🚀 Rust Basics 1: Getting Started with Rust Programming 🦀

Welcome to RUST BASICS 1, the first post in our 7-part journey to mastering Rust! Whether you’re a beginner or just curious about Rust, this series will guide you step by step.

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Step 1: Install Rust

Let’s set up Rust on your computer.

For Linux/Mac/Windows (WSL):

1. Open your terminal or command prompt.

2. Run this command:
   

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Follow the on-screen instructions. After installation, verify Rust is installed by typing:

rustc --version

This should display the installed Rust version.

Alternative Installation Methods

macOS: Use Homebrew:

brew install rust

Windows: Download the Rust installer from Rust Official.

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Step 2: Write and Run Your First Rust Program

Let's write the classic "Hello, world!" program.

1. Create a folder for your Rust projects:

mkdir rust_projects
cd rust_projects

1. Inside the folder, create a file named main.rs.

2. Open it in your favorite text editor (e.g., VS Code).

3. Write the following code:
   

fn main() {
    println!("Hello, world!");
}

fn means function.

main() is the entry point of a Rust program.

println! prints to the console. The ! indicates it's a macro.

1. Save the file and run it:

rustc main.rs
./main

The output should be:

Hello, world!

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Step 3: Variables in Rust

Variables in Rust are immutable by default, but you can make them mutable with the mut keyword.

Update your main.rs file with this code:

fn main() {
    let name = "TheACJ";
    let age = 25;
    let mut score = 100; // `mut` makes the variable mutable

    println!("Name: {}", name);
    println!("Age: {}", age);
    println!("Score: {}", score);

}

Explanation:

let name = "TheACJ"; creates an immutable variable.

let mut score = 100; creates a mutable variable.

{} is a placeholder in println!, replaced with the variable's value.

Add this to your code:

    score = 120; // Reassigning the value of score
    println!("Updated Score: {}", score);

Run it again, and you’ll see the updated score.(This shows the power of mut)

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Step 4: Taking User Input

Let’s make the program interactive by asking for user input.

Replace the code in main.rs with:

use std::io;

fn main() {
    let mut favorite_color = String::new();
    println!("Enter your favorite color: ");

    io::stdin()
        .read_line(&mut favorite_color)
        .expect("Failed to read input");

    println!("Your favorite color is {}", favorite_color.trim());
}

Explanation:

use std::io; imports Rust’s input/output library.

String::new() creates a new, empty string.

read_line reads user input and stores it in favorite_color.

.trim() removes extra spaces or newline characters from the input.

Run it and interact with your program!

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Step 5: Practice Challenges

A. Modify the program to ask for your age and print a message like:

You are 25 years old!

B. Write a program to calculate the square of a number:

let num = 4;
println!("The square of {} is {}", num, num * num);

Feel free to share your solutions in the comments for feedback!

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Troubleshooting Tips

If rustc isn’t recognized, ensure Rust is added to your PATH. Restart your terminal or run:

source $HOME/.cargo/env

If your program doesn’t work as expected, double-check for typos.

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🎉 That’s it for RUST BASICS 1! Congratulations on taking your first steps in Rust programming. Stay tuned for RUST BASICS 2, where we’ll dive deeper into more advanced concepts.

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Let me know if you found this helpful or if you ran into any issues. Happy coding! 🦀

Feel free to look at Rust Doc