Declare first
It's possible to declare variable bindings first, and initialize them later. However, this form is seldom used, as it may lead to the use of uninitialized variables.
fn main() { // Declare a variable binding let a_binding; { let x = 2; // Initialize the binding a_binding = x * x; } println!("a binding: {}", a_binding); let another_binding; // Error! Use of uninitialized binding println!("another binding: {}", another_binding); // FIXME ^ Comment out this line another_binding = 1; println!("another binding: {}", another_binding); }
The compiler forbids use of uninitialized variables, as this would lead to undefined behavior.