Week 12: Web Development (Intermediate)

Overview

Week 12 explores web development with Rust, focusing on building APIs with modern web frameworks. You’ll learn how to create high-performance, type-safe web services and connect to databases - skills that are directly applicable to your experience as a Node.js developer.

Day 1-4: Web Frameworks and REST APIs

Topics

• Overview of Rust web frameworks:
  • Axum (focus)
  • Actix Web
  • Rocket
  • Warp
• Common components:
  • Routing
  • Middleware
  • Request handlers
  • Response types
  • State management
  • Error handling
• Building REST APIs:
  • Resource design
  • CRUD operations
  • Query parameters
  • JSON handling with Serde
  • Content negotiation
  • Status codes and errors
• Request validation and sanitization
• Authentication and authorization basics
• Testing HTTP services

Resources

• Axum Documentation
• Axum Examples
• Zero To Production in Rust (book)
• Are We Web Yet?
• HTTP Types in Rust
• Tower Middleware

Use Cases

• Building microservices
• RESTful APIs
• JSON-based web services
• Backend for web/mobile applications
• Service integration
• API gateways

Day 5-8: Database Integration with SQLx

Topics

• Overview of Rust database libraries:
  • SQLx (focus)
  • Diesel
  • rusqlite
  • Postgres drivers
• SQLx features:
  • Compile-time query checking
  • Async database access
  • Macro-based query interface
  • Transaction management
  • Migrations
• Database patterns in Rust:
  • Repositories
  • Connection pooling
  • Error handling
  • Type mapping
• Implementing CRUD operations
• Transaction management
• Integration with web frameworks
• Testing database code

Resources

• SQLx Documentation
• Rust Database Libs
• SQLx Examples
• Database Testing Strategies
• Migrations with SQLx

Use Cases

• Persistent data storage
• Data access layers
• Microservice backing stores
• Type-safe data management
• Database migration strategies
• Query optimization

Day 9-13: Building a Complete Web Service

Topics

• Project structure for web services
• Configuration management
• Environment variables and secrets
• Logging and monitoring
• Error handling strategies
• Performance optimization
• Containerization and deployment
• Security best practices
• Documentation with OpenAPI/Swagger
• Health checks and graceful shutdown

Resources

• Rust Web Development (book)
• Production Checklist
• Docker with Rust
• OpenAPI Generation
• Rust Microservices (example project)

Implementation Project

Build a RESTful API with the following features:

• User authentication
• CRUD operations on resources
• Database integration
• Error handling
• Input validation
• Logging and telemetry
• Documentation
• Tests (unit and integration)

Project Ideas (Choose One)

Task Management API

• Description: A RESTful API for managing tasks and to-dos
• Features:
  • User registration and authentication
  • Task CRUD operations
  • Task categorization and tagging
  • Due dates and reminders
  • Task assignment
  • Activity history

Content Management API

• Description: A headless CMS API
• Features:
  • Content type definition
  • Content CRUD operations
  • Media handling
  • Versioning
  • Publishing workflow
  • User roles and permissions

E-commerce API

• Description: A backend for a simple e-commerce platform
• Features:
  • Product catalog
  • Shopping cart management
  • Order processing
  • User accounts
  • Product search and filtering
  • Basic payment integration

Advanced Extensions (Optional)

• Add OpenAPI documentation
• Implement GraphQL with Async-GraphQL
• Add WebSocket support
• Implement rate limiting
• Add a caching layer
• Set up CI/CD pipeline

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this week, you’ll be able to:

• Build web APIs with Rust web frameworks
• Connect to databases using SQLx
• Implement common web patterns in Rust
• Structure a complete web application
• Apply best practices for production web services
• Compare Rust web development to Node.js

Next Steps

Congratulations on completing the 3-month Rust learning journey! You’ve progressed from complete beginner to an intermediate level, with the skills to build real-world applications. To continue your Rust journey, consider:

1. Contributing to open-source Rust projects
2. Building more complex applications
3. Exploring specialized areas like embedded Rust, WebAssembly, or systems programming
4. Participating in the Rust community
5. Implementing Rust in your professional work where appropriate