Understand what Box<T> is, why Rust uses heap allocation, and the three main scenarios where Box<T> solves ownership and size problems.

• Using Boxt To Store Data On The Heap
• Enabling Recursive Types With Boxes

Learn how to implement the Deref trait to make custom types behave like references and how Rust’s deref coercion automatically matches types in function arguments.

• Implementing Deref For Custom Types
• Deref Coercions With Functions And Methods

Learn how to run custom code automatically when values go out of scope in Rust, implementing destructor-like cleanup for resource management with the Drop trait

• Customizing Drop Behavior

Understanding shared ownership in Rust through Rc<T>, how reference counting works, and when to use it in single-threaded scenarios

• Using Rct To Share Data
• Cloning Rct Increases The Reference Count

Understand how RefCell<T> moves Rust borrowing checks to runtime, enabling interior mutability for patterns like mock objects, and how to combine it with Rc<T> for shared mutable data while avoiding memory leaks with Weak<T>

• Enforcing Borrowing Rules At Runtime
• Combining Rct And Refcellt
• Reference Cycles And Memory Leaks
• Preventing Cycles With Weakt

Understand how Rc and Arc enable multiple owners for the same heap data in Rust, and why thread safety is the key difference between them

• Rc And Arc Shared Ownership And Thread Safety

A decision guide for choosing the correct Rust smart pointer for your ownership and mutation needs, with a comparison of Box, Rc, Arc, RefCell, and Mutex

• Comparison Of Box Rc Arc Refcell And Mutex