Unlock the Power of Rust: Building a REST API with Actix
Getting Started with Rust API Development
Before we begin, make sure you have a basic understanding of API development and the concept of CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations. We’ll be building a sample employee management application, covering all the fundamental building blocks for writing APIs in Rust.
Project Requirements and Assumptions
Our project will use the Actix web 3.0 framework, one of the most popular choices for building REST APIs in Rust. We’ll also utilize Postgres as our database and Diesel as our ORM (Object Relational Mapper) and query builder.
Key Terms to Know
- Spawn Blocking: A technique used to combat thread-blocking tasks, such as retrieving large records from a database, by spawning new threads to avoid delays in asynchronous functions.
- Asynchronous (Async/Await): An inbuilt function used for writing asynchronous behavior.
Setting Up a Rust Project
To get started, we’ll set up a basic Rust project, structure our folders, and install dependencies using Cargo, Rust’s package manager. If you’re new to Rust, follow the installation guide and create a new project.
Project Structure
Our project structure will consist of the following folders and files:
mod.rs: Manages the relative path of files in theemployeesdirectory.Cargo.toml: Specifies dependencies and configurations for our app.main.rs: Contains the Actix web server setup and config.
Creating API Endpoints
Our API endpoints will be defined in a file called routes.rs. We’ll create endpoints for CRUD operations, including:
- Get all employees:
/employees - Get single employee:
/employees/{id} - Add employee:
/employees - Update employee:
/employee/{id} - Delete employee:
/employee/{id}
We’ll use the serde crate to handle JSON serialization and deserialization, and register our routes in a function called init_routes().
Setting Up Our Postgres Connection
Our db.rs file will contain the connection pool to our PostgreSQL database, using the lazy_static crate to initialize our database connection.
Using Diesel to Set Up Our ORM
Diesel will be used as our ORM for easy querying and object mapping with database tables. We’ll define models using Diesel’s macro system, and use the serde crate to serialize and deserialize annotations.
Running Our Rust API Demo App
To test our API, run the cargo watch command and create, read, update, and delete employees from the database through our API endpoints.
The Benefits of Building APIs with Rust
Building APIs with Rust enforces good practices, encouraging critical thinking about your code. With Rust, you can be confident that your code will do what it’s intended to do. For a deeper dive, check out the finished GitHub repo.
Debugging Rust Applications with LogRocket
Debugging Rust applications can be challenging, but LogRocket provides full visibility into web frontends for Rust apps. Try LogRocket for free and start monitoring your Rust app’s performance today!