Because GUIs are so last millennium, and web apps use too much RAM.
Welcome to the definitive guide to building Terminal User Interface (TUI) applications in Rust! If you've ever looked at htop, vim, or lazygit and thought "I want to build something that cool," you're in the right place.
- Resource Efficient: Your app won't consume 2GB of RAM just to display a to-do list
- SSH-Friendly: Works perfectly over remote connections
- Keyboard-First: For developers who think mice are for CAD work
- Retro-Cool: Because everything old is new again
- Universal: Runs anywhere with a terminal (so, everywhere)
This book takes you from "What's a TUI?" to building a fully-featured task manager with multiple views, state management, and slick animations. We'll use the ratatui crate (the spiritual successor to tui-rs) and build increasingly sophisticated applications.
- Basic Rust knowledge (variables, functions, structs, enums, basic ownership)
- A terminal emulator (you probably have one if you're reading this)
- A sense of humor (terminal puns are inevitable)
- Introduction to TUI Development - What are TUIs and why should you care?
- Setting Up Your First TUI - Hello, World! (but make it fancy)
- Understanding the Event Loop - The heartbeat of every TUI app
- Widgets and Layouts - Arranging pixels (well, characters)
- State Management - Keeping track of what's happening
- Styling and Theming - Making it pretty (terminal edition)
- Input Handling and Navigation - Vim keybindings or bust
- Advanced Widgets - Tables, trees, and tabs, oh my!
- Error Handling and Logging - When things go sideways
- Testing TUI Applications - Yes, you can test visual apps
- Final Project: Task Manager - Bringing it all together
All code examples are complete and runnable. When you see:
// This will compile and run!...it actually will. We're not monsters.
This book believes in:
- Learning by doing: Every chapter includes hands-on exercises
- Building real things: No contrived examples
- Progressive complexity: Each chapter builds on the last
- Having fun: Because programming should be enjoyable
Bookmark the Quick Reference Guide for common patterns, imports, and code snippets you'll use frequently!
If you get stuck:
- Check the Quick Reference for common patterns
- Re-read the chapter (we probably explained it, just obtusely)
- Check the ratatui documentation
- Look at the ratatui examples
- Ask in the ratatui Discord
Not all terminals are created equal. For the best experience, use a modern terminal emulator like:
- Alacritty (fast and GPU-accelerated)
- WezTerm (feature-rich and configurable)
- Kitty (the cat's meow)
- iTerm2 (macOS classic)
If you're using the default Windows Command Prompt... please don't. Use Windows Terminal instead. Your eyes will thank you.
Ready to trade your mouse for a keyboard-driven future? Let's dive in!
"640 columns and 480 rows ought to be enough for anybody." - Not Bill Gates
"In the terminal, no one can hear you click." - Ancient Unix Proverb
"May your terminals be responsive and your keybindings memorable." - Terminal Developer Blessing