Applied Program

Rust Fundamentals Applied Program

An 8-week, project-based, beginner program that teaches core Rust from scratch by building a real command-line tool. No prior Rust experience required — ship a working, tested CLI you can put on your resume.

Join this program 8 Weeks • Free • Project-based

Starts 1 week from today — add to your calendar:

View Syllabus

Project-based, Portfolio-first

Build a real application over 8 weeks and ship it publicly — no grading, no enrollment gate. Everything you need is in the public GitHub repository.

8
Weeks
27
Hands-on Tasks
56
Video Resources
Weekly reminders

Join and get email reminders each week, starting one week out

Weekly demo prompts

Turn each week's work into a portfolio-ready update

Open on GitHub

https://github.com/paiml/rust-fundamentals-applied-program

What You'll Gain

Skills and roles this program prepares you for

Potential Roles

Junior Rust Developer
Systems Programming Engineer (Entry-Level)
Backend Developer (Rust track)
Platform/Tooling Engineer
Software Engineer (Entry-Level)

Skills You'll Gain

Rust Syntax & Ownership/Borrowing
Structs, Enums & Pattern Matching
Error Handling (Result/Option, no unnecessary panics)
Automated Testing (cargo test, doctests)
Command-Line Interface Development in Rust
Cargo Project & Dependency Management
Git & GitHub Workflow

Weekly Syllabus

8 weeks, one project, shipped publicly

Week 1
Dev Environment, Git/GitHub Setup + Rust Basics
  • Install Rust and set up VS Code with the Rust Analyzer
  • Learn Git basics and create your project's GitHub repository with a first commit
  • Set up Docker/dev-container basics for your Rust environment
  • Create your first Rust project with cargo and run it
  • Choose the problem your CLI tool will solve, and who it's for
Week 2
Variables, Control Flow & Shadowing
  • Learn variable assignment, immutability, and shadowing in Rust
  • Practice if/else, loops, and match-based control flow
  • Write the first branching logic your CLI tool will need
Week 3
Loops & Match Control Flow
  • Learn while loops, for loops, and break/continue
  • Use match as Rust's primary control-flow tool
  • Add a loop-driven feature to your CLI tool (e.g. processing a list of items)
Week 4
Functions, Borrowing & Error Handling
  • Write functions with arguments and return values
  • Learn Rust's borrowing concept and why it prevents whole classes of bugs
  • Handle errors properly instead of using panic! everywhere
Week 5
Structs
  • Define structs and create instances
  • Add associated functions and constructors
  • Model your CLI tool's core data as a struct
Week 6
Strings, Vectors & Enums
  • Work with String and &str, and manipulate text
  • Use vectors to store and retrieve collections of values
  • Define enums, including Option, and use them in your project
Week 7
Testing & Organizing Your Code
  • Organize code into a library plus binary, using cargo and modules
  • Use crates and Cargo dependencies the right way for a growing project
  • Write unit tests for your project's core logic
  • Verify examples in your documentation with doctests
Week 8
Build the CLI + Ship & Finalize
  • Wire a real command-line interface onto your project's logic, with subcommands, arguments, and environment variables
  • Run your project against the self-assessment checklist
  • Publish the repository publicly and write a short portfolio/LinkedIn post linking to it

Everything above is free and public in the GitHub repository — joining just sets up your weekly reminders and calendar.

Join this Program Free • Weekly Email Reminders

Prerequisites

No prior Rust experience required. Basic comfort with a terminal and any programming language helps but isn't required — the syntax and concepts are taught from Week 1.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about the Rust Fundamentals Applied Program

No. There's no grading, no enrollment gate, and no required login to work through the program's repository. Joining here just sets up weekly email reminders and an optional calendar schedule.

Both. Rolling/self-paced means you start whenever you want with no meetings. Cohort runs alongside a shared start date with a dedicated Discord channel and an end-of-run demo call.

No — the "Add to calendar" button above works without logging in, defaulting to a schedule starting one week from today, or a custom date you choose.