As someone who already programs in multiple high-level languages, I feel that the Rust book hits the sweet spot for me. It doesn't go over basic programming concepts which I already know, and focuses on fundamental, unique concepts of Rust. I feel that the scope is pretty close to perfect as well, it doesn't try to cover every single detail. (The Rustonomicon serves as Part 2 for me)
I'm in the same boat. I worked on a pet project while reading the book (still at it). Make some progress, read about how unit tests are done, add some unit tests, learn how modules work, refactor some code into a module.. Inbetween I google some things that I need but haven't mentioned in the book yet but that I need at that moment (e.g. cow strings used in a crate). Works for me!
Re:Learning Rust in 2020
by steveklabnik on Tuesday May 12, 2020 @08:25PM
(#23161910)
Thanks for the kind words!
Came here to say this exact thing. I never learn well from programming books, but I did from the Rust book. I think it's because of how bite-sized and focused the different pieces are, as well as how hands-on and example-driven it is.
This weekend I read most of the Rust book without much effort and found it really helpful for getting up to speed with the language, especially the more novel bits around safety. It took me to the point where I was able to explore and evaluate the bits of the language I needed with only library docs. I know that the remaining chapters are there for when I am ready for them.
My experience with the Rust book as made me more likely to consider starting with a book when approaching programming languages in the future.
Reading other comments, I recognize that I was fortunate to have a project in mind that motivated my reading of the book and just happened to be an excellent fit for Rust.