Learn Rust by writing an IRC bouncer
a project by IGonzalezSosa
Updated over 6 years ago. 9 hacker ♥️. 2 followers.

A good way of getting to know a new programming language is... writing some code. So although there are some good IRC bouncers, like ZNC, we want to write another one just for learning.

But why an IRC bouncer? Because it is not rocket science, but it implies network communication (acting as client and as server at the same time), handling concurrent connections... in a few words: it sounds fun.

During this Hack Week we will not be ambitious: apart from learning Rust, we will be learning quite some things about IRC, so getting the basic pieces in place will be more than enough.

We can think of adding some stuff later, like database-based storage, full text search, support for plugins, and even a JSON/HTTP interface. But, for now, let's start low.

Join this project

Looking for hackers with the skills:

rust

This project is part of:

Hack Week 17

Activity

  • 10 months ago: tanishk joined this project.
  • over 7 years ago: IGonzalezSosa added keyword "rust" to this project.
  • over 7 years ago: IGonzalezSosa added keyword "rust" to this project.
  • over 7 years ago: teclator joined this project.
  • over 7 years ago: david_kang liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: mbrugger liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: hennevogel liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: jevrard left this project.
  • over 7 years ago: jevrard joined this project.
  • over 7 years ago: iulhaq liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: SLindoMansilla liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: cbruckmayer liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: suntorytimed liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: joseivanlopez joined this project.
  • over 7 years ago: kbabioch liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: ancorgs liked this project.
  • over 7 years ago: ancorgs joined this project.
  • over 7 years ago: IGonzalezSosa started this project.
  • over 7 years ago: IGonzalezSosa originated this project.


    • Comments

    • ancorgs
      over 7 years ago by ancorgs | Reply

      Just as inspiration/reference (the idea is to learn the language, not to simply install something already existing):

    Similar Projects

    Exploring Rust's potential: from basics to security by sferracci

    Description

    This project aims to conduct a focused investigation and practical application of the Rust programming language, with a specific emphasis on its security model. A key component will be identifying and understanding the most common vulnerabilities that can be found in Rust code.

    Goals

    Achieve a beginner/intermediate level of proficiency in writing Rust code. This will be measured by trying to solve LeetCode problems focusing on common data structures and algorithms. Study Rust vulnerabilities and learning best practices to avoid them.

    Resources

    Rust book: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/

    RMT.rs: High-Performance Registration Path for RMT using Rust by gbasso

    Description

    The SUSE Repository Mirroring Tool (RMT) is a critical component for managing software updates and subscriptions, especially for our Public Cloud Team (PCT). In a cloud environment, hundreds or even thousands of new SUSE instances (VPS/EC2) can be provisioned simultaneously. Each new instance attempts to register against an RMT server, creating a "thundering herd" scenario.

    We have observed that the current RMT server, written in Ruby, faces performance issues under this high-concurrency registration load. This can lead to request overhead, slow registration times, and outright registration failures, delaying the readiness of new cloud instances.

    This Hackweek project aims to explore a solution by re-implementing the performance-critical registration path in Rust. The goal is to leverage Rust's high performance, memory safety, and first-class concurrency handling to create an alternative registration endpoint that is fast, reliable, and can gracefully manage massive, simultaneous request spikes.

    The new Rust module will be integrated into the existing RMT Ruby application, allowing us to directly compare the performance of both implementations.

    Goals

    The primary objective is to build and benchmark a high-performance Rust-based alternative for the RMT server registration endpoint.

    Key goals for the week:

    1. Analyze & Identify: Dive into the SUSE/rmt Ruby codebase to identify and map out the exact critical path for server registration (e.g., controllers, services, database interactions).
    2. Develop in Rust: Implement a functionally equivalent version of this registration logic in Rust.
    3. Integrate: Explore and implement a method for Ruby/Rust integration to "hot-wire" the new Rust module into the RMT application. This may involve using FFI, or libraries like rb-sys or magnus.
    4. Benchmark: Create a benchmarking script (e.g., using k6, ab, or a custom tool) that simulates the high-concurrency registration load from thousands of clients.
    5. Compare & Present: Conduct a comparative performance analysis (requests per second, latency, success/error rates, CPU/memory usage) between the original Ruby path and the new Rust path. The deliverable will be this data and a summary of the findings.

    Resources

    • RMT Source Code (Ruby):
      • https://github.com/SUSE/rmt
    • RMT Documentation:
      • https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP7/html/SLES-all/book-rmt.html
    • Tooling & Stacks:
      • RMT/Ruby development environment (for running the base RMT)
      • Rust development environment (rustup, cargo)
    • Potential Integration Libraries:
      • rb-sys: https://github.com/oxidize-rb/rb-sys
      • Magnus: https://github.com/matsadler/magnus
    • Benchmarking Tools:
      • k6 (https://k6.io/)
      • ab (ApacheBench)

    Learn a bit of embedded programming with Rust in a micro:bit v2 by aplanas

    Description

    micro:bit is a small single board computer with a ARM Cortex-M4 with the FPU extension, with a very constrain amount of memory and a bunch of sensors and leds.

    The board is very well documented, with schematics and code for all the features available, so is an excellent platform for learning embedded programming.

    Rust is a system programming language that can generate ARM code, and has crates (libraries) to access the micro:bit hardware. There is plenty documentation about how to make small programs that will run in the micro:bit.

    Goals

    Start learning about embedded programming in Rust, and maybe make some code to the small KS4036F Robot car from keyestudio.

    Resources

    Diary

    Day 1

    • Start reading https://mb2.implrust.com/abstraction-layers.html
    • Prepare the dev environment (cross compiler, probe-rs)
    • Flash first code in the board (blinky led)
    • Checking differences between BSP and HAL
    • Compile and install a more complex example, with stack protection
    • Reading about the simplicity of xtask, as alias for workspace execution
    • Reading the CPP code of the official micro:bit libraries. They have a font!

    Day 2

    • There are multiple BSP for the microbit. One is using async code for non-blocking operations
    • Download and study a bit the API for microbit-v2, the nRF official crate
    • Take a look of the KS4036F programming, seems that the communication is multiplexed via I2C
    • The motor speed can be selected via PWM (pulse with modulation): power it longer (high frequency), and it will increase the speed
    • Scrolling some text
    • Debug by printing! defmt is a crate that can be used with probe-rs to emit logs
    • Start reading input from the board: buttons
    • The logo can be touched and detected as a floating point value

    Day 3

    • A bit confused how to read the float value from a pin

    Arcticwolf - A rust based user space NFS server by vcheng

    Description

    Rust has similar performance to C. Also, have a better async IO module and high integration with io_uring. This project aims to develop a user-space NFS server based on Rust.

    Goals

    • Get an understanding of how cargo works
    • Get an understanding of how XDR was generated with xdrgen
    • Create the RUST-based NFS server that supports basic operations like mount/readdir/read/write

    Resources

    https://github.com/Vicente-Cheng/arcticwolf

    AI-Powered Unit Test Automation for Agama by joseivanlopez

    The Agama project is a multi-language Linux installer that leverages the distinct strengths of several key technologies:

    • Rust: Used for the back-end services and the core HTTP API, providing performance and safety.
    • TypeScript (React/PatternFly): Powers the modern web user interface (UI), ensuring a consistent and responsive user experience.
    • Ruby: Integrates existing, robust YaST libraries (e.g., yast-storage-ng) to reuse established functionality.

    The Problem: Testing Overhead

    Developing and maintaining code across these three languages requires a significant, tedious effort in writing, reviewing, and updating unit tests for each component. This high cost of testing is a drain on developer resources and can slow down the project's evolution.

    The Solution: AI-Driven Automation

    This project aims to eliminate the manual overhead of unit testing by exploring and integrating AI-driven code generation tools. We will investigate how AI can:

    1. Automatically generate new unit tests as code is developed.
    2. Intelligently correct and update existing unit tests when the application code changes.

    By automating this crucial but monotonous task, we can free developers to focus on feature implementation and significantly improve the speed and maintainability of the Agama codebase.

    Goals

    • Proof of Concept: Successfully integrate and demonstrate an authorized AI tool (e.g., gemini-cli) to automatically generate unit tests.
    • Workflow Integration: Define and document a new unit test automation workflow that seamlessly integrates the selected AI tool into the existing Agama development pipeline.
    • Knowledge Sharing: Establish a set of best practices for using AI in code generation, sharing the learned expertise with the broader team.

    Contribution & Resources

    We are seeking contributors interested in AI-powered development and improving developer efficiency. Whether you have previous experience with code generation tools or are eager to learn, your participation is highly valuable.

    If you want to dive deep into AI for software quality, please reach out and join the effort!

    • Authorized AI Tools: Tools supported by SUSE (e.g., gemini-cli)
    • Focus Areas: Rust, TypeScript, and Ruby components within the Agama project.

    Interesting Links