Rust Control Flow — If/Else, Loops (loop, while, for), and Match Statements

In this tutorial, you will learn about Rust Control Flow. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

Rust control flow includes if/else expressions, loop with break/continue, while with conditions, for over iterators, and match for pattern matching.

What You'll Learn

• if/else expressions
• loop, while, for
• Match with patterns
• Loop labels

Why It Matters

Control flow structures all Rust programs. Firefox uses match extensively for HTTP Parsing. DodaZIP uses for loops for file iteration and match for file type detection.

Real-World Use

State machines, HTTP routing, data validation, iterative processing.

fn main() {
    // if/else expression
    let condition = true;
    let number = if condition { 5 } else { 6 };

    // loop with break
    let mut counter = 0;
    let result = loop {
        counter += 1;
        if counter == 10 { break counter * 2; }
    };

    // while
    let mut n = 3;
    while n > 0 { println!("{}", n); n -= 1; }

    // for
    for i in 0..5 { println!("{}", i); }

    // match
    let value = 3;
    match value {
        1 => println!("one"),
        2 | 3 => println!("two or three"),
        4..=10 => println!("range"),
        _ => println!("other"),
    }

    println!("Result: {}", result);
}