[Setup] Rust Development Environment

rustup is the official Rust installer and version management tool. Install it with the following command.

For macOS / Linux

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

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. When done, either restart your terminal or run the following to apply the PATH settings.

source $HOME/.cargo/env

For Windows

Download and run the installer from rustup.rs. Visual Studio C++ build tools are required, so follow the instructions to install them.

Verifying the Installation

rustc --version
cargo --version

If both versions are displayed, the installation is complete.

Cargo is Rust's official build tool and package manager. All project creation, building, running, and dependency management is handled through Cargo.

1. Create a project

cargo new hello
cd hello

The following files are auto-generated.

File	Description
src/main.rs	The main source file.
Cargo.toml	The file that describes the project configuration and dependencies.

2. Review the source code

Open the auto-generated src/main.rs and you will see the following code.

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

3. Build and run

cargo run

If Hello, world! is displayed, you're all set. cargo run compiles and runs in one step.

You can also compile directly using the rustc command without Cargo.

Create hello.rs.

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

rustc hello.rs
./hello

This is convenient for quickly checking simple programs, but use Cargo when you need external libraries.

Command	Description
cargo new project-name	Creates a new project.
cargo run	Builds and runs.
cargo build	Builds only (does not run).
cargo build --release	Generates an optimized executable.
cargo test	Runs tests.
cargo fmt	Formats the code.
cargo clippy	Detects code issues (linter).

If your terminal displays rustc: command not found or cargo: command not found, the PATH may not be configured correctly. Follow the steps below to check and fix the issue.

1. Find the command location

Check where the command is located.

which rustc
which cargo

If not found, check the default rustup installation location.

ls ~/.cargo/bin/rustc
ls ~/.cargo/bin/cargo

2. Check which shell you are using

echo $SHELL

If /bin/zsh is shown, edit ~/.zshrc; if /bin/bash is shown, edit ~/.bashrc.

3. Add to PATH

When installed via rustup, Rust commands are placed in ~/.cargo/bin/. Add the following to your shell configuration file.

For macOS (zsh):

echo 'source $HOME/.cargo/env' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

For Linux (bash):

echo 'source $HOME/.cargo/env' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

$HOME/.cargo/env is a script auto-generated by rustup that configures the PATH. Loading it with source applies the changes to your current shell immediately.

For Windows, the rustup installer sets the PATH automatically. If it is not working, try restarting Command Prompt.