How to Add Methods to Enums in Rust

Structs Enums
2026-04-17T12:05:42+00:00
Add methods to Rust enums by defining an inherent impl block with functions that match on the enum variants.

You add methods to enums in Rust by implementing an inherent impl block directly on the enum type. This allows you to define functions that take self (or &self, &mut self) and operate on the enum's variants.

enum Message {
    Quit,
    Move { x: i32, y: i32 },
    Write(String),
    ChangeColor(i32, i32, i32),
}

impl Message {
    fn call(&self) {
        match self {
            Message::Quit => println!("Quitting"),
            Message::Move { x, y } => println!("Moving to {}, {}", x, y),
            Message::Write(text) => println!("Text message: {}", text),
            Message::ChangeColor(r, g, b) => println!("Color is now {}, {}, {}", r, g, b),
        }
    }
}

fn main() {
    let m = Message::Write(String::from("hello"));
    m.call();
}