Setting up a dev container for Rust

• Primary author: Mann Barot
• Reviewer: Daniel Zhang

Rust

Created in 2012, Rust is a modern programming language used to create reliable software.

Pre-requisites

Installs

1. Install Git
2. Install Docker
3. Install VS Code

Remember

• Rust will be installed in the container, not the host machine
• Ensure the "Dev Containers" extension is installed in VS Code

Steps

1. On a folder on your machine, create a folder using the terminal

   mkdir RustExample
   cd RustExample
   

   Use git init to initialize a git repository. Use this to create a README:

   echo "# Rust Hello World Example by Mann" > README.md
   git add README.md
   git commit -m "Initial commit with README"
   

2. Open this folder in VS Code

3. Create a folder named ".devcontainer" (for simplicity) and add a devcontainer.json file in it. Include the following in it:

   {
       "name": "RustExample",
       "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/rust:latest",
       "customizations": {
         "extensions": ["rust-lang.rust-analyzer"]
       }
       }
   

What was that?

Your dev container .json file communicates to the container what needs to be setup. In this file, you give it a name (RustExample), install the latest image of Rust, and add a rust analyzer extension

1. In the .json file, press Ctrl+Shift+P, type and click "Dev Containers: Rebuild & Reopen Container (just rebuild container is fine too). This might take a minute. (Not working? Ensure Docker is running)

2. Once container starts, open a terminal and use the following to ensure you have the most recent version of Rust

   rustc --version
   

3. In the terminal, run the following cargo new hello --vcs none.

4. In the newly created hello folder (cd hello), go to src --> main.rs file (Rust extension is .rs). Edit to the following code:

   fn main() {
       println!("Hello, COMP423!");
   }
   

5. cd into the newly made hello folder, run cargo build

6. Use ./target/debug/hello to run the file. You should see this in the terminal

   Hello, COMP423!
   

   If you don't see this, go back to main.rs file and ensure the code is correct
7. You can also use cargo run from the hello subdirectory to compile and run the program in 1 step

build vs run

while cargo build only compiles the project but doesn't actually run it (you have to do it manually as seen above), cargo run does both

### Done with the project? Go back using cd .. and use git add . & git commit -m "" to log your files using Git

Thank you for joining!