---
title: "Explain the concept of Rust's ownership model in relation to functions and return values."  
description: "Explain the concept of Rust's ownership model in relation to functions and return values."  
author: "Steilla Mitchel"  
published: 2023-07-10  
updated: 2023-07-11  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159016/explain-the-concept-of-rust-s-ownership-model-in-relation-to-functions-and-return-values  
category: "rust"  
tags: ["programming language", "rust"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# Explain the concept of Rust's ownership model in relation to functions and return values.

[Explain the concept](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159605/explain-the-concept-of-unique-key-violation-error) of [Rust](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/160170/explain-rust-s-ownership-borrowing-and-lifetimes-system)'s ownership [model](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/81334/america-is-reopening-after-corona-lockdown-but-on-swedish-model) in [relation](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/99257/i-don-t-look-m-gandhi-in-the-same-way-as-britishers-do-relation-of-gandhi-with-them) to [functions](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/160140/explain-the-role-of-functions-as-a-service-faas-in-serverless-computing) and return values.

## Replies

### Reply by Aryan Kumar

Sure. Rust's ownership model is a key [concept](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/79/routing-concept-in-dot-net) in the language that helps to ensure memory safety. Ownership is a property that every value in Rust has. A value can only have one owner at a time, and when the owner goes out of scope, the value is automatically dropped.

Functions in Rust can take ownership of values, or they can borrow values without taking ownership. When a function takes ownership of a value, it is responsible for dropping the value when it is no longer needed. When a function borrows a value, it is not responsible for dropping the value.

The ownership of a value can be transferred from one function to another. This is done by using the `move` keyword. When a value is moved, the old owner of the value no longer has ownership of the value.

The return values of functions in Rust can be either owned or borrowed. If the return value of a function is owned, then the function is responsible for dropping the value when it is no longer needed. If the return value of a function is borrowed, then the caller of the function is responsible for dropping the value when it is no longer needed.

Here is an example of how ownership works in Rust:

Rust

```plaintext
fn create_string() -> String {
    let string = String::from("Hello, world!");
    return string;
}

fn main() {
    let string = create_string();
    println!("{}", string);
}
```

In this example, the function `create_string()` takes ownership of the value `string`. The function `create_string()` then returns the value `string` to the caller of the function. The caller of the function, in this case the function `main()`, is responsible for dropping the value `string` when it is no longer needed.

Here is another example of how ownership works in Rust:

Rust

```plaintext
fn borrow_string(string: &String) {
    println!("{}", string);
}

fn main() {
    let string = String::from("Hello, world!");
    borrow_string(&string);
}
```

In this example, the function `borrow_string()` borrows the value `string`. The function `borrow_string()` does not take ownership of the value `string`, so the caller of the function, in this case the function `main()`, is not responsible for dropping the value `string`.


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Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159016/explain-the-concept-of-rust-s-ownership-model-in-relation-to-functions-and-return-values

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