Rust for C++ Developers

Transition from C++ to Rust with ease by learning how to write safe, modern systems code using familiar examples

Key Features

• Compare Rust and C++ side by side to accelerate your Rust learning curve
• Understand Rust’s memory safety, concurrency, and project structure in practical terms
• Build and convert real-world programs while adopting modern Rust idioms
• Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Book Description

If you're a C++ programmer curious about the rising popularity of Rust, this book will guide you through the transition with clarity and purpose. Written by a veteran C++ developer who embraced Rust to improve software quality and maintainability, this hands-on guide shows you how to apply your existing knowledge to build efficient and safe systems with Rust.

The first half of the book deep dives into Rust’s history, safety guarantees, and development tooling. From there, the book compares Rust and C++ side by side, covering syntax, SIMD instructions, file I/O, object orientation, and data structures. With each chapter, you’ll gain a practical understanding of Rust’s unique approaches—like ownership and borrowing—and how they solve long-standing challenges in C++.

Later half of the book tackles performance optimization, multithreading, macros, and foreign function interfaces, culminating in a complete project where you reimplement a C++ program in Rust. By focusing on real-world code and familiar concepts, this book makes Rust accessible and actionable for experienced C++ developers.

By the end of Rust for C++ Developers, you’ll be confident in your ability to read, write, and maintain production-grade Rust code, and you’ll have a clear roadmap for integrating Rust into your future projects.

What you will learn

• Set up a Rust development environment with VS Code and Clippy
• Understand Rust's syntax, memory model, and ownership rules
• Translate C++ patterns into idiomatic Rust code
• Manage Rust projects with Cargo and use community crates
• Interface Rust with C and C++ using FFI and bindgen
• Write concurrent and parallel code using safe Rust abstractions
• Optimize performance through profiling and custom SIMD instructions
• Build, test, and extend a real project from C++ to Rust

Who this book is for

Professional C++ developers are the primary audience for this book—especially those looking to improve software safety, maintainability, and concurrency handling in their systems code. It’s also ideal for systems programmers and engineers in fields like game development, embedded systems, and high-performance computing who are curious about Rust. Readers should be comfortable with C++ concepts such as pointers, memory allocation, and STL(Standard Template Library) containers. Familiarity with topics like concurrency, atomics, and debugging is beneficial but not required.

Table of Contents

1. Why Choose Rust?
2. Working with Rust Syntax
3. The Rust Safety Model
4. Managing Rust Projects with Cargo
5. Data Structures
6. Reading and Writing Files
7. Understanding Iterators
8. Object-Oriented Programming
9. Working with C++ in Rust
10. Optimization in Rust
11. Multithreading in Rust
12. Metaprogramming with Macros
13. Continuing with Rust
14. Appendix: Setting Up the Development Environment

Dan Olson is a seasoned C++ developer with over 20 years of experience in the video game industry. A dedicated programming language enthusiast, he began transitioning projects from C, Python, and C# to Rust after its 1.0 release, impressed by its safety and performance. Dan now helps developers explore Rust's potential to elevate software quality and maintainability.