【Rust Self-study】Introduction

1.0.1 Introduction

This project (including code and comments) was documented during my self-taught Rust. There may be inaccurate or unclear statements, please apologize. If you benefit from it, it's even better.

1.0.2 Why use Rust

• Rust is reliable and efficient .

• Rust can replace C and C, with similar performance but higher security , and does not require frequent recompilation to check for errors like C and C. Key advantages include:

  • Memory security (prevents null pointers from dereferences, dangling pointers, and data contention).
  • Thread-safe (make sure multi-threaded code is safe before execution).
  • Avoid undefined behavior (e.g., array out of bounds, uninitialized variables, or access to freed memory).

• Rust provides modern language features (such as generics, features, pattern matching).

• Rust provides modern toolchains . Rust's Cargo has similar principles to Python's pip. Unlike C/C's tedious dependency configuration, Cargo provides a user-friendly dependency management experience similar to Python while maintaining C/C-level performance.

1.0.3 Applicable scenarios

• When performance is required : Rust can control memory exactly like C (unsafe to use), while also providing modern conveniences (for example, ownership systems and pattern matching). Python, on the other hand, prioritizes developer efficiency, but sacrifices performance.

• When memory security is crucial : Rust's static checking at compile time ensures strong memory security, which is very suitable for scenarios that require error prevention, such as operating systems, embedded systems, and network servers.

• When efficient use of multi-core processors is required : Rust natively supports efficient concurrency and multi-core programming without sacrificing security, which makes it particularly advantageous in scenarios where high throughput and concurrent tasks are required (e.g., web servers, distributed systems, real-time computing).

Rust has performed well in:

• Network Services
• WebAssembly (Rust and C/C significantly outperform C# and Java in terms of performance)
• Command Line Tools
• Network programming
• Embedded devices
• System programming

1.0.4 Comparison with other languages

Category	Language	Features
Machine Code	Binary	Closest to hardware, executed directly by CPU.
Assembly	Assembly	Uses mnemonics to replace machine code, eg, MOV AX, BX.
Low-level	C, C	Close to hardware, provide limited abstraction.
Mid-level	Rust, Go	Performance similar to low-level languages ​​with higher abstraction.
High-level	Python, Java	Higher-level abstraction, easier to read and use.

High-level and low-level languages ​​are not strictly opposite, but exist continuously:

• Low-level languages ​​can have better control over hardware, but require more complex coding and lower development efficiency.

• Higher-level languages ​​provide better abstraction and automation, but may introduce runtime overhead and lose fine-grained hardware control.

Pros of Rust:

• high performance
• Strong security
• Excellent support for concurrency

Rust's status as an intermediate language has the following advantages:

• C/C : Excellent performance, but lack of security; Rust ensures safety with comparable performance.

• Java/C# : Ensure memory security (using garbage collection) and provides numerous features, but with weak performance; Rust achieves a similar level of security with excellent performance.

1.0.5 The History of Rust

Rust was originally a research project at Mozilla, and the Firefox browser is a well-known example of the application.

Mozilla developed the Servo experimental browser engine using Rust (launched in 2012 and the first preview was released in 2016). The Servo architecture is completely parallel. Unfortunately, in August 2020, Mozilla fired most of the Servo development team. From November 17, 2020, Servo has been transferred to the Linux Foundation. Some of the features of Servo are already integrated into Firefox.

Quantum version of Firefox integrates Servo's CSS rendering engine. Rust brings significant performance gains to Firefox.

1.0.6 Rust User and Case Studies

• Google : Fuschia operating system, Rust accounts for 30% of the code base.

• Amazon : Linux-based operating system designed to run containers directly on bare metal or virtual machines.

• System76 : Developed the next generation of security operating system Redox entirely using Rust.

• Stanford University and the University of Michigan : Embedded real-time operating systems for Google encryption products.

• Microsoft : Rewrite some low-level components in Windows using Rust.

• Microsoft : WinRT/Rust project.

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