Monomorphization
Monomorphization is a compilation transformation that creates concrete specialized implementations of generic code for its instantiated types.
Learn Rust in a Month of Lunches
Monomorphization generates a separate concrete function or type implementation for each concrete type used with generic code.
- How it is used
- Explains why generic Rust code can compile slightly longer while producing faster-running concrete code.
- How deep it goes
- Defines specialization and illustrates generated signatures, but stops short of compiler implementation details.
- Examples
- Uses `print_and_return` with a string and an `f64` to show two specialized function forms.
- What you can do after
- Understand why generic Rust functions may cost compile time while avoiding runtime generic dispatch overhead.
Read how Learn Rust in a Month of Lunches explains monomorphization →
Write Powerful Rust Macros
Monomorphization is the compilation transformation that creates concrete specialized copies of a generic function for the types with which it is instantiated.
- How it is used
- Explains why generated generic functions can differ from procedural-macro-generated copies in reuse and specialization.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the transformation and its performance trade-offs, but does not descend into compiler implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses `foo<T>` calls with `i32` and `u8`, plus a generic `compose_two` function generated by a procedural macro.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate how generic calls may improve speed while increasing binary size, especially across many concrete types.
Read how Write Powerful Rust Macros explains monomorphization →
Related concepts
- genericsproduces · Generics are programming-language constructs that parameterize or generalize types and operations so they can apply to multiple concrete types or input forms.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.