"The Rust Programming Language" by Steve Klabnik and Carol Nichols
The content is very good, rightfully so as the first recommended resource for learning Rust 🦀. I don't think it's worth spending the money on the physical book though, considering it's the same exact content as the free version online, unless you really like to hold paper in your hands.
This post is part of my Book reviews series, where I share thoughts and impressions on the books I read.
"The Rust Programming Language", also known as "The Book" in the Rust 🦀 universe, is written by Steve Klabnik and Carol Nichols with contributions from the Rust community, technically reviewed by JT and published in 2023 in its second edition by No Starch Press.
This is the printed, physical book format, version of the same content you can find online for free.
💡Topic
Learning to program in Rust 🦀 from core developers of the language.
📖Content
20 Chapters, 5 Annexes and 515 pages excluding the Index.
Code is presented in listings, with numbered line items and visual brakes between the code sections.
There are also occasional figures, graphs and screenshots, which are very legible even though all the content is monochrome.
👩💻🧑💻 Who is this book for?
Programmers who know at least one other language and would like to get a good first introduction to Rust 🦀, with its host of tooling, capabilities and requirements in terms of mental model adjustments.
👍Likes
I liked how the font color of the code is slightly greyed out for the sections of the code where the authors want you not to pay attention to. It's a nice touch that I wish more publishers would use.
The amount of content packed onto the page is just right in my view, offering a great experience when reading.
👎Dislikes
I would have liked a bit thicker paper, so you can't see so easily through the pages.
🚧 Improvements I would suggest
Nothing really.
I think the authors strike a great balance between introductory notions and slightly more complex topics like interior mutability, and there's nothing really that I would suggest be adjusted further.
🤔Final Thoughts
The content is very good, rightfully so as the most recommended first resource to begin learning Rust 🦀.
I don't think it's worth spending the money on the physical book though, considering it's the same exact content as the free version online, unless you really like to hold paper in your hands.
