Setting Up Visual Studio Code for Rust on macOS

Setting up Visual Studio Code for Rust development is quick and straightforward. While I prefer PHPStorm for larger projects, VS Code is perfect for smaller ones. It’s fast, lightweight, and just works. For this guide, I’m assuming you already have Rust installed via Homebrew.

Step 1: Grab VS Code

Head over to code.visualstudio.com and download VS Code. Follow the installation instructions provided for MacOS to set it up.

Step 2: Create a Hello World Project with cargo

1. Open Terminal and create a new Rust project:
   

   cargo new hello_world
   

2. Navigate into the project folder:
   

   cd hello_world
   

3. Open the project in VS Code:
   

   code .
   

If this command doesn’t work, you may need to add VS Code to your PATH. Open the Command Palette (⇧ + ⌘ + P), type "Shell Command," and select "Install 'code' command in PATH." Then try again.

Step 3: Add the Rust Analyzer Extension

1. Open VS Code and press ⇧ + ⌘ + X to open the Extensions view.
2. Search for "Rust Analyzer" and click Install.

Rust Analyzer provides features like syntax highlighting, error checking, and improved code navigation.

Once the extension is installed, open the main.rs file located in the src folder of your project. You should now see:

• Syntax highlighting: Keywords, variables, and functions are coloured differently for better readability.
• Inline error checking: If there are issues in your code, they will be underlined in red, with detailed error messages displayed when you hover over the issue.
• Code completion: Start typing and you’ll see a list of suggestions based on the context.

To test the error checking feature, introduce a simple mistake in your code. For example, change the line:

println!("Hello, world!");

to:

rintln!("Hello, world!");

You’ll immediately see an error indicating that Rust cannot find macro rintln.

Step 4: Set up auto-formatting

1. Enable auto-formatting in VS Code:
   • Open the settings (⌘ + ,).
   • Search for "Format On Save."
   • Enable the "Editor: Format On Save" option.

This ensures your code is automatically formatted whenever you save. To test auto-formatting, open main.rs and intentionally mess up the formatting. For instance, write:

fn main( ){println!("Hello, world!");}

Save the file. Auto-formatting will fix it immediately, and your code will look like this:

fn main() {
    println!("Hello, world!");
}

Step 5: Run your program with cargo

1. Open the integrated terminal in VS Code by pressing ⌃ + ` (Control and backtick).

2. Run the program:
   

   cargo run
   

3. You should see the output:
   

   Hello, world!
   

And there you have it. Your setup is ready, and you’re all set to dive into Rust development with VS Code. Time to build something amazing!