Writing Kernel Drivers in Rust

The article compares a simple AX88796B PHY driver implementation in Rust versus C to highlight syntax, type, and API differences.

Rust’s module system uses use statements for selective imports instead of C’s #include directives.

The kernel crate and prelude provide replacements for standard library features to control memory and allocation precisely.

Rust macros like module_phy_driver! and attribute macros register PHY drivers, contrasting with C’s module_phy_driver() macro.

Constants in Rust require explicit types and use const declarations, with as for casting, unlike C’s #define.

Rust references (& and &mut) and the borrow checker prevent data races compared to raw pointers in C.

Rust’s Result type and the try operator (?) enable concise error handling instead of manual error checks.

Implementing the Driver trait with impl blocks and the vtable macro generates C-compatible function pointer structures.