Introduction
When I picked up Rust, I wanted more than just another programming language. My goal was to build a foundation strong enough to carry me into blockchain development, I also decided to explore low level programming (I know some will say rust is a partial low level language) as opposed to Python and Javascript, I was already familiar with. I wanted to challenge and change how I think about systems programming.
This drive led me to my first hands-on project, setting the stage for bigger things ahead. This article is the first chapter of that journey, I'll share how I built a ticket validator CLI in pure Rust, what I learned along the way, and how this projects fits into my larger roadmap: moving from Rust fundamentals to Solana, Near, and eventually Substrate (yeah, it seems like a lot but I intend to explores features in these blockchains mentioned with primary focus on Solana).
I'm taking a domain based path here, applying what I learn directly to blockchain scenarios, so I don't just memorize syntax and forget it. This approach helps me retain knowledge by building projects related to my goals.
The Reason I Picked Rust
Rust seemed like a good option due to current articles, videos, and reviews for its usage in production, highlighting its's performance, safety and memory management. It's strictness seemed like a nice choice if I intend to create a reliable blockchain that is to have a no trust system.
I considered Go and Python but Go seems not to be heavily used in the crypto world and python dynamic types was a no, as I intend to go with a statically typed language. It was not as performant as rust (and yes, I love python). This is a personal opinion, as I intend not to involve myself in the language or framework wars.
Rust's borrow checker has caught memory bugs in my code that Python's flexibility might overlook, and its speed edges out Go in high stakes blockchain environments where every millisecond counts.
With Rust chosen, the real test began, struggling and understanding its unique rules and rethinking my coding habits.
Learning Curve
Rust had me on ropes😅🥲. It's ownership system, made me think differently about my code data and usage before I even started writing. Each data became extremely important to understand, not just another variable to use. I learnt to approach my code thing about each data's lifetime, to avoid using a value that has been dropped out of the memory and might create a dangling pointer (accessing data in the memory that has been deleted).
Rust does not have a garbage collector, so it enforces rules that makes you consider each data and memory it occupies on the system, be it on the stack or heap, as rust automatically cleans data that goes out of scope.
This made me gain more insight on data used in my code is stored and accessed! For example, in my CLI project, I hit a wall trying to borrow a string after moving it to a function. Rust forced me to clone it instead, teaching me to plan data ownership upfront and avoid runtime errors that could plague a blockchain app.
Resources That Helped
The official Rust Book was my holy grail! I read it online chapter by chapter up to 12, focusing on text to skip bandwidth heavy videos, data limitations😅. Paired with Rustlings exercises (a ~50MB download of interactive CLI drills), it reinforced concepts like borrowing through hands-on fixes. This combo kept things practical and domain focused, letting me apply lessons straight to blockchain ideas instead of been stuck in a tutorial's hell.
Journey So Far
After getting to chapter 12 of the Rust Book, I decided to create a ticket validator cli app to implement what I've learned! as my goal is to link it to the blockchain and make a working app that can be used by users to allow ticket buying and selling for events, with minimal gas fees to maximize profits.
What does it do so far? In pure Rust, it handles basic ticket creation, validation, and hashing using crates like serde for JSON serialization and ed25519-dalek signing for secure checks! making it modular and efficient for future Web3 integration.
For now, this CLI serves as a solid proof-of-concept, showing Rust's power in action. I will go into more details on my progress with the ticket CLI app in future posts, as I intend for this to just be an introductory article!
Conclusion
Building the ticket validator taught me more than syntax. It showed me how Rust enforces discipline through ownership, error handling, and modular design. These lessons are exactly what I’ll need as I move into blockchain frameworks where reliability and security are non‑negotiable. This project is just the beginning. Next, I’ll be working with Solana’s Anchor framework to mint tickets at scale.
If you’re also learning Rust or curious about blockchain, I hope my journey gives you a clear example of how starting small can lead to bigger systems. Follow along, and let’s grow together.
RESOURCES
- Rust Book: https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/book/index.html
- Rustlings: https://rustlings.rust-lang.org/
- Serde: https://serde.rs/
- Ed25519-Dalek: https://docs.rs/ed25519-dalek/latest/ed25519_dalek/index.html
SOCIAL SHARE CARD GENERATOR