tips.md

Tips

General

1. Create SMALL rust binaries, see: min-sized-rust.
2. Compile simple programs w/rustc, but larger programs w/cargo.
3. Format your code automatically: rustfmt.

Cargo

1. Creates a new crate (it's like go mod init):

   cargo new <name>

   Without a git repository:

   cargo new <name> --vcs none

2. Build the crate (it's like go create):

   cargo build

   cargo b

3. Run the crate (it's like go run):

   cargo run

   cargo r

   1. Silently run:

   cargo r -q

4. Check whether your program can compile:

   cargo check

   cargo c

   Rustaceans use this command to periodically check their programs. After working on their program, and when they're sure, they build your program using cargo build --release.

   This command produces a faster program, but it'll take a longer time to compile.

   This is also the command you want to use when you benchmark your code.

5. Cargo caches. If you want to start on a clean slate, run:

   cargo clean

   Why? Sometimes, cargo check returns a warning. However, when you run it the second time, it doesn't display the warning. In that case, you can run cargo clean, and then run cargo check again. This way, you'll be able to see the error message again.

6. You can see the documentation of every crate that your program/package depends on.

   cargo doc --open

7. Create a library package.

   cargo new --lib <name>

   This command will create a package with a test.

8. Work on someone else's project:

   git clone url/project
   cd project
   cargo build

Memory Leaks

1. Use Valgrind to check for memory errors.