`fast` a.k.a UnsafeAlgebra is the flag for enabling all "unsafe" (according to llvm) float optimizations. See LangRef for more information http://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#fast-math-flags Providing these operations with less precise associativity rules (for example) is useful to numerical applications. For example, the summation loop: let sum = 0.; for element in data { sum += *element; } Using the default floating point semantics, this loop expresses the floats must be added in a sequence, one after another. This constraint is usually completely unintended, and it means that no autovectorization is possible.
See the README.md in ../librustc.