Working with CSV in Rust: csv library

What is csv?

csv is a standard library of the Rust language for reading and writing files in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. It provides a high-performance and flexible interface for working with tabular data, supporting both simple and complex scenarios (e.g., escaping, different delimiters, headers).

Why is it needed?

CSV is one of the most common formats for exchanging data between applications, databases, and spreadsheets. The csv library allows you to:

Quickly load and process large datasets (logs, exports from Excel/Google Sheets, database dumps).
Generate reports and exports in a human-readable form.
Integrate Rust applications with systems that work via CSV (e.g., financial systems, ML pipelines).

How to install?

Add the dependency to your project's Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]csv = "1.3"

Installation is performed automatically when building via cargo build.

Main features

Reading — iteration over rows with automatic type parsing.
Writing — creating CSV from data structures with serialization.
Configuration — custom delimiter (tab, semicolon), escaping, compression.
Working with headers — access to columns by name.
Serialization/Deserialization — integration with serde for automatic structure conversion.

Rust code example

use csv::ReaderBuilder;use serde::Deserialize;use std::error::Error;

#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]struct Record {    name: String,    age: u8,    city: String,}

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {    let data = "name,age,cityAlice,30,New YorkBob,25,London";    let mut reader = ReaderBuilder::new()        .has_headers(true)        .from_reader(data.as_bytes());

    for result in reader.deserialize::<Record>() {        let record: Record = result?;        println!("{:?}", record);    }    Ok(())}