Curriculum Data modeling Option instead of null exercise 3 · mcq-explain

Option instead of null

Pick the strongest reason to handle Option<T> with match (or if let) rather than .unwrap().

TypeScript reference

.unwrap() PANICS at runtime if the value is None. match (and if let) force the caller to handle BOTH variants at compile time — the absence case can never go unhandled silently.

match works on more types than .unwrap() does; .unwrap() is restricted to numeric Options.

.unwrap() is slower because it allocates a fallback value before returning.

match is required by the borrow checker; .unwrap() causes E0382 (move out of borrow) errors.

About this theme

Rust does not have null; absence is Option<T>. TypeScript users already know T | null; Rust makes the check mandatory before access. Planned exercises: 1. choose Option<T>. 2. recognise Some and None. 3. choose match over unchecked access. 4. fill Some(value). 5. fill unwrap_or. 6. write a function returning Option. 7. write if let Some. 8. translate TS nullable code. 9. fix a program by handling the None case explicitly.