Welcome

Abandon all hope ye who enter he… I mean, thank you for purchasing the MEAP for Write Powerful Rust Macros! I wrote this book hoping to be of help to Rust enthusiasts who want to expand their knowledge of the language, particularly when it comes to powerful - but difficult to master - macros. And so the book focuses on macros, particularly the procedural kind, though we will be exploring other topics as well.

After an introduction and overview - with examples - of declarative macros, we start our procedural journey with a ‘Hello World’ example using a derive macro. In the chapters after that, we will put attribute and function-like macros into the spotlight.

Because this is an ‘advanced’ topic, I expect at least basic knowledge of the Rust language (structs, functions, tests, lifetimes…) and its surrounding ecosystem from the reader. I also assume you have Rust and Cargo installed on your computer. The book will be easier to digest if you have some professional experience as a programmer since we touch on other topics like DDD, TDD, functional programming, etc. But if those concepts do not ring a bell, there will usually be a note for each one, giving you the gist of it.

Writing a book is an exercise in humility. It reminds me of just how much I don’t know, or never thought deeply about. This is especially true when your day-to-day work as an engineer is focused on getting things working quickly to produce value.