Rust 1.72.0 has been released with new features and plans for Windows support update

Rust, a programming language designed for building reliable and efficient software, has announced the release of its version 1.72.0. One of the key features of this update is that Rust's cfg now remembers and reports inaccessible code based on conditions like crate features or platforms. This functionality allows for configuration conditional checks, enabling certain functions to be provided only with specific crate features or on certain platforms.

Another significant update in Rust 1.72.0 is the removal of the limit on const evaluation time. Previously, Rust had set a maximum number of statements that could be run during any given constant evaluation to prevent user-provided const evaluations from causing a compile-time infinite loop or taking an unbounded amount of time at compile. This restriction has now been lifted.

The new version also sees several lints from Clippy being integrated into rustc, and numerous APIs have been stabilized.

Looking ahead, the Rust team has plans to increase the minimum supported Windows version to 10. According to the accepted proposal in compiler MCP 651, Rust 1.75 will be the last version to officially support Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. Once Rust 1.76 is released in February 2024, only Windows 10 and later versions will be supported as tier-1 targets. This change will be applicable both as a host compiler and as a compilation target.