How to Wrap a C Library in a Safe Rust API

Use the bindgen crate to automatically generate safe Rust bindings for your C library headers. Run bindgen on your header file to create a Rust module, then wrap the generated functions in safe Rust functions that handle error checking and memory management.

// Add to Cargo.toml: bindgen = "0.69"
// Run: bindgen path/to/header.h -o src/bindings.rs

mod bindings {
    include!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/bindings.rs"));
}

pub fn safe_call() -> Result<i32, String> {
    let result = unsafe { bindings::c_function() };
    if result < 0 {
        Err("C function failed".to_string())
    } else {
        Ok(result)
    }
}

Wrapping a C library in a safe Rust API creates a secure bridge between your Rust code and existing C libraries. It automatically translates C function definitions into Rust code so you can call them without writing unsafe code manually. Think of it as a translator that ensures the C library speaks Rust safely.