
        _ => (),
    }
}

Use if let for cleaner code:

fn main() {
    let config_max = Some(3u8);
    if let Some(max) = config_max {
        println!("The maximum is configured to be {max}");
    }
}

Syntax: if let pattern = expression { body }

Pattern matching works identically to match
Only executes when pattern matches
Loses exhaustiveness checking

`if let` with `else`

Handle non-matching cases with else:

#[derive(Debug)]
enum UsState {
    Alabama,
    Alaska,
    // --snip--
}

enum Coin {
    Penny,
    Nickel,
    Dime,
    Quarter(UsState),
}

fn main() {
    let coin = Coin::Penny;
    let mut count = 0;
    match coin {
        Coin::Quarter(state) => println!("State quarter from {state:?}!"),
        _ => count += 1,
    }
}

Equivalent using if let:

#[derive(Debug)]
enum UsState {
    Alabama,
    Alaska,
    // --snip--
}

enum Coin {
    Penny,
    Nickel,
    Dime,
    Quarter(UsState),
}

fn main() {
    let coin = Coin::Penny;
    let mut count = 0;
    if let Coin::Quarter(state) = coin {
        println!("State quarter from {state:?}!");
    } else {
        count += 1;
    }
}

`let...else` for Early Returns

let...else binds values or returns early, maintaining linear control flow:

#[derive(Debug)] // so we can inspect the state in a minute
enum UsState {
    Alabama,
    Alaska,
    // --snip--
}

impl UsState {
    fn existed_in(&self, year: u16) -> bool {
        match self {
            UsState::Alabama => year >= 1819,
            UsState::Alaska => year >= 1959,
            // -- snip --
        }
    }
}

enum Coin {
    Penny,
    Nickel,
    Dime,
    Quarter(UsState),
}

fn describe_state_quarter(coin: Coin) -> Option<String> {
    if let Coin::Quarter(state) = coin {
        if state.existed_in(1900) {
            Some(format!("{state:?} is pretty old, for America!"))
        } else {
            Some(format!("{state:?} is relatively new."))
        }
    } else {
        None
    }
}

fn main() {
    if let Some(desc) = describe_state_quarter(Coin::Quarter(UsState::Alaska)) {
        println!("{desc}");
    }
}

#[derive(Debug)] // so we can inspect the state in a minute
enum UsState {
    Alabama,
    Alaska,
    // --snip--
}

impl UsState {
    fn existed_in(&self, year: u16) -> bool {
        match self {
            UsState::Alabama => year >= 1819,
            UsState::Alaska => year >= 1959,
            // -- snip --
        }
    }
}

enum Coin {
    Penny,
    Nickel,
    Dime,
    Quarter(UsState),
}

fn describe_state_quarter(coin: Coin) -> Option<String> {
    let state = if let Coin::Quarter(state) = coin {
        state
    } else {
        return None;
    };

    if state.existed_in(1900) {
        Some(format!("{state:?} is pretty old, for America!"))
    } else {
        Some(format!("{state:?} is relatively new."))
    }
}

fn main() {
    if let Some(desc) = describe_state_quarter(Coin::Quarter(UsState::Alaska)) {
        println!("{desc}");
    }
}

Cleaner with let...else:

#[derive(Debug)] // so we can inspect the state in a minute
enum UsState {
    Alabama,
    Alaska,
    // --snip--
}

impl UsState {
    fn existed_in(&self, year: u16) -> bool {
        match self {
            UsState::Alabama => year >= 1819,
            UsState::Alaska => year >= 1959,
            // -- snip --
        }
    }
}

enum Coin {
    Penny,
    Nickel,
    Dime,
    Quarter(UsState),
}

fn describe_state_quarter(coin: Coin) -> Option<String> {
    let Coin::Quarter(state) = coin else {
        return None;
    };

    if state.existed_in(1900) {
        Some(format!("{state:?} is pretty old, for America!"))
    } else {
        Some(format!("{state:?} is relatively new."))
    }
}

fn main() {
    if let Some(desc) = describe_state_quarter(Coin::Quarter(UsState::Alaska)) {
        println!("{desc}");
    }
}

let...else Properties:

Pattern matches: binds value in outer scope and continues
Pattern fails: executes else block, which must diverge (return, panic, etc.)
Maintains “happy path” flow without nested conditionals

When to Use Each

Pattern	Use Case	Trade-offs
`match`	Multiple patterns, exhaustiveness required	Verbose for single patterns
`if let`	Single pattern, optional else case	No exhaustiveness checking
`let...else`	Extract value or early return	Must diverge on mismatch

Summary

Enums with pattern matching provide type-safe variant modeling:

Enums: Model exclusive variants with associated data
Option<T>: Eliminates null pointer errors through type safety
match: Exhaustive pattern matching with data extraction
if let/let...else: Concise syntax for common patterns

These constructs enable robust APIs where invalid states are unrepresentable, moving error handling from runtime to compile time.

The Rust Programming Language

Basic if let Syntax

if let with else

let...else for Early Returns

When to Use Each

Summary