nalgebra
Linear algebra library for Rust.
A comprehensive math library for Rust that handles vectors, matrices, and 3D rotations. Catches size and type errors at compile time, making it safer and faster to build games, robotics, and science tools.
nalgebra is a linear algebra library for the Rust programming language. Linear algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with vectors and matrices, which are organized grids of numbers. These structures are used throughout computer graphics, physics simulations, robotics, and machine learning, anywhere a program needs to represent spatial coordinates, transformations, or large sets of numerical data in a structured way.
The library is published as a Rust crate, which is the standard unit of shareable code in the Rust ecosystem. Developers add it to their projects by listing it as a dependency, and then use it to create and manipulate vectors, matrices, and related mathematical objects directly in their code. It is designed to work within Rust's strict type system, which means many errors that would otherwise appear at runtime can be caught at compile time.
The repository description is brief: a linear algebra library for Rust. The listed topics are algebra, linear-algebra, matrix, and vector, which confirms the scope. The README itself is minimal, consisting mainly of badges and links to the project website and API documentation, where full usage examples and reference material live.
The library is maintained by dimforge, an organization that also develops physics simulation libraries in Rust. It is available under the Apache 2.0 license, which allows use in both commercial and open-source projects. A Discord server is linked for community discussion.
Because the README in this repository is a short pointer to external documentation, specific details about supported operations and types are not available here. Readers wanting usage examples should consult the linked user guide at nalgebra.rs.
Where it fits
- Build a 3D game engine in Rust that needs accurate physics and coordinate transforms.
- Write a robotics control program that calculates positions and orientations in 3D space.
- Perform scientific computing tasks like solving systems of equations or matrix factorization.
- Create graphics rendering code that transforms and projects points into screen coordinates.