Stenobird

Episode

What's New in Rust 1.85 through 1.87

Podcast
Rustacean Station
Published
Jan 22, 2026
Duration seconds
4442
Processing state
processed
Canonical source
https://rustacean-station.org/episode/rust-1.85-1.86-1.87/
Audio
https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audio.rustacean-station.org/file/rustacean-station/2026-01-22-rust-1.85-1.86-1.87.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/rustacean-station/episodes/what-s-new-in-rust-1-85-through-1-87
Markdown
/podcast/rustacean-station/what-s-new-in-rust-1-85-through-1-87.md

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Summary

A deep dive into the technical advancements in Rust versions 1.85 through 1.87. The discussion covers critical changes to async closures, target feature attributes, and supply chain security via Cargo.

Topics

  • Rust Programming
  • Async Closures
  • Cargo
  • Software Supply Chain
  • Systems Programming
  • Compiler Features
  • Software Bill of Materials
  • CPU Instruction Sets

Highlights

  • Main idea: Async closures now allow for more intuitive lifetime capturing and different trait implementations compared to previous async-returning closures
  • Practical takeaway: Use the new target feature attribute on safe functions to allow safe calls within specific CPU feature sets like AVX
  • Failure mode: The compiler now enforces non-null debug assertions for pointers to prevent common dereferencing errors in debug builds
  • Main idea: Cargo now supports generating Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to enhance supply chain security and transparency
  • Practical takeaway: New Windows terminal integration for Cargo provides visual progress indicators in the taskbar during builds

Chapters

  1. 1:00 Rust 1.85 and Async Closures: An introduction to the 1.85 release and the technical distinction between async closures and closures that return futures.
  2. 6:35 Advanced Lifetime Bounds: Discussion on higher-rank lifetime bounds and their impact on asynchronous function signatures.
  3. 17:25 Waker Optimization and Pointer Safety: Exploring Waker::nop to avoid unnecessary Arcs and new debug assertions for non-null pointer checks.
  4. 22:55 Const Stability and Float Operations: Updates on the stabilization of const functions for size and alignment calculations.
  5. 34:30 Target Feature Attributes: How the target feature attribute can now be applied to safe functions under specific conditions.
  6. 51:15 Cargo Enhancements and SBOM: New capabilities in Cargo for generating SBOMs and improved terminal integration for Windows users.