Rust ADVANCEDRust
Systems programming language focused on safety, speed, and concurrency
12 min read
rustsystemsmemory-safetyconcurrencyperformance
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Installation, setup, and basics
Installation & Setup
Install Rust and create your first project
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💡 Rustup manages Rust versions and toolchains
⚡ Cargo is Rust's build system and package manager
📌 Debug builds are fast to compile, release builds are optimized
🟢 Start with cargo new to create a project structure
installationsetupcargo
Hello World
Basic Rust program structure
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💡 fn main() is the entry point of every Rust program
⚡ println! is a macro, not a function (note the !)
📌 Rust macros can do compile-time code generation
🟢 String interpolation uses {} placeholders
basicshello-world
Variables & Types
Variable declarations, mutability, and basic types
Variables & Mutability
Declaring variables and understanding mutability
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💡 Variables are immutable by default for safety
⚡ Shadowing lets you reuse names with different types
📌 Constants are always immutable and require type annotation
🔐 Immutability prevents data races in concurrent code
variablesmutability
Basic Data Types
Scalar and compound types in Rust
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💡 Rust has signed (i) and unsigned (u) integers
⚡ Type inference is smart but explicit types add clarity
📌 char is 4 bytes and supports all Unicode
🟢 Arrays have fixed size, use Vec for dynamic arrays
typesdata-types
Ownership & Borrowing
Rust's unique ownership system for memory safety
Ownership Rules
Understanding Rust's ownership model
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💡 Each value has exactly one owner at a time
⚡ Move semantics prevent double-free errors
📌 Types with Copy trait are copied instead of moved
🔐 Ownership rules are enforced at compile time
ownershipmemory
Borrowing & References
Using references to avoid moving values
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💡 References allow borrowing without taking ownership
⚡ & for immutable reference, &mut for mutable
📌 Cannot have mutable and immutable refs simultaneously
🔐 Borrow checker prevents data races at compile time
borrowingreferences
Control Flow
Conditionals, loops, and pattern matching
If Expressions
Conditional branching in Rust
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💡 if is an expression, not a statement
⚡ Can use if in let bindings to assign values
📌 All branches must return the same type
🟢 No parentheses needed around conditions
control-flowconditionals
Loops
Different types of loops in Rust
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💡 loop creates infinite loops with explicit break
⚡ Loops can return values with break expression
📌 for loops are preferred for iterating collections
🟢 Use .iter() to borrow array elements in loops
loopsiteration
Pattern Matching
Powerful pattern matching with match
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💡 match must be exhaustive (cover all cases)
⚡ Use _ as catch-all pattern
📌 if let is syntactic sugar for single pattern
🎯 Match guards add extra conditions with if
pattern-matchingmatch
Functions & Closures
Function definitions, parameters, and closures
Function Basics
Defining and calling functions
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💡 Functions use snake_case naming convention
⚡ Last expression without semicolon is returned
📌 Parameters require type annotations
🟢 Use return for early returns, omit for final expression
functionsparameters
Closures
Anonymous functions with environment capture
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💡 Closures can capture variables from their environment
⚡ Type inference works for closure parameters
📌 Use move to take ownership of captured values
🎯 Closures are commonly used with iterators
closureslambdas
Structs & Enums
Custom data types and algebraic data types
Structs
Creating custom data types with structs
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💡 Structs group related data together
⚡ Use .. syntax to copy fields from another struct
📌 Field init shorthand when variable matches field name
🟢 Tuple structs useful for simple data without field names
structstypes
Enums
Algebraic data types with enums
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💡 Enums can hold different types of data in variants
⚡ Option<T> eliminates null pointer errors
📌 Result<T, E> for error handling
🎯 Match expressions work perfectly with enums
enumstypes
Methods & Impl Blocks
Adding methods to structs and enums
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💡 impl blocks define methods and associated functions
⚡ &self for immutable reference, &mut self for mutable
📌 Associated functions called with :: syntax
🟢 Multiple impl blocks allowed for organization
methodsimpl
Error Handling
Handling errors with Result and Option
Result Type
Error handling with Result<T, E>
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💡 Result<T, E> for recoverable errors
⚡ ? operator propagates errors up the call stack
📌 unwrap() panics on error, expect() with custom message
🔐 Compiler forces you to handle all errors
error-handlingresult
Option Type
Handling optional values with Option<T>
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💡 Option<T> represents optional values without null
⚡ Many useful methods: map, and_then, unwrap_or
📌 ? operator works with Option in functions returning Option
🟢 if let for simple pattern matching
optionnull-safety
Collections
Vectors, strings, and hash maps
Vectors
Dynamic arrays with Vec<T>
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💡 Vectors are resizable arrays stored on the heap
⚡ vec! macro for convenient initialization
📌 Use get() for safe access that returns Option
🟢 Vectors can only store values of the same type
vectorscollections
Strings
String manipulation and UTF-8 text
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💡 String is growable, heap-allocated, UTF-8
⚡ &str is an immutable reference to a string slice
📌 Cannot index strings due to UTF-8 encoding
🌍 Properly handles Unicode and international text
stringstext
Hash Maps
Key-value storage with HashMap
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💡 HashMap<K, V> stores key-value pairs
⚡ Keys must implement Eq and Hash traits
📌 entry() API for efficient conditional updates
🟢 Use BTreeMap for sorted keys
hashmapcollections