cargo

name	cargo
description	Cargo Rust package manager and build system. Use for Rust crates.

Cargo

Cargo is Rust's build system and package manager. It is famous for its reliability and developer experience.

When to Use

• Rust Projects: Mandatory.
• Formatting/Linting: cargo fmt, cargo clippy.
• Testing: cargo test is built-in.

Quick Start

cargo new my-project
cd my-project
cargo run

# Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
serde = "1.0"

Core Concepts

Crates

Packages. Published to crates.io.

Cargo.lock

Ensures reproducible builds. Always commit for binaries, ignore for libraries.

Workspaces

Manage multiple packages in one repo. [workspace] in root Cargo.toml.

Best Practices (2025)

Do:

• Use cargo check: Faster than build for checking syntax during dev.
• Use clippy: Listen to the linter. It teaches you Rust.
• Use cargo-deny: Scan dependency tree for licenses and bans.

Don't:

• Don't bloat: Rust binaries can get huge. Use cargo-bloat to analyze size.

References

• The Cargo Book