# Function from_utf8

1.36.0 (const: 1.63.0) · Source

    pub const fn from_utf8(v: &[u8]) -> Result<&str, Utf8Error>

Expand description

Converts a slice of bytes to a string slice.

This is an alias to `str::from_utf8`.

A string slice (`&str`) is made of bytes (`u8`), and a byte slice (`&[u8]`) is made of bytes, so this function converts between the two. Not all byte slices are valid string slices, however: `&str` requires that it is valid UTF-8. `from_utf8()` checks to ensure that the bytes are valid UTF-8, and then does the conversion.

If you are sure that the byte slice is valid UTF-8, and you don’t want to incur the overhead of the validity check, there is an unsafe version of this function, `from_utf8_unchecked`, which has the same behavior but skips the check.

If you need a `String` instead of a `&str`, consider `String::from_utf8`.

Because you can stack-allocate a `[u8; N]`, and you can take a `&[u8]` of it, this function is one way to have a stack-allocated string. There is an example of this in the examples section below.

## §Errors

Returns `Err` if the slice is not UTF-8 with a description as to why the provided slice is not UTF-8.

## §Examples

Basic usage:

    use std::str;

    // some bytes, in a vector
    let sparkle_heart = vec![240, 159, 146, 150];

    // We can use the ? (try) operator to check if the bytes are valid
    let sparkle_heart = str::from_utf8(&sparkle_heart)?;

    assert_eq!("💖", sparkle_heart);

Incorrect bytes:

    use std::str;

    // some invalid bytes, in a vector
    let sparkle_heart = vec![0, 159, 146, 150];

    assert!(str::from_utf8(&sparkle_heart).is_err());

See the docs for `Utf8Error` for more details on the kinds of errors that can be returned.

A “stack allocated string”:

    use std::str;

    // some bytes, in a stack-allocated array
    let sparkle_heart = [240, 159, 146, 150];

    // We know these bytes are valid, so just use `unwrap()`.
    let sparkle_heart: &str = str::from_utf8(&sparkle_heart).unwrap();

    assert_eq!("💖", sparkle_heart);