> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://learning-rust.gitbook.io/book/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://learning-rust.gitbook.io/book/basics/cargo-crates-and-basic-project-structure.md).

# Cargo,crates and basic project structure

## Cargo

Cargo is Rust’s built-in Package Manager. But mainly it uses for,

* Create new project : `cargo new`
* Update dependencies : `cargo update`
* Build project : `cargo build`  
* Build and run a project : `cargo run`  
* Run tests : `cargo test`  
* Generate documentation via rustdoc : `cargo doc`

Other than that there are some cargo commands, especially for publishing crates directly via cargo.

* `cargo login` : acquiring an API token  
* `cargo package` : make the local create uploadable to crates.io  
* `cargo publish` : make the local create uploadable to crates.io and upload the crate

## Crate

⭐️ **A crate is a package. Crates can be shared via** [**Cargo**](https://crates.io/)**.**

A crate can produce an executable or a library. In other words, it can be a binary crate or a library crate.\
01\. `cargo new crate_name --bin` : produces an **executable**\
02\. `cargo new crate_name --lib` OR `cargo new crate_name`: produces a **library**

The first one generates,

```
├── Cargo.toml
└── src
    └── main.rs
```

and the second one generates,

```
├── Cargo.toml
└── src
    └── lib.rs
```

* **Cargo.toml**(capital c) is the configuration file which contains all of the metadata that Cargo needs to compile your project.
* **src** folder is the place to store the source code.
* Each crate has an implicit crate root/ entry point. **main.rs** is the crate root for a binary crate and **lib.rs** is the crate root for a library crate.

> 💡 When we build a binary crate via `cargo build` or `cargo run`, the executable file will be stored in **target/debug/** folder. But when build it via `cargo build --release` for a release it will be stored in **target/release/** folder.

## Project Structure

This is how [Cargo Docs describes](http://doc.crates.io/guide.html#project-layout) about the recommended Project Layout,

```
.
├── Cargo.lock
├── Cargo.toml
├── benches
│   └── large-input.rs
├── examples
│   └── simple.rs
├── src
│   ├── bin
│   │   └── another_executable.rs
│   ├── lib.rs
│   └── main.rs
└── tests
    └── some-integration-tests.rs
```

* Source code goes in the `src` directory.  
* The default library file is `src/lib.rs`.  
* The default executable file is `src/main.rs`.  
* Other executables can be placed in `src/bin/*.rs`.  
* Integration tests go in the `tests` directory (unit tests go in each file they're testing).  
* Examples go in the `examples` directory.  
* Benchmarks go in the `benches` directory.