Cargo

Cargo is Rust’s build system and package manager. It creates projects, downloads dependencies, compiles your code, and runs it. Almost every Rust project uses Cargo.

Create a project

// cargo new hello

This creates a folder named hello with the structure below.

Project structure

// hello/
//   Cargo.toml   -> project metadata and dependencies
//   src/
//     main.rs    -> your source code

The Cargo.toml file describes the package name, version, edition, and any external crates you depend on.

Run and build

To compile and run in one step:

// cargo run

To only compile without running:

// cargo build

A debug build lands in target/debug/. For an optimized build, use:

// cargo build --release

Check quickly

To verify your code compiles without producing a binary, use the fast cargo check. It is handy while writing code.