Post Syndicated from daroc original https://lwn.net/Articles/1099224/

Self-referential structures that can be used without unsafe code
have posed a problem for Rust for years.
There are many cases where a self-referential data structure is the elegant
algorithmic choice, but implementing it in accordance with Rust’s lifetime rules
is all but impossible. At Kangrejos 2026, Gary Guo presented a clever solution
to the problem in the context of the kernel’s

pin_init crate, which helps with the creation of immovable data structures,
typically for interoperability with C. Guo’s changes could help remove most of
the unsafe code related to lifetimes in the

Nova driver and, eventually, other Rust components.