Overview of Development Approaches

There are the following approaches to using Rust on Espressif chips:

  • Using the std library, a.k.a. Standard library.
  • Using the core library (no_std), a.k.a. bare metal development.

Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, so you should make a decision based on your project's needs. This chapter contains an overview of the two approaches:

See also the comparison of the different runtimes in The Embedded Rust Book.

The esp-rs organization on GitHub is home to several repositories related to running Rust on Espressif chips. Most of the required crates have their source code hosted here.

Repository Naming Convention

In the esp-rs organization, we use the following wording:

  • Repositories starting with esp- are focused on no_std approach. For example, esp-hal
    • no_std works on top of bare metal, so esp- is an Espressif chip
  • Repositories starting with esp-idf- are focused on std approach. For example, esp-idf-hal

Support for Espressif Products

⚠️ Notes:

  • ✅ - The feature is implemented or supported
  • ⏳ - The feature is under development
  • ❌ - The feature isn't supported
  • ⚠️ - There is some support but the feature is discontinued
Chipstdno_std
ESP32✅✅
ESP32-C2✅✅
ESP32-C3✅✅
ESP32-C6✅✅
ESP32-S2✅✅
ESP32-S3✅✅
ESP32-H2✅✅
ESP8266❌⚠️

⚠️ Note: Rust support for the ESP8266 series is limited and isn't being officially supported by Espressif.

The products supported in certain circumstances will be called supported Espressif products throughout the book.