The alternative is to have control, so you can choose (and enforce) the right strategy for your context: unwinding, or aborting, or only infallible/Result/GIGO (with turning `slice[i]` and `RefCell::borrow()` into compile-time errors where necessary). Rust's default of "anything can unwind anywhere at any time time" is just one of these strategies, and it's not always the right one. And when it's not the right one, it does create a "mine field" as the OP says.
I think I see what you're saying now. I guess time will tell, but I don't think the alternative you pose will get rid of the so-called "mine field." So I still stand by what I said: complaining about too many panics is like complaining about too many bugs. I think a different complaint, i.e., "Rust doesn't give enough visibility and control with respect to panics," is a different story entirely and is valid. (Although I don't particularly suffer from its absence.) With that said, it would be cool to have the level of control you're talking about, but it's not clear to me the extra language complexity required for it is worth it. But hard to say at just a conceptual level.
