How does Option work in Rust

Option is an enum that represents an optional value, containing either Some(T) for a value or None for absence. You handle it by matching on its variants to extract the value or handle the missing case.

fn plus_one(x: Option<i32>) -> Option<i32> {
    match x {
        None => None,
        Some(i) => Some(i + 1),
    }
}

let five = Some(5);
let six = plus_one(five);
let none = plus_one(None);

Option is a way to say a value might exist or might not, preventing your program from crashing when data is missing. Think of it like a box that either holds a gift or is empty; you must check the box before trying to use the gift. It forces you to handle both possibilities explicitly.