How to Handle Network Timeouts in Rust

Handle network timeouts in Rust by wrapping blocking I/O calls with connect_timeout or set_read_timeout using std::time::Duration.

use std::net::{TcpStream, SocketAddr};
use std::time::Duration;

fn main() {
    let socket_addr: SocketAddr = "127.0.0.1:7878".parse().unwrap();
    let stream = TcpStream::connect_timeout(&socket_addr, Duration::from_secs(5));

    match stream {
        Ok(mut s) => {
            s.set_read_timeout(Some(Duration::from_secs(5))).unwrap();
            // Proceed with I/O
        }
        Err(e) => eprintln!("Connection timed out or failed: {}", e),
    }
}

For async code, use tokio::time::timeout with tokio::net::TcpStream to enforce limits without blocking threads.

A timeout stops your program from waiting forever if a network connection is slow or broken. You set a specific time limit, like 5 seconds, and if the data doesn't arrive by then, the program stops waiting and handles the error. It's like waiting for a bus; if it doesn't show up in 10 minutes, you take a taxi instead of standing there all day.