Rust for C++ Developers - Code Examples

This repository contains code examples from the book "Rust for C++ Developers" by Packt Publishing.

Repository Structure

Chapter 6 - Reading and Writing Files

The chapter_06/ directory contains examples demonstrating:

• Working with filesystem paths (PathBuf, Path)
• Error handling with Result<T, E> and the ? operator
• High-level I/O abstractions (read_to_string, read, write)
• Working with files using File, OpenOptions
• Fundamental I/O traits (Read, Write, Seek)
• Buffered I/O with BufReader and BufWriter
• In-memory I/O with Cursor
• Byte order handling with the byteorder crate
• Serialization/deserialization with serde (JSON and TOML)

Key files:

• src/bin/paths.rs - Path manipulation examples
• src/bin/error_handling.rs - Error handling patterns
• src/bin/file_io.rs - File operations
• src/bin/traits.rs - I/O trait usage (Read, Write, Seek)
• src/bin/byteorder_example.rs - Endianness handling
• src/bin/serde_test.rs - JSON/TOML serialization
• pets.json - Sample data file for serde examples
• file.txt - Sample text file for I/O examples

Running the examples:

cd chapter_06

# Run specific examples
cargo run --bin paths
cargo run --bin error_handling
cargo run --bin file_io
cargo run --bin traits
cargo run --bin byteorder_example
cargo run --bin serde_test

Chapter 9 - Working with C++ in Rust (FFI)

The chapter_09/ directory contains examples for Foreign Function Interface (FFI):

• Manual C bindings (SDL2)
• Exposing Rust functions to C
• Automatic binding generation with bindgen
• Manual C++ bindings with C API wrappers
• Using the cpp crate for inline C++
• Creating safe Rust wrappers for unsafe FFI code

Key examples:

• bind_c_manual/ - Manual SDL2 FFI bindings
• from_c/ - Creating Rust libraries callable from C
• bind_c_bindgen/ - Automatic binding generation with bindgen
• bind_cpp_manual/ - C++ bindings via C API wrapper
• bind_cpp_macros/ - Inline C++ with the cpp crate
• sdl_safe_wrapper/ - Safe abstractions over unsafe FFI

Important Notes:

• Many examples require external system libraries (SDL2)
• Some require C++ toolchain and C++17 support
• bind_c_bindgen downloads and builds SDL2 automatically
• See individual example READMEs for specific requirements

Running the examples:

cd chapter_09

# Simple example (Rust to C)
cd from_c
cargo build

# Examples requiring SDL2 (must be installed)
cd bind_c_manual
cargo run

cd sdl_safe_wrapper
cargo run

# Examples with automatic builds
cd bind_c_bindgen
cargo build

cd bind_cpp_manual
cargo run

Chapter 10 - Optimization in Rust

The chapter_10/ directory contains a complete performance testing project demonstrating:

• Matrix multiplication with multiple optimization strategies
• Profiling with samply and flame graphs
• Benchmarking with Criterion
• Unsafe Rust for performance optimization
• SIMD optimization (requires nightly Rust)

Key files:

• src/lib.rs - Library with matrix multiplication implementations
• src/bin/cli.rs - CLI tool for running performance tests
• src/simd.rs - SIMD-optimized matrix multiplication (nightly only)
• benches/multiply.rs - Criterion benchmarks

Running the examples:

cd chapter_10

# Build and run the CLI
cargo run --release -- 100 100 100

# Run benchmarks
cargo bench

# Run with nightly and SIMD (requires nightly toolchain)
cargo +nightly bench --features nightly

Chapter 11 - Multithreading in Rust

The chapter_11/ directory contains examples demonstrating Rust's "fearless concurrency":

• Creating and managing threads with std::thread
• Thread spawning and JoinHandle
• Move closures for data ownership
• Scoped threads for non-static data
• Thread pooling with rayon
• Safe shared state with Arc<Mutex<T>>
• Parallel iterators with rayon::prelude
• MPSC channels for thread communication
• Atomic operations and lock-free programming

Key files:

• src/bin/basic_threads.rs - Thread spawning and JoinHandle
• src/bin/move_closures.rs - Transferring data to threads
• src/bin/scoped_threads.rs - Scoped threads and data sharing
• src/bin/rayon_pool.rs - Thread pooling with rayon
• src/bin/arc_mutex.rs - Shared mutable state pattern
• src/bin/parallel_iterators.rs - Parallel iteration with rayon
• src/bin/channels.rs - MPSC channel communication
• src/bin/atomics.rs - Atomic operations and CAS

Running the examples:

cd chapter_11

# Check all examples compile
cargo check

# Run specific examples
cargo run --bin basic_threads
cargo run --bin move_closures
cargo run --bin scoped_threads
cargo run --bin rayon_pool
cargo run --bin arc_mutex
cargo run --bin parallel_iterators
cargo run --bin channels
cargo run --bin atomics

Chapter 12 - Metaprogramming with Macros

The chapter_12/ directory contains examples of Rust macros:

• Declarative macros (macro_rules!)
• Procedural macros (custom derive, attributes, function-like)

Key components:

• src/main.rs - Examples using all macro types
• prettyprint_derive/ - Custom derive macro for pretty printing structs
• log_call/ - Attribute macro for logging function calls
• stringulate/ - Function-like macro that converts tokens to strings

Running the examples:

cd chapter_12
cargo run

Requirements

• Rust 1.82.0 or newer
• For Chapter 10 SIMD examples: Rust nightly toolchain
• For Chapter 10 profiling: cargo install --locked samply