Why Is Rust Programming Language Becoming So Popular?

@MakeAvoy @snaggen Have you ever written a recursive macro with multiple variadic arguments, my friend? It is so cursed, yet so good when it works (if it works).

I'd argue the macros are quite bad:

• Declarative macros are hard to read, same level as regex
• Procedural macros require to write a new crate with a ton of boilerplate, sometimes for stuff conceptually really simple (like hash is: apply the same function to every field, then compose the results)

I agree, though, that it's better there're here than nothing. It's just that there is to be a better solution.

Good:

• fast
• high-level language constructs like iterators
• memory bugs harder to write vs C/C++
• compiler errors are ridiculously helpful
• borrow checker makes some hard things easier (memory management; Inter-thread communication)

Not so good:

• you will not like the borrow checker, even as it saves you from yourself
• executables are larger due to static linking
• language is BIIIG
• compilation is slow (but getting better)

Overall, I like Rust a lot. I think its reputation as a great language is well-deserved. It's not an "easy" language to use, but it prevents so many footguns... It takes me longer to get to a working prototype in Rust. But the first time it compiles successfully... it's probably right.

If I'm working on a project that needs to be fast, I'll reach for Rust over C these days.

Be the change you want to see in the world. Rust is used at my workplace because a colleague and I lobbied for it when a project came up in which it fit.