How to Create Your First Rust Program

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# How to Create Your First Rust Program

What the reader will be able to do: Write, compile, and run a simple "Hello, World!" program in Rust.

## Prerequisites
- Rust compiler installed (via `rustup`)
- Basic understanding of command-line tools
- A text editor (e.g., VS Code, vim)

## Steps

1. **Install Rust**  
   If you haven't installed Rust, run:
   ```bash
   curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
   ```
   This installs `rustc` (the compiler) and `cargo` (the package manager).

2. **Create a new project**  
   Run:
   ```bash
   cargo new hello_rust
   cd hello_rust
   ```
   This creates a directory `hello_rust` with a basic project structure.

3. **Write the program**  
   Open `src/main.rs` in your editor and replace its contents with:
   ```rust
   fn main() {
       println!("Hello, world!");
   }
   ```

4. **Compile and run**  
   Run:
   ```bash
   cargo run
   ```
   Expected output:
   ```
   Hello, world!
   ```

5. **Build the executable**  
   Run:
   ```bash
   cargo build
   ```
   This creates a binary in `target/debug/hello_rust`.

## Pitfalls
- Forgetting to run `cargo run` instead of `rustc` directly
- Not installing Rust via `rustup` (leads to missing dependencies)
- Confusing `main.rs` with `lib.rs` (use `main.rs` for executables)

## To go further
- Learn about `cargo` dependencies in `Cargo.toml`
- Explore Rust's ownership model in advanced tutorials