Rust for the Polyglot Programmer, December 2022 edition

I have reviewed, updated and revised my short book about the Rust programming language, Rust for the Polyglot Programmer.

It now covers some language improvements from the past year (noting which versions of Rust they’re available in), and has been updated for changes in the Rust library ecosystem.

With (further) assistance from Mark Wooding, there is also a new table of recommendations for numerical conversion.

Recap about Rust for the Polyglot Programmer

There are many introductory materials about Rust. This one is rather different. Compared to much other information about Rust, Rust for the Polyglot Programmer is:

• Dense: I assume a lot of starting knowledge. Or to look at it another way: I expect my reader to be able to look up and digest non-Rust-specific words or concepts.

• Broad: I cover not just the language and tools, but also the library ecosystem, development approach, community ideology, and so on.

• Frank: much material about Rust has a tendency to gloss over or minimise the bad parts. I don’t do that. That also frees me to talk about strategies for dealing with the bad parts.

• Non-neutral: I’m not afraid to recommend particular libraries, for example. I’m not afraid to extol Rust’s virtues in the areas where it does well.

• Terse, and sometimes shallow: I often gloss over what I see as unimportant or fiddly details; instead I provide links to appropriate reference materials.

After reading Rust for the Polyglot Programmer, you won’t know everything you need to know to use Rust for any project, but should know where to find it.

Comments are welcome of course, via the Dreamwidth comments or Salsa issue or MR. (If you’re making a contribution, please indicate your agreement with the Developer Certificate of Origin.)

edited 2022-12-20 01:48 to fix a typo