Rust REPL console

REPL console is an interactive read-eval-print-loop environment for prototyping and testing your Rust code. This handy tool is a notebook, a calculator, and a Rust interpreter all in one.

Implemented on top of the evcxr_repl utility, Rust REPL provides syntax highlighting and completion for the code lines you type. It also shows a pane with the list of variables, functions, and structures currently in use.

You can access the REPL console from the context menu (Rust | Rust REPL), run it from the main menu (Tools | Rust | Rust REPL), or look it up in the Search Everywhere dialog (double Shift).

Find below an example of how the REPL console can be used to draft a simple program in Rust:

The REPL console has the following controls:

– click to terminate the current REPL session and restart the console.
– click to run the code you have written in the REPL console.
Alternatively, press Ctrl+Enter to execute code immediately after completing the line.
– click to stop Rust REPL.
– click to close the REPL console.
– click to create soft wraps in the message text.
– click to scroll to the end of displayed messages.
– click to print console text.
– click to view the history of entered queries.
– click enable or disable the variables panel.

Command reference

Add dependencies

To add an external crate, use the :dep command followed by the crate name. For example:

:dep rand

This downloads and compiles the latest version of the specified crate. If you want to download a specific version, include it as follows:

:dep rand = "0.8.5"

Use the crate

Once the crate has been added, you can utilize it in your code using the use command:

                use rand::Rng;

                let mut rng = rand::thread_rng();
                let random_number: u32 = rng.gen_range(1..=10);
                println!("Random number: {}", random_number);
            

List all commands

To get the list of all available commands, type :help.

Last modified: 23 January 2025