Getting started

You already ship PHP. This chapter is the on-ramp: what Rust is for next to a PHP stack, how compiling differs from interpreting a script, and how every example in the course leans on what you already know.

You will set up rustup, meet Cargo the way you already know Composer, and run a first program so `cargo run` feels as ordinary as the PHP CLI—different shape, same intent.

Short readings and exercises lock in the toolchain before the next chapters dig into syntax and types. Leave with a working environment, not a pile of unanswered setup questions.