added rust connector documentation draft

Author: mariadb-udaydubey

connectors/SUMMARY.md

@@ -268,6 +268,7 @@
   * [PHP](other/mariadb-php-connectors-guide.md)
   * [RMariaDB: MariaDB Driver for R](other/rmariadb.md)
   * [Ruby](other/mariadb-connector-ruby-guide.md)
+  * [Rust](other/mariadb-rust-connector-guide.md)
   * [LangChain MariaDB](other/langchain-mariadb/README.md)
     * [API Reference](other/langchain-mariadb/api-reference/README.md)
       * [Vector Stores](other/langchain-mariadb/api-reference/vectorstores.md)

connectors/other/mariadb-rust-connector-guide.md

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+---
+description: >-
+  The Rust connector for MariaDB provides two community-maintained crates for
+  building native Rust applications that connect to MariaDB databases, with
+  MariaDB-specific features contributed directly by MariaDB.
+icon: link
+---
+
+# Rust Connector for MariaDB
+
+## Overview
+
+Rust applications can connect to MariaDB using the community-maintained drivers from the [blackbeam](https://github.com/blackbeam) project. These are not official MariaDB connectors, but MariaDB has contributed MariaDB-specific features to them, and they are the recommended way to connect to MariaDB from Rust.
+
+The Rust ecosystem has two widely used community-maintained MySQL/MariaDB client crates:
+
+- **[`mysql`](https://crates.io/crates/mysql)** (`rust-mysql-simple`) — a synchronous Rust driver
+- **[`mysql_async`](https://crates.io/crates/mysql_async)** — an asynchronous Rust driver built on Tokio
+
+Both crates share a common protocol implementation library, **[`rust_mysql_common`](https://crates.io/crates/mysql_common)**, which handles low-level MySQL/MariaDB protocol primitives, value conversion, and authentication primitives used by both drivers.
+
+MariaDB recommends these Rust crates, which provide robust MySQL‑protocol compatibility and include MariaDB‑specific enhancements for first‑class client support.
+
+Select the driver based on your application’s architecture: use `mysql` for blocking/synchronous I/O, or `mysql_async` for non‑blocking I/O with Tokio. Both drivers have received the same MariaDB-specific contributions for the features described below.
+
+## MariaDB-Specific Contributions
+
+MariaDB has contributed MariaDB‑specific features directly to these crates. The following features have been implemented and incorporated into the official releases (mysql_async v0.37.0 and the corresponding rust‑mysql‑simple version):
+
+### 1. PARSEC Authentication Plugin Support
+
+PARSEC (Password Authentication using Response Signed with Elliptic Curve) is a modern authentication plugin introduced in MariaDB 11.6. It uses salted passwords, PBKDF2 key derivation, and ed25519 elliptic-curve signatures to prevent replay attacks and protect credentials.
+
+Both `mysql_async` and `mysql` (sync) now support PARSEC authentication natively. When connecting to a MariaDB 11.6+ server configured to use the `parsec` authentication plugin, the driver will automatically handle the PARSEC handshake without any special configuration from the application developer.
+
+### 2. Bulk Execution (`COM_STMT_BULK_EXECUTE`)
+
+MariaDB supports a protocol extension called `COM_STMT_BULK_EXECUTE`, enabled via the `MARIADB_CLIENT_STMT_BULK_OPERATIONS` capability flag. This allows a client to execute a previously prepared statement with multiple rows of parameters in a single network round-trip, rather than sending one execution packet per row.
+
+This feature is specific to MariaDB. When the driver connects to a MariaDB server that indicates support for the `MARIADB_CLIENT_STMT_BULK_OPERATIONS` capability, bulk execution is automatically negotiated and used for batch inserts or updates.
+
+The benefit is significant performance improvement for write-heavy workloads, reducing network overhead and server round-trips.
+
+### 3. Metadata Skipping (`MARIADB_CLIENT_CACHE_METADATA`)
+
+Since MariaDB 10.6, the server supports a binary protocol optimization where result-set column metadata is not re-sent if it has not changed between executions of a prepared statement. This is negotiated via the `MARIADB_CLIENT_CACHE_METADATA` capability.
+
+Both drivers now support this optimization. When connected to MariaDB 10.6+, the driver caches the column metadata on the first execution of a prepared statement and skips receiving it on subsequent executions — reducing network payload and parsing overhead on every repeated query.
+
+## Crate Reference Summary
+
+| Crate | Type | Description | MariaDB Features |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| [`mysql`](https://crates.io/crates/mysql) | Sync | `rust-mysql-simple`; blocking I/O | PARSEC auth, bulk execute, metadata skip |
+| [`mysql_async`](https://crates.io/crates/mysql_async) | Async | Tokio-based async driver | PARSEC auth, bulk execute, metadata skip |
+| [`mysql_common`](https://crates.io/crates/mysql_common) | Shared | Protocol primitives, value types, auth | Used internally by both drivers |
+
+> **Note:** `rust_mysql_common` is a shared dependency and does not need to be added to your `Cargo.toml` directly. It is pulled in automatically by either `mysql` or `mysql_async`.
+
+## Installation
+
+**Sync driver:**
+```toml
+[dependencies]
+mysql = "*"
+```
+
+## MariaDB Server Version Requirements
+
+| Feature | Minimum MariaDB Version |
+|---|---|
+| Metadata skipping | 10.6 |
+| PARSEC authentication | 11.6 |
+| Bulk execution (`COM_STMT_BULK_EXECUTE`) | - |
+
+All features are automatically negotiated during the connection handshake based on what the server announces; no application‑side configuration is needed."
+
+## See Also
+
+- [`mysql_async` on crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/mysql_async)
+- [`mysql` (sync) on crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/mysql)
+- [`mysql_async`](https://github.com/blackbeam/mysql_async)
+- [`rust-mysql-simple`](https://github.com/blackbeam/rust-mysql-simple)
+- [MariaDB PARSEC Authentication Plugin documentation](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-parsec)
+- [MDEV-19237 — Metadata skip server-side implementation](https://jira.mariadb.org/browse/MDEV-19237)