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Introduction to Axum: Building Web Servers in Rust

Welcome to the workshop on building web servers with Axum! In this session, we'll explore why Rust and Axum are a powerful combination for modern web development. Let’s dive in!

What is Axum?​

Axum is a fast, ergonomic, and type-safe web framework for Rust, built on top of the tokio async runtime and hyper HTTP library. Developed by the Tokio team, Axum leverages Rust’s strengths to provide a robust foundation for building scalable and reliable web services.

Key Features and benefits​

  1. Declarative routing:
  • define routes and handlers using a clean, intuitive API
  • Supports RESTful patterns, path parameters, and query extraction
  1. Middleware and composability:
  • Integrates seamlessly with tower middleware (e.g., logging, CORS, rate limiting, observability).
  • Middleware can be applied globally, per route, or per scope.
  1. Async-first:
  • Built on top of tokio, Axum is designed for high-performance, non-blocking I/O.
  • Write handlers using async/await for efficient request processing.
  1. JSON and Form handling:
  • Effortless serialization/deserialization using serde.
  • Extract and validate data with types like Json<T> or Form<T>.

Why Rust for Web servers?​

🚀 Performance​

  • Rust compiles to native code, offering C-level speed with no garbage collector overhead.
  • Ideal for high-throughput, low-latency applications.
  • No runtime overhead thanks to Rust’s zero-cost abstractions.

🦺 Safety​

  • Rust’s type system ensures correctness at compile time (e.g., path parameters, request bodies).
  • Rust’s ownership model eliminates entire classes of bugs (e.g., null pointers, data races).
  • Critical for security in networked services.

⚡ Concurrency Without Fear​

  • Async/await syntax simplifies writing safe, concurrent code.
  • Avoid callback hell or runtime magic seen in other languages.

🌱 Growing Ecosystem​

  • A vibrant community with libraries for HTTP, databases, auth, and more.
  • Tools like cargo make dependency management painless.

📦 Cross-Platform Support​

  • Compile to Linux, Windows, macOS, or even embedded systems.

Why Axum over other frameworks?​

  1. Batteries-included, but unopinionated: Axum provides essential tools without forcing a specific project structure.

  2. Production ready: Backed by tokio and hyper, it powers high-traffic services in production.

  3. Future-proof: Rust’s stability guarantees ensure long-term maintainability.

  4. Learning Curve Pays Off: While Rust has a steeper initial learning curve, the long-term benefits in reliability and performance are unmatched.

Use cases​

  • Building microservices or REST/GraphQL APIs.
  • High-performance proxies or gateways.
  • Applications where safety and correctness are critical (e.g., fintech, healthcare).