# MaybeUninit

Initially added:

In previous releases of Rust, the `mem::uninitialized` function has allowed you to bypass Rust's initialization checks by pretending that you've initialized a value at type `T` without doing anything. One of the main uses of this function has been to lazily allocate arrays.

However, `mem::uninitialized` is an incredibly dangerous operation that essentially cannot be used correctly as the Rust compiler assumes that values are properly initialized. For example, calling `mem::uninitialized::<bool>()` causes instantaneous undefined behavior as, from Rust's point of view, the uninitialized bits are neither `0` (for `false`) nor `1` (for `true`) - the only two allowed bit patterns for `bool`.

To remedy this situation, in Rust 1.36.0, the type `MaybeUninit<T>` has been stabilized. The Rust compiler will understand that it should not assume that a `MaybeUninit<T>` is a properly initialized `T`. Therefore, you can do gradual initialization more safely and eventually use `.assume_init()` once you are certain that `maybe_t: MaybeUninit<T>` contains an initialized `T`.

As `MaybeUninit<T>` is the safer alternative, starting with Rust 1.39, the function `mem::uninitialized` will be deprecated.