The Rust programming language focuses on performance and safety. The language was developed to solve problems associated with C/C++, such as memory errors and concurrent program development problems. Today, companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Discord, and many others are using Rust for their operations systems, browser engines, web services, and other system programming tasks.
According to StackOverflow surveys, 87% of developers want to continue using Rust. Obviously, not everything is roses. Engineers must spend some time learning its principles. As an example, its concept of memory organization is very original, and dealing with a borrow-checker can be tedious at times. Is Rust worth implementing and studying?
For more than five years, Arounda has been developing digital products. The aim of every new project is to eliminate security risks, increase speed, and shorten production times. As a result, we usually have several tech stack options in mind. Our article explores the main features of Rust and discusses what the Rust programming language is used for.
What is Rust and Why Should Use It?
Rust is an open source programming language that has been the “most loved language” on developer community Stack Overflow’s annual survey for the last four years. Rust is a popular language in that sense, but there are only a few developers who use it today – a July 2020 look at the PYPL Popularity of Programming Languages Index ranks it 18 with only .81% interest. (In comparison, Python has nearly 32% and Java has over 17%.)
Why do people love the Rust programming language so much? The Rust programming language was designed to solve problems present in other programming languages, and you can unlock its (admittedly difficult) secrets to get cleaner, faster, and most importantly, safer code. With Rust code, you have fewer downsides than with countless other programming languages. Rust allows developers to decide when they no longer need memory during compilation, creating more efficiency.
What is so special about Rust language?
Rust is a statically-typed programming language designed for performance and safety, especially for safe concurrency and memory management. The syntax is similar to that of C++. A Mozilla Research open-source project, it was originally developed at Mozilla. The Rust Foundation has taken up the torch and is leading the language’s development in 2021.
The Rust programming language solves a problem that C/C++ developers have been grappling with for a very long time: memory errors and concurrent programming. Its main benefit is this. These are not the only examples of Rust’s differences from C++. Despite the fact that modern C++ emphasizes memory safety (e.g. with smart pointers), many problems remain unresolved. An example of such an error is a ‘use after free error’, which occurs when a program continues to use a pointer after it is freed, for example, by calling a lambda function after releasing its referenced object.
On the other hand, in Rust you have the borrow checker, which ensures that references do not outlive their underlying data. You can use this feature to eliminate memory violation bugs. Problems like these are detected at the time of compilation, so garbage collection isn’t necessary.
Additionally, each reference in Rust has a lifetime, in which the scope of the reference can be set. Rust uses this feature to solve the problem of no longer valid references, as well as to distinguish itself from C and C++. As a result of memory safety issues, around 70% of all security bugs in Microsoft products have been reported over the past 12 years. The same is true for Google Chrome as well.
There are two modes of writing Rust code: Safe Rust and Unsafe Rust. Safe Rust imposes extra restrictions on the programmer (e.g. object ownership management), ensuring that the code works. In unsafe Rust, the programmer is given more autonomy (e.g., it can use raw C-like pointers), but the code may break.
If you want your code to be safe, you need to take extra care in the unsafe Rust mode. To do so, you can wrap it in higher-level abstractions that ensure all uses of it are safe. When using unsafe code, you need to take care to avoid undefined behavior and minimize the risk of segfaults and vulnerabilities resulting from memory instability, just as you would when using other programming languages.
One of the biggest advantages of Rust is its dual-mode model. In C++, you don’t know you’ve written unsafe code until your software crashes or a security breach occurs.
The history of rust
The Rust project was created by enthusiast Graydon Hoare in 2008. In 2009, Mozilla expressed interest in the project, and a year later it was publicly announced. The first alpha version of Rust was released in 2012. One year later, developers of the Rust-based Servo web engine announced that Samsung was supporting it.
As a result, the engine was ported to ARM. There was a release of Rust 1.0 in May 2015. Stack Overflow ranked the language third in its poll of favorite developer tools the same year. From 2016 to the present, Rust has dominated these rankings.
See More: What is Kotlin Programming Language ?
Benefits of programming in Rust
1. Improved memory safety
Memory safety is one of the most important parts of a programmer’s workflow. Rust has its own tools and techniques for doing this. The compiler will treat your memory as immutable. Moreover, it prevents buffer overflows and other problems common to high-performance applications. By doing so, you won’t have to take any unnecessary risks when it comes to the stability of your project.
2. Reliable code
Rust allows developers to write reliable codes, and their implementation will be easier than code written in C++. Because it is much harder for programmers to make implementation mistakes with it, the code produced is cleaner and more reliable at all stages of your application’s life cycle. As people learn how safe and effective it can be for high-performance applications, it’s gaining popularity.
3. Fast and flexible
Rust allows you to write high-performance code with no overhead. You can add safety checks to your code and the compiler will ensure that they are compiled into the program.
You can also catch many errors at compile time instead of runtime, which is more efficient. Its projects are also as fast as C++ or faster because they are tightly integrated with the standard library.
4. Extensive WebAssembly support
You can run code directly from your web browser using its WebAssembly compiler. As a result, you can simplify your client-side code without using JavaScript. Calls to external libraries can instead be handled by this new compiler. Servers will be able to handle much more traffic and many current applications will become safer.
Final Thoughts
Rust has great performance, tooling, and an active community that is constantly improving the language. Also, if you want a solution that prioritizes safety over speed and doesn’t compromise on security, Rust is a good choice. If you are worried that Rust may not be mature enough for your software development project, be rest assured that this is no longer a concern. Several companies have already used Rust in their development work, including Figma, 1Password and Amazon.