# rust-lang/nomicon

The Dark Arts of Advanced and Unsafe Rust Programming

Repository: https://github.com/rust-lang/nomicon
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/nomicon
Homepage: https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/
Language: CSS
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-17T09:50:34+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 76/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3471, "days_push": 16, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2310, forks 324 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:36.016620+00:00)

## What it is
The Rustonomicon is the official Rust book on advanced and unsafe Rust programming, built with mdBook. It explains the details needed to write correct unsafe Rust code, assuming prior systems programming knowledge.

## Use cases
- learn unsafe rust
- understand rust memory model
- write correct unsafe code in rust
- learn about raw pointers and lifetimes in rust
- deep dive into rust internals
- understand undefined behavior in rust

## When to choose
- you already know Rust basics and need to write or review unsafe code
- you want the official deep reference on unsafe Rust semantics
- you are building FFI or low-level systems code in Rust

## When to avoid
- you are a Rust beginner - start with The Rust Programming Language instead
- you need a complete, error-free reference - the book is explicitly a draft and incomplete
- you only write safe Rust and never touch unsafe blocks

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: documentation
- domain: programming-languages, developer-tools, tutorials
- platform: rust, cross-platform
- tags: unsafe-rust, book, mdbook, systems-programming, memory-safety

## Member repositories
- rust-lang/nomicon (main) score 76

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:36.016620+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:39:34.181450+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rust-lang/nomicon (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:36.016620+00:00, sha 0be64285d789)
  - homepage: https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:19:38.368550+00:00, sha bbcf5b94084a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.