Rustnomicon

The Rustonomicon is a specialized guide for advanced Rust developers delving into unsafe code and low-level systems programming. Here's a structured breakdown of its core contents and purpose:

Purpose & Audience

  • Focuses on Unsafe Rust intricacies, memory safety, and undefined behavior.

  • Targets experienced Rust developers comfortable with systems programming concepts.

  • Serves as a companion to The Rust Reference, focusing on practical implementation over syntax.

Key Topics Covered

  1. Unsafe Rust Fundamentals

  • The meaning of unsafe and its scope.

  • Using unsafe primitives (raw pointers, inline assembly, transmute).

  • Building safe abstractions over unsafe code.

  1. Memory & Type Systems

  • Working with uninitialized memory.

  • Type punning, subtyping, and variance.

  • Destructors, ownership, and lifetimes in unsafe contexts.

  1. Concurrency & FFI

  • Thread safety, Send/Sync traits, and atomic operations.

  • Foreign Function Interface (FFI) for C/C++ interoperability.

  1. Exception Safety & Panics

  • Handling panics and unwind safety in unsafe code.

  • Avoiding resource leaks during unwinding.

  1. Low-Level Optimization

  • Memory layout optimization (repr attributes, packed structs).

  • Aligning with hardware/OS primitives.

  1. The Rust Memory Model

  • Rules for avoiding undefined behavior.

  • Interacting with compiler assumptions (e.g., pointer aliasing).

Critical Warnings

  • Assumes familiarity with The Rust Programming Language ("The Book").

  • Highlights risks like undefined behavior, which can crash programs or introduce security flaws.

  • Emphasizes that The Reference takes precedence if contradictions arise.

Notable Exclusions

  • ❌ Exhaustive standard library documentation.

  • ❌ Basic Rust syntax or introductory concepts.

Edition Note

  • Examples use Rust 2024, reflecting modern practices.

Why Read This? The Rustonomicon is essential for writing high-performance libraries, kernels, or embedded systems. It’s a survival guide for navigating Rust’s "dark arts" while avoiding the horrors of memory corruption. 🔥

For a gentler intro, start with The Book. If you’re ready to embrace the chaos, dive in here.

Sources [1] https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/d20ab5f3-0451-468d-be30-9c15def07724

The Rustonomicon is an official Rust book focused on the "dark arts" of unsafe Rust programming. It provides in-depth explanations and guidance for writing and understanding unsafe code in Rust, covering topics like memory safety, concurrency, FFI (Foreign Function Interface), and advanced language features. Unlike the main Rust book, The Rustonomicon assumes readers already have a solid understanding of Rust and systems programming[2][4][5]. It serves as a high-level companion to The Rust Reference, explaining how different features interact and what pitfalls to avoid when working with unsafe code[2][4]. This book is essential for advanced Rust programmers who need to go beyond safe abstractions[2][5].

Sources [1] Rust Documentation - MIT [2] The Rustonomicon - Rust Documentation [3] The Rustonomicon: The Dark Arts of Advanced and Unsafe Rust ... [4] PDF, The Rustonomicon - Stanford Secure Computer Systems Group [5] Rust Documentation - The Rust Programming Language [6] The Rustonomicon - The Edition Guide [7] The Rustonomicon | Hacker News [8] PDF, The Rustonomicon

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