Lab Manual 7
Rust Programming
Contents
Introduction to Rust Programming 2
1 Lab Setup 2
1.1 Install Rust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Install VS Code and Required Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Exercise 1: Hello, World! 3
3 Exercise 2: Variables & Mutability 3
4 Exercise 3: Ownership & Borrowing 3
5 Exercise 4: Structs & Methods 4
6 Exercise 5: Error Handling 4
7 Exercise 6: Functions & Control Flow 4
8 Exercise 7: Arrays & Loops 5
9 Exercise 8: Enums & Pattern Matching 5
10 Exercise 9: The Option Type 6
11 Exercise 10: Basic File I/O 6
12 Debugging in VS Code 6
13 Next Steps 7
14 Troubleshooting 7
1
Introduction to Rust Programming
Rust is a modern, statically-typed systems programming language known for combining
performance and safety. It is designed to write fast, memory-efficient programs without
sacrificing reliability or concurrency.
Rust is widely used to build:
• System software like operating systems and device drivers
• Web servers and backend APIs
• Embedded applications for IoT devices
• CLI tools and automation scripts
• Game engines and high-performance simulations
What makes Rust stand out:
• Memory safety without garbage collection
• Zero-cost abstractions with high-level ergonomics
• Ownership and borrowing to eliminate data races
• Fearless concurrency with built-in thread safety
• Great tooling via cargo, rustfmt, and clippy
Whether you’re coming from C/C++, Python, or Java, learning Rust helps you build
more reliable and efficient software. This lab manual introduces Rust step-by-step, using
practical examples and the Visual Studio Code IDE on Windows.
Official Website: https://www.rust-lang.org
Documentation: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/
Lab Setup
Install Rust
Open CMD as Administrator and run:
1 winget install -- id Rustlang . Rustup
Follow the prompts (press 1 for default installation).
Verify Installation:
1 rustc -- version
2 cargo -- version
2
Install VS Code and Required Extensions
Download Visual Studio Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/
Install these extensions from the Extensions tab:
• Rust Analyzer – Code completion and diagnostics
• CodeLLDB – Debugging support
• Better TOML – Syntax highlighting for Cargo.toml
Exercise 1: Hello, World!
1 fn main () {
2 println !(" Hello , World !") ;
3 }
Steps:
1 cargo new hello_world
2 cd hello_world
3 cargo run
Expected Output:
Hello, World!
Exercise 2: Variables & Mutability
1 fn main () {
2 let x = 5;
3 let mut y = 10;
4 y += 1;
5 println !(" x = {} , y = {}" , x , y ) ;
6 }
Output:
x = 5, y = 11
Exercise 3: Ownership & Borrowing
1 fn main () {
2 let s1 = String :: from (" hello ") ;
3 let s2 = s1 . clone () ;
4 println !(" s1 = {} , s2 = {}" , s1 , s2 ) ;
5 }
Output:
s1 = hello, s2 = hello
3
Exercise 4: Structs & Methods
1 struct Rectangle {
2 width : u32 ,
3 height : u32 ,
4 }
5
6 impl Rectangle {
7 fn area (& self ) -> u32 {
8 self . width * self . height
9 }
10 }
11
12 fn main () {
13 let rect = Rectangle { width : 30 , height : 50 };
14 println !(" Area : {}" , rect . area () ) ;
15 }
Output:
Area: 1500
Exercise 5: Error Handling
1 fn divide ( numerator : f64 , denominator : f64 ) -> Result < f64 , String > {
2 if denominator == 0.0 {
3 Err ( String :: from (" Cannot divide by zero !") )
4 } else {
5 Ok ( numerator / denominator )
6 }
7 }
8
9 fn main () {
10 match divide (10.0 , 0.0) {
11 Ok ( result ) = > println !(" Result : {}" , result ) ,
12 Err ( e ) = > println !(" Error : {}" , e ) ,
13 }
14 }
Output:
Error: Cannot divide by zero!
Exercise 6: Functions & Control Flow
1 fn check_number ( num : i32 ) {
2 if num > 0 {
3 println !(" Positive ") ;
4 } else if num < 0 {
4
5 println !(" Negative ") ;
6 } else {
7 println !(" Zero ") ;
8 }
9 }
10
11 fn main () {
12 check_number ( -5) ;
13 }
Output:
Negative
Exercise 7: Arrays & Loops
1 fn main () {
2 let numbers = [10 , 20 , 30 , 40 , 50];
3 for num in numbers . iter () {
4 println !(" Number : {}" , num ) ;
5 }
6 }
Output:
Number: 10
Number: 20
...
Number: 50
Exercise 8: Enums & Pattern Matching
1 enum TrafficLight {
2 Red ,
3 Yellow ,
4 Green ,
5 }
6
7 fn signal_duration ( light : TrafficLight ) -> u32 {
8 match light {
9 TrafficLight :: Red = > 30 ,
10 TrafficLight :: Yellow = > 5 ,
11 TrafficLight :: Green = > 45 ,
12 }
13 }
14
15 fn main () {
16 let light = TrafficLight :: Yellow ;
17 println !(" Duration : {} seconds " , signal_duration ( light ) ) ;
18 }
5
Output:
Duration: 5 seconds
Exercise 9: The Option Type
1 fn find_index ( arr : &[ i32 ] , target : i32 ) -> Option < usize > {
2 for ( index , & num ) in arr . iter () . enumerate () {
3 if num == target {
4 return Some ( index ) ;
5 }
6 }
7 None
8 }
9
10 fn main () {
11 let numbers = [3 , 7 , 2 , 9];
12 match find_index (& numbers , 2) {
13 Some ( i ) = > println !(" Found at index {}" , i ) ,
14 None = > println !(" Not found ") ,
15 }
16 }
Output:
Found at index 2
Exercise 10: Basic File I/O
1 use std :: fs :: File ;
2 use std :: io :: prelude ::*;
3
4 fn main () -> std :: io :: Result <() > {
5 let mut file = File :: create (" hello . txt ") ?;
6 file . write_all ( b " Hello , Rust file !") ?;
7 Ok (() )
8 }
Check: Ensure hello.txt is created in your project directory.
Debugging in VS Code
• Set breakpoints in the left gutter.
• Press F5 to start debugging.
• Use the debug toolbar to step through your code.
6
Next Steps
• Try online at the Rust Playground: https://play.rust-lang.org
• Read the official Rust Book: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/
• Explore more: https://www.rust-lang.org/learn
Troubleshooting
• Rust Analyzer not working? Reload VS Code or run: rustup update
• CMD doesn’t recognize cargo? Restart the terminal or check your system PATH
variable.
