The Rust programming language is growing in popularity

[Alfonso Maruccia]

In context: Rust is a contemporary, general-purpose programming language designed to inherently ensure memory safety. Programs written in Rust are notably more secure, as various classes of bugs and potential vulnerabilities in the code are eradicated during compile time.

Rust is already being adopted in some of the most high-profile software projects that dominate the modern technology landscape. The programming language, created by Graydon Hoare, an employee of Mozilla Research, has found its way into the Linux kernel, the Chromium Project, and Windows. This adoption brings a more secure approach to coding in comparison to traditional compiled languages like C or C++.

The popularity of Rust is growing, as officially confirmed by the Rust Foundation through its recently published annual survey. The survey was open for submissions from December 5, 2022, to December 22, 2022, with the final results becoming available in August 2023. Project maintainers, contributors, and programmers with a keen interest in the future of Rust participated in the study.

The survey was accessible in 11 different languages including English as well as simplified and traditional Chinese. It was completed by 9,433 respondents from all around the world – an impressive completion rate of 82 percent, compared to 76 percent in 2021. The Rust Foundation noted that the survey demanded time, energy, and focus, making the 82 percent completion rate quite high.

More than 90 percent of survey respondents identified themselves as 'Rust users,' and among them, 47 percent write Rust code on a daily basis – a four percent increase compared to 2021. A significant portion of Rust coders (30 percent) can write simple programs, while 27 percent are capable of producing production-ready code. Furthermore, a robust 42 percent of Rust users consider themselves 'productive' with the language.

The survey also took into account the opinions of former Rust users, with a notable percentage (30 percent) citing difficulty as their primary reason for discontinuing use of the language. Additionally, nearly 47 percent of users mentioned factors beyond their control as the determining factors for ceasing usage. Perceived difficulty was similarly cited by non-Rust users as the primary reason for avoiding code writing in the new language.

The survey revealed that some software developers still perceive Rust as being too difficult and complex for creating and managing large software projects. A quarter of the respondents (26 percent) also expressed concerns about future project support, a decrease from 30 percent in 2021.

Nevertheless, the Rust Foundation noted a 21 percent decrease in apprehensions about Rust usage in the industry. The foundation stated that overall confidence in the memory-safe project is on the rise.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99951-rust-programming-language-growing-popularity.html

 

[mbk34]

It would of been nice to list the pros and cons of the language as well as giving a simple example of a rust program ie:

fn main() {
println!("Hello, world!");
}

 

[redhat]

It would of been nice to list the pros and cons of the language as well as giving a simple example of a rust program ie:

fn main() {
println!("Hello, world!");
}

You can watch this video which talk about pros and cons:
Why would a python programmer learn rust when there are no jobs in it:

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Is google still converting Android over to Rust?

 

[yRaz]

You can watch this video which talk about pros and cons:
Why would a python programmer learn rust when there are no jobs in it:

If rust can cut down on development time and maintenance then it will also cut down on development costs. I personally really like python, but if Rust has something to it that inherently reduces security flaws I think developers would migrate to it fairly quickly.

I see a lot of people make fun of Python because it's one of the easier languages to learn but I get the feeling that Python hurts the egos of people who want a high barrier of entry to programing.

Haven't tried Rust yet and I don't do enough programing to put the time into learning a new language. Nothing wrong with Python but I will say I absolutely HATE JAVA. I haven't used JAVA since college. Why is Java the first language they always try to teach people?

 

[Neatfeatguy]

If rust can cut down on development time and maintenance then it will also cut down on development costs. I personally really like python, but if Rust has something to it that inherently reduces security flaws I think developers would migrate to it fairly quickly.

I see a lot of people make fun of Python because it's one of the easier languages to learn but I get the feeling that Python hurts the egos of people who want a high barrier of entry to programing.

Haven't tried Rust yet and I don't do enough programing to put the time into learning a new language. Nothing wrong with Python but I will say I absolutely HATE JAVA. I haven't used JAVA since college. Why is Java the first language they always try to teach people?

Java....that brings back memories.

Had a class in high school, class was called "Math and the Imagination". I don't know who thought of the name, but it was basically a screw around class for juniors and seniors as long as you had taken Algebra 2 as a pre-req.

I don't know why Algebra 2 was required, you didn't do really any math and there was pretty much zero math needed to do any of the work in the class. What we did have to do was learn how to use Java and HTML. The teacher knew nothing about these things and we were given a couple of websites we could go to so we could learn this stuff on our own, stumble through our end of the class project and present what we made.

I thought both were pretty simple to learn, but I never stuck with them.

 

[yRaz]

Java....that brings back memories.

Had a class in high school, class was called "Math and the Imagination". I don't know who thought of the name, but it was basically a screw around class for juniors and seniors as long as you had taken Algebra 2 as a pre-req.

I don't know why Algebra 2 was required, you didn't do really any math and there was pretty much zero math needed to do any of the work in the class. What we did have to do was learn how to use Java and HTML. The teacher knew nothing about these things and we were given a couple of websites we could go to so we could learn this stuff on our own, stumble through our end of the class project and present what we made.

I thought both were pretty simple to learn, but I never stuck with them.

Algebra 2 was also required for Java at my highschool but I think that's because of the use of boolean algebra. We didn't learn about booleans until A2. HTML was easy, that was actually the first programing language I learned. Power Point wasn't really a thing yet so instead we used this software that used HTML to make the equivilent of power point slides.

That takes me way back, I had to learn HTML over 20 years ago, I don't think I had even turned 13. I still use HTML but that's mainly to read a pages source code whenever I get one of those "you need to subscribe to our website to read the full article" things but it still loaded the article in the background. So essentially you just edit or delete the element and keep reading. I'm surprised that trick still works but I don't think there are enough people that know it to make it worth while for websites to make a counter for it. Ad blockers are one thing but I don't think many people know how to go in and edit a pages source code from their web browser. Even if someone has the skills I don't think they realize they have the ability to do it.

 

[gamerk2]

Why would a python programmer learn rust when there are no jobs in it:

Because Python is SLOW and unsuitable for anything above application level programming where time is not a critical component. That's why C/C++ has such a strong hold on any type of lower-level/performance sensitive applications: Because they are operating on raw memory (with one level of abstraction), they are *fast*, and you can do a lot of advanced features *fast*. Downside being if you aren't careful you can (and will) cause problems.

It doesn't help that a lot of the library functions for C in particular *really* shouldn't be used since they aren't memory safe (or in some cases even thread safe).

The tradeoff for memory safety is *always* performance.

 

[PEnnn]

So when did Rust become mainstream / established programming language? 1 year? 2 years?

But before you know it, employers and clueless HR staff will be looking for programmers with 5 -10 years experience in Rust....happens with every new language!!

Been there.