Running Code on Cleanup with the Drop Trait

Running Code on Cleanup with the `Drop` Trait

The Drop trait customizes cleanup behavior when a value goes out of scope. It’s essential for smart pointers that manage resources like memory, files, or network connections.

Implementing `Drop`

struct CustomSmartPointer {
    data: String,
}

impl Drop for CustomSmartPointer {
    fn drop(&mut self) {
        println!("Dropping CustomSmartPointer with data `{}`!", self.data);
    }
}

fn main() {
    let c = CustomSmartPointer {
        data: String::from("my stuff"),
    };
    let d = CustomSmartPointer {
        data: String::from("other stuff"),
    };
    println!("CustomSmartPointers created.");
}

The Drop trait requires implementing a drop method that takes &mut self. Rust automatically calls drop when values go out of scope.

Output:

$ cargo run
   Compiling drop-example v0.1.0 (file:///projects/drop-example)
    Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.60s
     Running `target/debug/drop-example`
CustomSmartPointers created.
Dropping CustomSmartPointer with data `other stuff`!
Dropping CustomSmartPointer with data `my stuff`!

Variables are dropped in reverse order of creation (d before c).

Manual Cleanup with `std::mem::drop`

You cannot call the Drop trait’s drop method directly:

struct CustomSmartPointer {
    data: String,
}

impl Drop for CustomSmartPointer {
    fn drop(&mut self) {
        println!("Dropping CustomSmartPointer with data `{}`!", self.data);
    }
}

fn main() {
    let c = CustomSmartPointer {
        data: String::from("some data"),
    };
    println!("CustomSmartPointer created.");
    c.drop();
    println!("CustomSmartPointer dropped before the end of main.");
}

$ cargo run
   Compiling drop-example v0.1.0 (file:///projects/drop-example)
error[E0040]: explicit use of destructor method
  --> src/main.rs:16:7
   |
16 |     c.drop();
   |       ^^^^ explicit destructor calls not allowed
   |
help: consider using `drop` function
   |
16 |     drop(c);
   |     +++++ ~

For more information about this error, try `rustc --explain E0040`.
error: could not compile `drop-example` (bin "drop-example") due to 1 previous error

Use std::mem::drop for early cleanup:

struct CustomSmartPointer {
    data: String,
}

impl Drop for CustomSmartPointer {
    fn drop(&mut self) {
        println!("Dropping CustomSmartPointer with data `{}`!", self.data);
    }
}

fn main() {
    let c = CustomSmartPointer {
        data: String::from("some data"),
    };
    println!("CustomSmartPointer created.");
    drop(c);
    println!("CustomSmartPointer dropped before the end of main.");
}

Output:

$ cargo run
   Compiling drop-example v0.1.0 (file:///projects/drop-example)
    Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.73s
     Running `target/debug/drop-example`
CustomSmartPointer created.
Dropping CustomSmartPointer with data `some data`!
CustomSmartPointer dropped before the end of main.

std::mem::drop takes ownership of the value, triggering the Drop implementation immediately. This prevents double-free errors since Rust can’t call drop again on a moved value.

The Rust Programming Language

Implementing Drop

Manual Cleanup with std::mem::drop