The crate only has a single financial calculation function and a few constants right now. I hope to eventually expand it to include most of the code from the CroftSoft Core Library. Converting my old Java code library is another way for me to learn the Rust programming language.
Almost two decades ago when I wrote my book Advanced Java Game Programming, I ended it with three chapters on the subject of multiplayer network communications over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The final chapter demonstrated a browser-based chat applet in which 2D characters would move about in response to player clicks on the screen. I described how to use what I called "HTTP Pulling", now known as HTTP Long Polling, to receive messages from the server through the firewall.
The modern replacement for HTTP Long Polling is WebSockets which is now supported in all major browsers. Last weekend I was able to write my first browser-based application in the Rust programming language by using the Rust-based front-end framework Yew. Today I was pleased to be able to successfully implement a browser-based chat application using WebSockets and Yew by following the instructions in the online tutorial Let’s Build a WebSockets Project With Rust and Yew 0.19 by Johnny Tordgeman.
Tonight I finished reading The Rust Programming Language, informally known as "The Rust Book", by Steve Klabnik and Carol Nichols with contributions from the Rust Community. The print copy published by No Starch Press covers the 2018 Edition of Rust. There is also a free online version which is updated continuously.
I had started reading the Rust book last year and made it three-quarters of the way through. This year I restarted from the beginning so I could refresh on the fundamentals. It helped me understand a couple of Rust game programming books that I was reading simultaneously.
The book is well written with many code examples which are described in detail. The authors ease the readers into the subject but then rapidly advance to more complicated topics in later chapters. I assume that this is because they wanted to cover the entire programming language in just over five hundred pages.
I searched the Web to see if there is a second edition of the book coming out that covers the 2021 Edition of the Rust programming language. Apparently there is not so I might start reading the online version for the updates and to review the material. To help take me to the next level, I ordered from the same publisher Rust for Rustaceans: Idiomatic Programming for Experienced Developers by Jon Gjengset.
Back in 1999 when the stock market was doing well, I wrote a browser-based retirement calculator application using the Java Servlet framework. Since a Java Servlet renders the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) server-side, the application stopped working when I stopped using the Java application server. Since the application does not fetch or store data using a back-end server, I could have re-written the calculator as a JavaScript-based application and simply hosted it on a website fronted by a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Now in 2022 when the stock market is not doing so well, I converted the application to my new favorite programming language Rust using the front-end framework Yew. Yew compiles the Rust code to WebAssembly (Wasm) which then runs in the browser just like JavaScript. You can view the converted source code and play with an online demonstration hosted on one of my websites deployed using Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amplify Hosting.
Today I was able to deploy a game that runs in the browser by following the instructions in the book Game Development with Rust & WebAssembly by Eric Smith. I wrote the code in Rust, compiled it to WebAssembly, and then wrapped it in a thin layer of JavaScript so that it can run in a webpage. You can play the game online at my GameSpawn website.
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