A surprising enum size optimization in the Rust compiler
a year ago
- #Enums
- #Memory Optimization
- #Rust
- Enums in Rust are types with a set of variants, like `Foo` which can be `Int(u32)` or `Char(char)`.
- The size of an enum is typically the size of its largest variant plus a tag to identify the variant.
- Rust optimizes enum memory usage, such as the niche optimization for enums like `Option<char>`.
- Nested enums (`Outer` containing `Inner`) can share memory representation, reducing overall size.
- Memory representation can be inspected using functions like `print_memory_representation`.