How do I print the type of a variable in Rust?

Question

I have the following:

let mut my_number = 32.90;

How do I print the type of my_number?

Using type and type_of did not work. Is there another way I can print the number's type?

Answer 1

Some other answers don't work, but I find that the typename crate works.

1. Create a new project:

   cargo new test_typename
   

2. Modify the Cargo.toml

   [dependencies]
   typename = "0.1.1"
   

3. Modify your source code

   use typename::TypeName;
   
   fn main() {
       assert_eq!(String::type_name(), "std::string::String");
       assert_eq!(Vec::<i32>::type_name(), "std::vec::Vec<i32>");
       assert_eq!([0, 1, 2].type_name_of(), "[i32; 3]");
   
       let a = 65u8;
       let b = b'A';
       let c = 65;
       let d = 65i8;
       let e = 65i32;
       let f = 65u32;
   
       let arr = [1,2,3,4,5];
       let first = arr[0];
   
       println!("type of a 65u8  {} is {}", a, a.type_name_of());
       println!("type of b b'A'  {} is {}", b, b.type_name_of());
       println!("type of c 65    {} is {}", c, c.type_name_of());
       println!("type of d 65i8  {} is {}", d, d.type_name_of());
       println!("type of e 65i32 {} is {}", e, e.type_name_of());
       println!("type of f 65u32 {} is {}", f, f.type_name_of());
   
       println!("type of arr {:?} is {}", arr, arr.type_name_of());
       println!("type of first {} is {}", first, first.type_name_of());
   }
   

The output is:

type of a 65u8  65 is u8
type of b b'A'  65 is u8
type of c 65    65 is i32
type of d 65i8  65 is i8
type of e 65i32 65 is i32
type of f 65u32 65 is u32
type of arr [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] is [i32; 5]
type of first 1 is i32

Answer 2

If your just wanting to know the type of your variable during interactive development, I would highly recommend using rls (rust language server) inside of your editor or ide. You can then simply permanently enable or toggle the hover ability and just put your cursor over the variable. A little dialog should come up with information about the variable including the type.

Answer 3

If you know all the types beforehand, you can use traits to add a type_of method:

trait TypeInfo {
    fn type_of(&self) -> &'static str;
}

impl TypeInfo for i32 {
    fn type_of(&self) -> &'static str {
        "i32"
    }
}

impl TypeInfo for i64 {
    fn type_of(&self) -> &'static str {
        "i64"
    }
}

//...

No intrisics or nothin', so although more limited this is the only solution here that gets you a string and is stable. (see French Boiethios's answer) However, it's very laborious and doesn't account for type parameters, so we could...

trait TypeInfo {
    fn type_name() -> String;
    fn type_of(&self) -> String;
}

macro_rules! impl_type_info {
    ($($name:ident$(<$($T:ident),+>)*),*) => {
        $(impl_type_info_single!($name$(<$($T),*>)*);)*
    };
}

macro_rules! mut_if {
    ($name:ident = $value:expr, $($any:expr)+) => (let mut $name = $value;);
    ($name:ident = $value:expr,) => (let $name = $value;);
}

macro_rules! impl_type_info_single {
    ($name:ident$(<$($T:ident),+>)*) => {
        impl$(<$($T: TypeInfo),*>)* TypeInfo for $name$(<$($T),*>)* {
            fn type_name() -> String {
                mut_if!(res = String::from(stringify!($name)), $($($T)*)*);
                $(
                    res.push('<');
                    $(
                        res.push_str(&$T::type_name());
                        res.push(',');
                    )*
                    res.pop();
                    res.push('>');
                )*
                res
            }
            fn type_of(&self) -> String {
                $name$(::<$($T),*>)*::type_name()
            }
        }
    }
}

impl<'a, T: TypeInfo + ?Sized> TypeInfo for &'a T {
    fn type_name() -> String {
        let mut res = String::from("&");
        res.push_str(&T::type_name());
        res
    }
    fn type_of(&self) -> String {
        <&T>::type_name()
    }
}

impl<'a, T: TypeInfo + ?Sized> TypeInfo for &'a mut T {
    fn type_name() -> String {
        let mut res = String::from("&mut ");
        res.push_str(&T::type_name());
        res
    }
    fn type_of(&self) -> String {
        <&mut T>::type_name()
    }
}

macro_rules! type_of {
    ($x:expr) => { (&$x).type_of() };
}

Let's use it:

impl_type_info!(i32, i64, f32, f64, str, String, Vec<T>, Result<T,S>)

fn main() {
    println!("{}", type_of!(1));
    println!("{}", type_of!(&1));
    println!("{}", type_of!(&&1));
    println!("{}", type_of!(&mut 1));
    println!("{}", type_of!(&&mut 1));
    println!("{}", type_of!(&mut &1));
    println!("{}", type_of!(1.0));
    println!("{}", type_of!("abc"));
    println!("{}", type_of!(&"abc"));
    println!("{}", type_of!(String::from("abc")));
    println!("{}", type_of!(vec![1,2,3]));

    println!("{}", <Result<String,i64>>::type_name());
    println!("{}", <&i32>::type_name());
    println!("{}", <&str>::type_name());
}

output:

i32
&i32
&&i32
&mut i32
&&mut i32
&mut &i32
f64
&str
&&str
String
Vec<i32>
Result<String,i64>
&i32
&str

---

Rust Playground

Answer 4

You can also use the simple approach of using the variable in println!("{:?}", var). If Debug is not implemented for the type, you can see the type in the compiler's error message:

mod some {
    pub struct SomeType;
}

fn main() {
    let unknown_var = some::SomeType;
    println!("{:?}", unknown_var);
}

(playpen)

It's dirty but it works.