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Stop making me memorize the borrow checker

(erikmcclure.com)
177 points signa11 | 4 comments | 16 Nov 24 23:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.624s | source
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dinobones ◴[17 Nov 24 01:02 UTC] No.42161053[source]▶
I've written a ton of software, both backend and embedded-like software in C++.

What are people writing that requires such fancy/extensive usage of the borrow checker?

I can't even remember the last time I had to use a shared_ptr... unique_ptr and other general RAII practices have been more than enough for our codebase.

replies(2): >>42161108 #>>42164582 #
1. loeg ◴[17 Nov 24 01:11 UTC] No.42161108[source]▶
I think OP is likely overusing references. The vast majority of code doesn't need to deal with explicit lifetimes.
replies(1): >>42161184 #
2. andybak ◴[17 Nov 24 01:24 UTC] No.42161184[source]▶
OP sounds fairly smart and my first thought is "if OP is struggling then Rust probably isn't for me".

Who is Rust for?

replies(2): >>42161303 #>>42162100 #
3. kstrauser ◴[17 Nov 24 01:49 UTC] No.42161303[source]▶
In some ways, people who aren’t heavily invested in other languages to the point that they think in them. Neophytes know less, but they also have fewer things to unlearn.
4. loeg ◴[17 Nov 24 05:03 UTC] No.42162100[source]▶
I don't think it's useful to think there is some single spectrum of intelligence that makes one more or less suited to using Rust.

Rust is for anyone who finds it useful.