Rust for Python Programmers: Complete Training Guide

A comprehensive guide to learning Rust for developers with Python experience. This guide covers everything from basic syntax to advanced patterns, focusing on the conceptual shifts required when moving from a dynamically-typed, garbage-collected language to a statically-typed systems language with compile-time memory safety.

How to Use This Book

Self-study format: Work through Part I (ch 1–6) first — these map closely to Python concepts you already know. Part II (ch 7–12) introduces Rust-specific ideas like ownership and traits. Part III (ch 13–16) covers advanced topics and migration.

Pacing recommendations:

Chapters	Topic	Suggested Time	Checkpoint
1–4	Setup, types, control flow	1 day	You can write a CLI temperature converter in Rust
5–6	Data structures, enums, pattern matching	1–2 days	You can define an enum with data and `match` exhaustively on it
7	Ownership and borrowing	1–2 days	You can explain why `let s2 = s1` invalidates `s1`
8–9	Modules, error handling	1 day	You can create a multi-file project that propagates errors with `?`
10–12	Traits, generics, closures, iterators	1–2 days	You can translate a list comprehension to an iterator chain
13	Concurrency	1 day	You can write a thread-safe counter with `Arc<Mutex<T>>`
14	Unsafe, PyO3, testing	1 day	You can call a Rust function from Python via PyO3
15–16	Migration, best practices	At your own pace	Reference material — consult as you write real code
17	Capstone project	2–3 days	Build a complete CLI app tying everything together

How to use the exercises:

Chapters include hands-on exercises in collapsible <details> blocks with solutions
Always try the exercise before expanding the solution. Struggling with the borrow checker is part of learning — the compiler's error messages are your teacher
If you're stuck for more than 15 minutes, expand the solution, study it, then close it and try again from scratch
The Rust Playground lets you run code without a local install

Difficulty indicators:

🟢 Beginner — Direct translation from Python concepts
🟡 Intermediate — Requires understanding ownership or traits
🔴 Advanced — Lifetimes, async internals, or unsafe code

When you hit a wall:

Read the compiler error message carefully — Rust's errors are exceptionally helpful
Re-read the relevant section; concepts like ownership (ch7) often click on the second pass
The Rust standard library docs are excellent — search for any type or method
For deeper async patterns, see the companion Async Rust Training