run_rust, a simple utility to execute a rust source file directly

run_rust makes it just a little bit easier to use rust for scripting. Simply call it on a rust source file that has a main function and have it execute.

Installing

You can install this program simply by cloning the repository and installing it using cargo.

Usage

Supports passing arguments to the script as well as choosing the rustc executable to use.

Use the --help option to explore the available flags and arguments.

run_rust 0.1.0
Justus Adam <dev@justus.science>
Run rust source files directly

USAGE:
    run_rust [OPTIONS] <SOURCE_FILE> [-- <SCRIPT_ARGS>...]

FLAGS:
    -h, --help       Prints help information
    -V, --version    Prints version information

OPTIONS:
        --compiler <COMPILER>    Path to the rustc executable to use for compilation

ARGS:
    <SOURCE_FILE>       Source file to run
    <SCRIPT_ARGS>...    Additional arguments to pass to the script

Shebang

You can use this also to make rust sources themselves executable. Add #!/usr/bin/env run_rust as first line in your script. Or, if you know the exact installation location #!/exact/path/to/run_rust will also work.

How it works

Its actually a rather naive program which does nothing more than compile your source code to a temporary directory and execute it.

Limitations

It currently only supports using the standard library, and no additional crates and libraries.

Why?

This utility exists because I wanted to use rust for scripting. The standard library is rather good, reminiscent of python in my opinion, but unlike python there is a compiler that catches all the horrible mistakes I make all the time. However running rust code as a script always requires to compile an actual binary file, which is clutter to me and also takes up space.