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How to handle multiple mutable references in a loop in Rust without violating borrowing rules?

👀 Views: 94 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-08
rust borrowing iterators mutable-references Rust

I recently switched to I'm currently working on a Rust project where I need to iterate over a vector of structs and modify several of them based on certain conditions. However, I'm running into issues with Rust's borrowing rules. Here's a simplified example: ```rust struct Item { value: i32, } fn main() { let mut items = vec![Item { value: 1 }, Item { value: 2 }, Item { value: 3 }]; for i in 0..items.len() { if items[i].value % 2 == 0 { items[i].value += 10; } } } ``` When I try to compile this, I get the following behavior: ``` behavior[E0502]: want to borrow `items` as mutable because it is also borrowed as immutable --> src/main.rs:8:9 | 5 | for i in 0..items.len() { | ---------- immutable borrow occurs here 6 | if items[i].value % 2 == 0 { | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ mutable borrow occurs here 7 | items[i].value += 10; | ---------------------- immutable borrow ends here | | help: consider using a mutable iterator: `for item in items.iter_mut() { ... }` ``` I've tried a few different approaches, such as using a mutable iterator, but I'm not sure how to implement it in a way that allows me to modify the vector while iterating over it. I know that Rust is strict about mutable and immutable references, so I'd appreciate any guidance on how to resolve this scenario effectively. How can I safely modify elements in a vector during iteration without running into borrowing conflicts? I'm using Rust 1.62. I'm working in a Debian environment. Any ideas how to fix this? Is there a simpler solution I'm overlooking?