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Stop making me memorize the borrow checker

(erikmcclure.com)
177 points signa11 | 1 comments | 16 Nov 24 23:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.207s | source
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wavemode ◴[17 Nov 24 04:08 UTC] No.42161896[source]▶
This persons's problem is pretty clear - Rust is frankly miserable to write code in if you are trying to optimize everything as much as possible. Since this is the default mindspace of C/C++ programmers, the frustration is understandable.

Rust becomes a lot simpler when you borrow less and clone more. Sprinkle in smart pointers when appropriate. And the resulting program is probably still going to have fantastic performance - many developers err by spending weeks of developer time trying to shave off a few microseconds of runtime.

But, if you're a developer for whom those microseconds really do matter a lot, well then you just have to bite the bullet.

replies(2): >>42162053 #>>42162247 #
1. jandrewrogers ◴[17 Nov 24 04:54 UTC] No.42162053[source]▶
I think I come down somewhere close to this. Idiomatic safe Rust is noticeably slower and less scalable than the usual high-performance systems code many C++ developers write. This puts them in the position of either abandoning performance they know is possible or abandoning Rust code that is safe and sane, neither of which feels good.

Anecdotally, all of the happy productive Rust programmers I know do not come from a hardcore systems background. They were mostly Java and Python developers that wanted to get a bit closer to the metal. For them it is probably a great experience, and the performance is an improvement relative to what they are accustomed to.

There are quite a few shops that use Rust and C++ together, often wrapping a C++ core (for performance) with a Rust API layer (for safety).