I spent one week after-work spare time to build the simple finter Cli tool, and here are important things to list down.

<Option> and <Result> types

Rust has a very strong type system, including the special <Option> and <Result> types, both of which gives us hint the value may or may not exist.

In programming, it's a common pattern that the code attempts to get a value from somewhere, such as remote API, local file, memory, etc., and the value to be retrieved can exist or not. This is where the <Option> and <Result> come into use.

In Rust, a plenty of standard lib function calls involving either <Option> or <Result>, which our code needs to deal with. This feels a bit tedious but also guarantees a better code quality. It's uncomfortably hard if we simply want to build quick-and-dirty throw-away solutions. But I trust it is the right way to train programming skills.

Error handling

As oppose to try catch throw-error pattern, Rust implements two types of errors: recoverable and unrecoverable errors. Recoverable error usually comes as part of <Result> type while unrecoverable errors like panic! will stop the program execution immediately.

I'm not knowleagable enough to say which error handling pattern is superior, but stopping the execution feature from the unrecoverable error is something try-catch can't do.

External crates and the cargo tool

The standard (i.e. built-in) libs are purposefully kept minimal, so many external crates are to be explored. I have so far positive experience on using the cargo tool from Rust. Actually cargo is a one-stop shop in Rust, all commands start with "cargo".

Memory optimization

Rust is a system programming language, meaning memory handling is a core part of it. What I'm learning is: when to use String and when &str, especially in matching the compound type, such as struct and enum or the functions inside them. This leads to the learning of life-time annotation in Rust (another rabbit hole...).

Strong type

As mentioned, Rust is a very strong typed language. Due to this, the compiler can give so much richer debugging information as opposed to other languages. Actually I have encountered bugs multiple times that I didn't realize but the compiler said so by simply revealing the unmatched types.

Deep learning curve

Rust is notorious for its deep learning curve and I already feel it vividly. It's indeed challenging yet also brings plent fo joy if you enjoy the journey. It really makes us a better programmer :).

Above are some thoughts I have in building this finter Cli tool. Hope you enjoyed reading too!