When can’t my type be Copy in Rust?

In Rust, a type cannot implement the Copy trait under several specific conditions. Here are the primary reasons:

1. Presence of Non-Copy Fields

A type cannot be Copy if any of its fields do not implement the Copy trait. For example, types like String, Vec<T>, and Box<T> do not implement Copy because they manage heap-allocated memory, which requires more complex operations than a simple bitwise copy. If a struct contains any such fields, it cannot implement Copy[2][5][15].

2. Implementation of the Drop Trait

A type cannot implement Copy if it also implements the Drop trait. The Drop trait is used to specify custom behavior when a value goes out of scope, such as releasing resources. Allowing a type to be both Copy and Drop would lead to complications, such as double-free errors, because the Drop implementation would be called multiple times for the same resource[4][14].

3. Dynamic Trait Objects

Types that contain dynamic trait objects (e.g., Box<dyn Trait>, Rc<dyn Trait>) cannot implement Copy. This is because the size of a dynamic trait object is not known at compile time, and copying such objects would require duplicating the underlying data, which is not straightforward[12].

4. Types with Mutable References

Types that contain mutable references (&mut T) cannot implement Copy. This restriction exists because having multiple mutable references to the same data would violate Rust's borrowing rules, which ensure memory safety by preventing data races[2][5].

5. Large or Complex Types

Even if technically possible, it is often undesirable to implement Copy for large or complex types due to performance considerations. Copying large amounts of data can be expensive, and making such types Copy would lead to implicit, potentially costly operations. Instead, explicit cloning using the Clone trait is preferred to make the cost of duplication clear[1][13].

Examples

Here are some examples to illustrate these points:

Non-Copy Field Example

struct MyStruct {
    data: String, // String does not implement Copy
}

// This will not compile because String is not Copy
impl Copy for MyStruct {}

Drop ...