Rust is a modern, fast and safe programming language that aims to empower developers to create reliable and efficient software. VS Code is a popular and versatile code editor that supports many languages and features. In this blog post, we will show you how to set up a development environment for Rust in VS Code, using some of the best extensions and tools available.<h2>Step 1: Install Rust</h2>The first step is to install Rust on your system. You can do this by following the official installation guide at&nbsp;https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install. This will install the Rust compiler, cargo (the package manager and build tool), rustup (the toolchain manager) and other useful tools. You can check if Rust is installed correctly by running&nbsp;<code>rustc — version</code>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<code>cargo — version</code>&nbsp;in your terminal.<h2>Step 2: Install VS Code</h2>The next step is to install VS Code on your system. You can download it from&nbsp;https://code.visualstudio.com/download. VS Code is a lightweight and customizable editor that supports many languages and extensions. You can also customize its appearance, settings, keybindings and more.<h2>Step 3: Install Rust extensions for VS Code</h2>To make your Rust development experience more productive and enjoyable, you will need to install some extensions for VS Code that provide features such as syntax highlighting, code completion, formatting, debugging and more. Here are some of the most recommended extensions for Rust:<ul><li>Rust (rls): This extension provides official support for Rust using the Rust Language Server (rls). It offers features such as code completion, error checking, formatting, refactoring and more. You can install it from&nbsp;https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=rust-lang.rust.</li><li>rust-analyzer: This extension provides an alternative implementation of the Rust Language Server using rust-analyzer. It offers features such as code completion, error checking, formatting, refactoring and more. It is faster and more accurate than rls, but still experimental and may have some bugs. You can install it from&nbsp;https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=matklad.rust-analyzer.</li><li>CodeLLDB: This extension provides a native debugger for Rust using LLDB. It offers features such as breakpoints, watch expressions, variable inspection, stack traces and more. You can install it from&nbsp;https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vadimcn.vscode-lldb.</li><li>crates: This extension helps you manage your dependencies in cargo.toml files. It shows you the latest version of each crate, allows you to update them with one click, and highlights outdated or incompatible crates. You can install it from&nbsp;https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=serayuzgur.crates.</li><li>Better TOML: This extension improves the syntax highlighting and formatting of TOML files, which are used by cargo and other Rust tools. You can install it from&nbsp;https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bungcip.better-toml.</li></ul><h2>Step 4: Configure your settings and preferences</h2>The last step is to configure your settings and preferences for VS Code and the extensions you installed. You can do this by opening the settings menu (Ctrl+,) and editing the JSON file or using the UI. Here are some of the most common settings you may want to change:<ul><li><code>rust-client.engine</code>: This setting determines which Rust Language Server implementation to use:&nbsp;<code>rls</code>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<code>rust-analyzer</code>. The default is&nbsp;<code>rls</code>, but you may want to switch to&nbsp;<code>rust-analyzer</code>&nbsp;if you prefer its features and performance.</li><li><code>rust-analyzer.cargo.loadOutDirsFromCheck</code>: This setting enables loading proc macro and build script output from&nbsp;<code>cargo check</code>, which is required for some crates to work properly with rust-analyzer. The default is false, but you may want to set it to true if you encounter any issues.</li><li><code>rust-analyzer.checkOnSave.enable</code>: This setting enables running&nbsp;<code>cargo check</code>&nbsp;on save, which will show you any errors or warnings in your code. The default is true, but you may want to disable it if you find it too slow or distracting.</li><li><code>editor.formatOnSave</code>: This setting enables running the formatter on save, which will make your code consistent and readable. The default is false, but you may want to enable it if you care about code style.</li><li><code>lldb.adapterType</code>: This setting determines which LLDB adapter to use: native or classic. The default is native, which is faster and more reliable, but you may need to switch to classic if you encounter any compatibility issues.</li></ul>You can find more settings and options for each extension in their documentation or by searching in the settings menu.<h2>Conclusion</h2>Now you should be set up to start writing code in Rust. Happy compiling!

Set up a development environment for Rust in VS Code, using some of the best extensions and tools available. Rust is cool because it's super fast, but it's also more complicated to learn.

Set up a development environment for Rust with VS Code

Bjorn Builds