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Unexpected productivity boost of Rust

(lubeno.dev)
517 points bkolobara | 1 comments | 27 Aug 25 15:48 UTC | HN request time: 0.203s | source
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raphinou ◴[27 Aug 25 16:40 UTC] No.45041946[source]▶
Though it's not the only benefit, I enjoy rust and fsharp's typesystems most when refactoring code. Fearless refactoring is the right expression here.
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estebank ◴[27 Aug 25 18:32 UTC] No.45043262[source]▶
The only issue with it is that Rust's aversion to half-baked code means that you can't have "partially working code" during the refactor: you either finish it or bail on it, without the possibility to have inconsistent codebase state. This is particularly annoying for exploratory code.

On the other hand, that strictness is precisely what leads people to end up with generally reasonable code.

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1. Cthulhu_ ◴[27 Aug 25 19:26 UTC] No.45043931[source]▶
It's a tradeoff, reminds me of Go not compiling if you have an unused variable; the strictness is a feature and basically locks out sloppy / half baked code.

I personally see Rust as an ideal "second system" language, that is, you solve a business case in a more forgiving language first, then switch (parts) to Rust if the case is proven and you need the added performance / reliability.