Rust roadmap: The best way to learn Rust in 2024

If you work in the tech industry, you must have heard about the Rust programming language. Rust is a rather new language that has quickly captured the developer’s attention. More than 13% of developers worldwide in 2024 are making it a programming language to learn. 

Learning to code in Rust can benefit developers planning to grow their careers in the tech industry. Experts wouldn’t recommend learning Rust as your first programming language, but Rust can be very useful to advance your career. 

What is Rust?#

Rust is a systems programming language designed for performance, safety, and concurrency. Mozilla Research created it, and it was first released in 2010. Rust is known for its unique approach to memory safety, which eliminates many common bugs and security vulnerabilities in other languages like C and C++. 

Here are some key features and characteristics of Rust:

• Rust ensures memory safety without needing a garbage collector.

• Rust’s concurrency model allows for safe concurrent programming. 

• Rust is designed to be as fast as C and C++ while providing memory safety. 

Is Rust worth learning in 2024?#

Learning Rust in 2024 is worth it. Rust has continued to gain traction and recognition in the programming community due to its unique blend of performance, safety, and modern language features. Its focus on memory safety without a garbage collector sets it apart, making it ideal for systems programming, embedded systems, and performance-critical applications. 

Big tech companies like Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon use Rust for different products, highlighting its efficiency and relevance. We’ve seen the demand for Rust developers rising as more industries recognize the benefits of using Rust for secure and efficient software development. Rust is now widely used in web development, game development, and blockchain. As the ecosystem grows and the language continues to evolve, investing time in learning Rust will position developers at the forefront of innovative, high-performance software solutions.

Roadmap to learn Rust#

Before starting to learn, it is important to have a Rust roadmap so you do not skip any steps and learn using the best resources available. We have created a basic Rust roadmap (a useful checklist) for all enthusiastic learners. Let’s get started. 

1. Set up the learning environment#

Before you start, it is very important to set up a Rust learning environment. Install Rust from here first. Once rustup is installed, you can install the latest stable version of Rust with the rustup command.

Cargo, Rust’s package manager and build system, is installed alongside Rust and is essential for managing dependencies, building projects, and running tests. You can create a new project with Cargo’s new project_name, compile it with Cargo build, and run it with Cargo run.

Choosing the right integrated development environment (IDE) or code editor is crucial for an efficient Rust development workflow. Visual Studio Code (VS Code) and IntelliJ IDEA are some of the best. Setting up these tools ensures a productive and streamlined coding experience.

2. Get started with the Rust basics#

Once you’re done with setting up your Rust environment, it is time to start with the basics. Currently, utilizing online resources like courses, certifications, and even programming books is important. Start with basics like variables, data types, functions, etc., in Rust language. Learning these basic concepts can help you get started with Rust programming. This step will be much easier if you have some previous programming knowledge. 

Understanding control flow is also essential when learning Rust from scratch. Rust uses conditionals and loops to manage code execution based on certain conditions. Using if else and else if statements allow you to execute different code blocks. 

Another key aspect to learn while you’re at basics is understanding that what makes Rust unique is its memory management. Rust’s memory is based on ownership and borrowing. Ownership ensures that each value has a single owner, and when the owner goes out of scope, Rust automatically cleans up the memory, which prevents leaks. Borrowing allows references to values without transferring ownership, using immutable references (&T) for read-only access and mutable references (&mut T) for read and write access. 

3. Engage with community#

Learning by yourself can be challenging. Learners can lose motivation quickly. That is why it is important to participate in Rust communities. Tech communities can be very beneficial for learners. Some communities have many tech experts who can help you whenever you feel stuck. You can mention your problems there, and they can quickly give you an expert opinion. 

4. Practical learning: Building a project#

Practical learning is crucial in coding. Learning Rust can be much easier when you’re practicing and building something. Working on and building projects can help learners understand what they need to focus on. 

Educative offers a variety of Rust projects that allow learners to tackle real-life problems and gain practical deployment experience. Whether you’re interested in creating an e-commerce store or developing GitHub actions, Educative’s Rust projects provide valuable hands-on experience to enhance your Rust programming skills. Dive into these projects to build, test, and deploy your applications, all while strengthening your understanding of Rust.

5. Explore advanced topics#

As you progress, dive deeper into memory management and concurrency features to understand Rust’s true strength. Rust’s memory management system, based on ownership, borrowing, and lifetimes, ensures memory safety without a garbage collector. This allows for high performance and low-level control, similar to languages like C and C++, but with extra safety guarantees. 

Writing efficient and idiomatic Rust code involves following best practices and common patterns. Idiomatic Rust emphasizes clear and concise code that leverages the language’s features, such as pattern matching, error handling with Result and Option, and iterators and closures. 

We suggest checking out the ultimate guide to Rust programming to cover the advanced topics. Understanding and applying these principles helps write performant, maintainable, and readable code, leveraging Rust’s full potential.

Conclusion #

Learning coding can be fun, especially when you have a goal. Rust is still in demand, and many tech companies are looking for Rust employees. There is no time to wait around if you want to grow. Start learning Rust today and explore some great opportunities. 

Happy learning!