> Separately, to express code which creates multiple non-const references into a single object (trivial in any other imperative or OOP language), So multiple m

> Separately, to express code which creates multiple non-const references into a single object (trivial in any other imperative or OOP language), So multiple mutable references to the same data? I'm personally happy that's harder to do in Rust, as it enables anti-patterns like God Objects [1] and spooky action at a distance [2]. I don't like the "you're doing it wrong" response when people point out flaws, and that's not what I'm trying to say here. You can write perfectly fine code with remote mutation. This is just one example where the things that Rust chooses to make harder are also the things I have a harder time understanding. I'll also agree that remote mutation is still necessary for some important use cases (e.g. testing, memoization). Then you have the `Cell` / `RefCell` escape hatches. Rust is pragmatic about such things. > you need compromises like verbose Cell, overhead RefCell, ugly and footgun-filled UnsafeCell ... The actual need for these constructs tends to be rare in my experience. We have tens of thousands of lines of Rust in our codebase and ~five instances of these wrappers. They're really not hard to avoid. And actually, looking through the results here, I've found a few cases we actually _shouldn't_ be using `RefCell`. > unsafe confusing (and currently unsound ...) Pin This is a fair point. `Pin` always felt to me like a compromise to get async out the door. The best thing I can say is it's proof that the Rust team is willing to not let the perfect stand in the way of the useful. But I'll concede it still is difficult to understand and complicates the async picture. This is definitely an example where Rust's underlying philosophy makes things that should be easy harder. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_object https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_object 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_at_a_distance_(computer_programming) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_at_a_distance_(computer...