Don't Panic - Rust Fundamentals

Rust is a compiled, statically typed language for software that wants predictable performance without giving up memory safety. It aims at many of the same jobs as C and C++, then adds a compiler that argues with you before the pager does.

Three systems do the real work together. The type system describes valid values and operations. The ownership system tracks which binding controls each value and how code may borrow it. The compiler checks both before it emits machine code. Safe Rust prevents many invalid memory accesses and data races without a garbage collector.

Cargo is the ordinary front door. A package has a Cargo.toml and one or more crates. cargo check type-checks quickly. cargo build and cargo run produce and start binaries. cargo test and cargo doc cover tests and API docs. A rejected program is often not "almost crashing"; it violated an ownership, lifetime, trait, or type rule that keeps later execution inside safe boundaries.

Bindings are immutable by default. String owns heap text; &str borrows it. Structs group fields; enums and match make unhandled states a compile error. Ownership moves by default unless a type implements Copy. References borrow: many shared &T, or one exclusive &mut T, never both in conflict. Lifetimes name how long a reference remains valid; they do not extend storage.

Read the Intro for the ownership and borrowing model end to end. Use the Cheatsheet when you need the Cargo and type checklist. The Timeline and Landscape place Rust among related systems languages; Updates tracks the stable train that changes the APIs this course teaches.

Don't Panic - Rust Fundamentals

Relevant careers