Cargo

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

Cargo.lock

Workspaces

[workspace]

Cargo.toml

Best Practices (2025)

• 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 bloat: Rust binaries can get huge. Use

  cargo-bloat

  to analyze size.

References

• The Cargo Book