The first step to using Rust is to install it! There are a number of ways to
install Rust, but the easiest is to use the rustup script. If you're on
Linux or a Mac, all you need to do is this (note that you don't need to type
in the $s, they just indicate the start of each command):
$ curl -L https://static.rust-lang.org/rustup.sh | sudo sh
If you're concerned about the potential insecurity of using curl | sudo sh,
please keep reading and see our disclaimer below. And feel free to use a two-step version of the installation and examine our installation script:
$ curl -L https://static.rust-lang.org/rustup.sh -O
$ sudo sh rustup.sh
If you're on Windows, please download either the 32-bit installer or the 64-bit installer and run it.
If you decide you don't want Rust anymore, we'll be a bit sad, but that's okay. Not every programming language is great for everyone. Just run the uninstall script:
$ sudo /usr/local/lib/rustlib/uninstall.sh
If you used the Windows installer, just re-run the .exe and it will give you
an uninstall option.
You can re-run this script any time you want to update Rust. Which, at this point, is often. Rust is still pre-1.0, and so people assume that you're using a very recent Rust.
This brings me to one other point: some people, and somewhat rightfully so, get
very upset when we tell you to curl | sudo sh. And they should be! Basically,
when you do this, you are trusting that the good people who maintain Rust
aren't going to hack your computer and do bad things. That's a good instinct!
If you're one of those people, please check out the documentation on building
Rust from Source, or
the official binary downloads. And we
promise that this method will not be the way to install Rust forever: it's just
the easiest way to keep people updated while Rust is in its alpha state.
Oh, we should also mention the officially supported platforms:
We extensively test Rust on these platforms, and a few others, too, like Android. But these are the ones most likely to work, as they have the most testing.
Finally, a comment about Windows. Rust considers Windows to be a first-class platform upon release, but if we're honest, the Windows experience isn't as integrated as the Linux/OS X experience is. We're working on it! If anything does not work, it is a bug. Please let us know if that happens. Each and every commit is tested against Windows just like any other platform.
If you've got Rust installed, you can open up a shell, and type this:
$ rustc --version
You should see some output that looks something like this:
rustc 1.0.0-nightly (f11f3e7ba 2015-01-04 20:02:14 +0000)
If you did, Rust has been installed successfully! Congrats!
If not, there are a number of places where you can get help. The easiest is the #rust IRC channel on irc.mozilla.org, which you can access through Mibbit. Click that link, and you'll be chatting with other Rustaceans (a silly nickname we call ourselves), and we can help you out. Other great resources include the /r/rust subreddit, and Stack Overflow.