Loco is a productivity-first web and service framework in Rust
Loco is a web and API framework for Rust, designed to facilitate the development of full-stack applications. It is inspired by Ruby on Rails, aiming to provide a familiar developer experience for those transitioning from Rails to Rust. The framework is positioned as a “one-person framework” for Rust, suitable for side projects and startups. It is designed to be accessible to developers with a moderate level of familiarity with Rust, without requiring deep knowledge of complex Rust concepts or advanced macros.
Loco incorporates many of the concepts and features of Rails, such as MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture, a CLI (Command Line Interface) for application creation and management, and a local development server. It is built with the intention of making it easier for Rust developers to build MVC-style web applications, leveraging Rust’s strengths in concurrency, safety, strong typing, and performance.
The framework is part of the broader Rust ecosystem, which includes other libraries and frameworks like Axum, Actix, Rocket, Tokio, Warp, and Reqwest. However, Loco stands out as the first framework in Rust that follows the Rails-like approach, offering a streamlined development experience for Rust developers looking to build web applications without the need to explore other frameworks.
Loco’s design philosophy is rooted in the idea of a “One Person Framework,” as described in a blog post by David Heinemeier Hansson. This concept emphasizes the importance of a toolkit that is powerful enough for a single developer to handle the complexities of application development, from library selection and architecture design to robustness and scalability. Loco aims to provide this functionality for Rust developers, offering a balance between ease of use and flexibility.
To get started with Loco, developers need to have a basic understanding of Rust, including how to build, test, and run Rust projects, and familiarity with some popular Rust libraries. The framework is designed to be approachable for those new to Rust, offering a refreshing experience for those transitioning from Rails to Rust development.
Loco is actively developed and has seen multiple minor versions since its inception, with the latest version being Loco 0.3.1. It is built by a community of contributors, aiming to provide a comprehensive solution for Rust developers looking to build modern web applications.