A project-based workspace for learning Rust through real, complete programs — using "Programming Rust" (2nd Ed.) as a reference, not a chapter-by-chapter checklist.
Instead of one small exercise per chapter, this repo is built around solid projects that each cover a cluster of related Rust concepts. Every project is a real program with a clear purpose — something you could actually use or show.
Four projects that build up Rust systematically, from fundamentals to systems programming:
| Project | What It Is | Rust Concepts |
|---|---|---|
| cli-toolbox | Terminal task manager (add, list, done, delete, search) | Structs, enums, pattern matching, error handling, modules, strings |
| datastruct-lib | Generic data structures library (Stack, Matrix, iterators, collections) | Traits, generics, operator overloading, utility traits, closures, iterators |
| forge | Playground for strings, file I/O, concurrency, and async | String types, buffered I/O, threads, Arc/Mutex, channels, async/await, tokio |
| netwatch | Network monitor using macros, unsafe, and FFI | macro_rules!, procedural macros, unsafe blocks, raw pointers, extern "C" |
Each project has a VISION.md that explains what you're building and why each file exists.
Five production-quality applications that combine concepts from across the book:
| Project | What It Is |
|---|---|
| capstone-01-grep-clone | Fast multi-threaded text search (like ripgrep) |
| capstone-02-json-db | Document database with queries and persistence |
| capstone-03-http-server | Async HTTP/1.1 server with routing |
| capstone-04-compiler | Compiler for a small programming language |
| capstone-05-game-engine | 2D game engine with ECS architecture |
The projects are designed so that by building them you cover the same ground the book covers — just in larger, more connected chunks:
cli-toolbox → Ch 6-10, 17 (expressions, errors, modules, structs, enums, strings)
datastruct-lib → Ch 11-16 (traits, generics, operators, utility traits, closures, iterators, collections)
forge → Ch 17-20 (strings, I/O, concurrency, async)
netwatch → Ch 21-23 (macros, unsafe, FFI)
Chapters 1-5 (ownership, references, fundamentals) are the foundation — you encounter them immediately in cli-toolbox and everything after.
cd ~/Rust/programming-rust-journey
# See what each project is building
cat cli-toolbox/VISION.md
cat datastruct-lib/VISION.md
cat forge/VISION.md
cat netwatch/VISION.mdStart with cli-toolbox. It's the most self-contained and covers the most foundational concepts.
- "Programming Rust" (2nd Edition, 2021) — Jim Blandy, Jason Orendorff, Leonora F.S. Tindall
- Rust Documentation
- Rust by Example
- The Rust Book
Start Date: 2026-03-26