Cargo is the official build system and package manager for the Rust programming language. It provides a unified command-line interface that orchestrates the entire development lifecycle, including compiling source code, managing complex dependency graphs, running tests, and distributing packages through a centralized registry. By utilizing declarative manifest files, it ensures that builds remain reproducible and consistent across different environments.
The tool distinguishes itself through its deep integration with the Rust compiler and its sophisticated approach to project management. It features a content-addressable build cache that enables incremental compilation, and it employs a jobserver-based protocol to coordinate parallel execution across system processes. Furthermore, it supports workspace-based orchestration, allowing developers to group multiple related packages into a single unit to share build artifacts, configuration settings, and dependency resolution logic.
Beyond core compilation, the project offers a comprehensive suite of capabilities for managing the development environment. This includes support for custom build scripts that can dynamically generate code or link native libraries, as well as granular control over build profiles and target-specific configurations. It also provides extensive tooling for analyzing dependency relationships, enforcing version compatibility, and automating the publication of software components to remote registries.
The project is distributed as a command-line tool and is designed to be installed as part of the standard Rust development toolchain.
