Upcoming Rust language features for kernel development
Key Takeaways
- The Rust for Linux project is positively driving the development of specific Rust language features needed for kernel work.
- Key upcoming features for kernel development include field projections, in-place initialization, and arbitrary self types.
- The main bottleneck for Rust feature development is 'alignment in attention' among volunteers, which Rust for Linux helps solve by focusing effort.
- Kernel developers prioritized stabilizing existing unstable features, followed by code-structuring features, over newer, more complex additions like specialization.
- Field projection aims to generalize the ability to create pointers to fields within user-defined smart pointers, which is crucial for handling kernel complexities.
Tyler Mandry stated at Kangrejos 2025 that the Rust for Linux project has significantly benefited Rust development by concentrating volunteer attention on essential language features needed for kernel work. Mandry noted that the perceived slowness of Rust feature development is often due to the team's care and the volunteer-driven nature requiring focused effort, which Rust for Linux provides. Benno Lossin and Xiangfei Ding detailed work on three critical features: field projections, in-place initialization, and arbitrary self types. Kernel developers expressed interest in compile-time evaluation in trait definitions, while requests for specialization were met with caution due to its history of type system problems. Ultimately, Miguel Ojeda advised prioritizing the stabilization of currently used unstable features before moving to broader structural changes. Field projection, which allows creating pointers to structure fields for smart pointers handling kernel complexities, was detailed as a feature seeing significant progress but still in the design phase.
