book

Idiomatic Rust

by Brenden Matthews

September 2024

Intermediate to advanced

256 pages

6h 40m

English

Manning Publications

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1.1 What this book covers1.2 What design patterns are1.3 Why this book is different1.4 Tools you’ll need
2.1 Generics2.1.1 A Turing-complete type system2.1.2 Why generics?2.1.3 Basics of generics2.1.4 Exploring Rust’s Option2.1.5 Marker structs and phantom types2.1.6 Generic parameter trait bounds2.2 Traits2.2.1 Why traits are not object-oriented programming2.2.2 What’s in a trait?2.2.3 Understanding traits by examining object-oriented code2.2.4 Combining generics and traits2.2.5 Deriving traits automatically2.2.6 Trait objects
3.1 A tour of pattern matching3.1.1 Basics of pattern matching3.1.2 Clean matches with the ? operator3.2 Functional Rust3.2.1 Basics of functional programming in Rust3.2.2 Closure variable capture3.2.3 Examining iterators3.2.4 Obtaining an iterator with iter(), into_iter(), and iter_mut()3.2.5 Iterator features
4.1 Resource acquisition is initialization4.1.1 Understanding RAII in C and C++4.1.2 A tour of RAII in Rust4.1.3 Summarizing RAII in Rust4.2 Passing arguments by value vs. reference4.2.1 Passing by value4.2.2 Passing by reference4.2.3 When to do what: Passing by value vs. reference4.3 Constructors4.4 Object-member visibility and access4.5 Error handling4.6 Global state4.6.1 lazy-static.rs4.6.2 once_cell4.6.3 static_init4.6.4 std::cell::OnceCell
5.1 Metaprogramming with macros5.1.1 A basic declarative macro in Rust5.1.2 When to use macros5.1.3 Using macros to write mini-DSLs5.1.4 Using macros for DRY5.2 Optional function arguments5.2.1 Examining optional arguments in Python5.2.2 Examining optional arguments in C++5.2.3 Optional arguments in Rust or the lack thereof5.2.4 Emulating optional arguments with traits5.3 Builder pattern5.3.1 Implementing the builder pattern5.3.2 Enhancing our builder with traits5.3.3 Enhancing our builder with macros5.4 Fluent interface pattern5.4.1 A fluent builder5.4.2 Test-driving our fluent builder5.5 Observer pattern5.5.1 Why not callbacks?5.5.2 Implementing an observer5.6 Command pattern5.6.1 Defining the command pattern5.6.2 Implementing the command pattern5.7 Newtype pattern
6.1 Meditate on good library design6.2 Do one thing, do it well, and do it correctly6.3 Avoid excessive abstraction6.4 Stick to basic types6.5 Use the tools6.6 Good artists copy; great artists steal (from the standard library)6.7 Document everything, and provide examples6.8 Don’t break the user’s code6.9 Think of the state6.10 Consider the aesthetics6.11 Examining Rust library ergonomics6.11.1 Revisiting linked lists6.11.2 Using rustdoc to improve our API design6.11.3 Improving our linked list with more tests6.11.4 Making our library easier for others to debug
7.1 Const generics7.2 Implementing traits for external crate types7.2.1 Wrapper structs7.2.2 Using Deref to unwrap a wrapped struct7.3 Extension traits7.4 Blanket traits7.5 Marker traits7.6 Struct tagging7.7 Reference objects
8.1 Trait state machine8.2 Coroutines8.3 Procedural macros8.4 Preludes
9.1 The benefits of immutability9.2 Why immutability is not a magic bullet9.3 How to think about immutable data9.4 Understanding immutability in Rust9.5 Reviewing the basics of immutability in Rust9.6 Using traits to make (almost) anything immutable9.7 Using Cow for immutability9.8 Using crates for immutable data structures9.8.1 Using im9.8.2 Using rpds
10.1 What is an antipattern?10.2 Using unsafe10.2.1 What does unsafe do?10.2.2 Where can you use unsafe?10.2.3 When should you use unsafe?10.2.4 Should you worry about unsafe?10.3 Using unwrap()10.4 Not using Vec10.5 Too many clones10.6 Using Deref to emulate polymorphism10.7 Global data and singletons10.8 Too many smart pointers10.9 Where to go from here
A.1 Installing tools for this bookA.1.1 Installing tools for macOS using HomebrewA.1.2 Installing tools for Linux systemsA.1.3 Installing tools for WindowsA.2 Managing rustc and other Rust components with rustupA.2.1 Installing rustc and other componentsA.2.2 Switching default toolchains with rustupA.2.3 Updating Rust components

Overview

Tips, tricks, design patterns, and secret features of Rust that will help you build stable and maintainable applications.

Whether you’re a Rust beginner or a pro, Idiomatic Rust will teach you to be a better Rust programmer. It introduces essential design patterns for Rust software with detailed explanations, and code samples that encourage you to get stuck in.

In Idiomatic Rust you’ll learn how to apply important design patterns including:

Fluent interfaces for creating delightful APIs
The Builder pattern to encapsulate data and perform initialization
Immutable data structures that help you avoid hard-to-debug data race conditions
Functional programming patterns
Anti-patterns and what not to do in Rust

Idiomatic Rust catalogs, documents, and describes both how classic design patterns work with Rust, and the new Rust-specific patterns that will help you master the language. Each pattern or best practice helps solve common programming problems and ensure your code is easy for others to understand. You’ll learn when to use each pattern—and when to break it! You’ll soon be producing higher-quality Rust code and higher-quality Rust software.

About the Technology
After you’re comfortable with Rust’s syntax and its uniquely-powerful compiler, there’s a whole new dimension to explore as you put it to use in real projects. How do you apply standard design patterns in Rust applications? Where and why should you use IntoIterator? Why do Rustaceans love the PhantomData type? This book answers these questions and many, many more.

About the Book
Idiomatic Rust introduces the coding and design patterns you’ll need to take advantage of Rust’s unique language design. This book’s clear explanations and reusable code examples help you explore metaprogramming, build your own libraries, create fluent interfaces, and more. Along the way, you’ll learn how to write efficient, idiomatic Rust code that’s easy to maintain and evolve as you learn how the language works under the hood.

What's Inside

Creating delightful APIs
Applying Builder and other classic design patterns
Functional programming patterns
Rust anti-patterns

About the Reader
For intermediate Rust programmers.

About the Author
Brenden Matthews is a member of the Apache Software Foundation, creator of the system monitor Conky, and author of Code Like a Pro in Rust.

The technical editor on this book was Alain M Couniot.

Quotes
It’s a no-brainer to have this one on your shelf!
- Bastian Gruber, Mozilla

Think like a Rustacean! This book is for anyone who wants to fully internalize what idiomatic Rust looks like.
- David MacLeod, SurrealDB

Rust in depth. The real nitty-gritty of Rust!
- Yves Dorfsman, SollerS Inc.

An indispensable guide for mastering idiomatic Rust, offering practical patterns and best practices to elevate your code quality.
- Giuseppe Catalano, Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A.