as_ref() and as_mut()

In Rust as_ref() and its mutable counterpart as_mut() are commonly used with Option and Result types in Rust. These methods are used to obtain references to the values contained within these types without taking ownership of the values. Here’s a brief explanation of their common use cases:

as_ref() with Option:

• It allows you to obtain an Option<&T> where T is the type of the value contained in the Option.
• Useful when you want to work with the value inside the Option without transferring ownership or when you want to chain multiple operations on the Option without moving it.

as_mut() with Option:

• Similar to as_ref(), but it provides a mutable reference (Option<&mut T>) to the value.
• Useful when you need to modify the value inside the Option.

as_ref() and as_mut() with Result:

• Similar to their use with Option, you can obtain references to the value or error contained in a Result without taking ownership.
• Useful when you want to inspect or manipulate the result without consuming it.

These methods are particularly helpful when you want to work with the values inside Option and Result without moving or altering the original values, which is a common use case in Rust’s ownership system.

struct MyStruct {
    url: Option<String>,
}

impl MyStruct {
    fn new(url: Option<String>) -> Self {
        MyStruct { url }
    }

    fn print_url(&self) {
        if let Some(url) = self.url.as_ref() {
            println!("The URL is: {}", url);
        } else {
            println!("No URL found.");
        }
    }
}

fn main() {
    // Create an instance of MyStruct with a Some value.
    let my_instance_with_url = MyStruct::new(Some("https://example.com".to_string()));
    my_instance_with_url.print_url();

    // Create an instance of MyStruct with None value.
    let my_instance_without_url = MyStruct::new(None);
    my_instance_without_url.print_url();
}