Command-Line Rust

Preface

I already know the ending \ It’s the part that makes your face implode

They Might Be Giants, “Experimental Film” (2004)

To become proficient at a language, you must write many programs in that language. I remember back when this new language called “JavaScript” came out in 1995. I decided to learn it, so I bought a big, thick reference book and read it cover to cover. The book was well written and thoroughly explained the language in great detail, from strings to lists and objects. But when I finished the book, I still couldn’t write JavaScript to save my life. Without applying this knowledge by writing programs, I learned very little. I’ve since improved at learning how to learn a language, which is perhaps the most valuable skill you can develop as a programmer. For me, that means rewriting programs I already know, like tic-tac-toe.

Rust is the new kid on the block now, and perhaps you’ve picked up this book to see what it’s all about. This book is not a reference on the language. Those already exist, and they’re quite good. Instead, I’ve written a book that challenges you to write many small programs that probably will be familiar to you. Rust is reputed to have a fairly steep learning curve, but I believe this approach will help you quickly become productive with the language.

Specifically, you’re going to write Rust versions of core Unix command-line tools such as head and cal. This will teach you more about the tools and why they are so wildly useful while also ...