undefined | Better HN

0 pointszarzavat3y ago0 comments

The differentiating factor is probably prior exposure to C++. If you have used C++ then Rust is so easy and convenient and fun. It takes hideous C++ monstrosities and turns them into easy one liners.

If you have never used C++ and your baseline is Go or JavaScript then it probably looks like a confusing hellscape. You have to learn a whole new kind of type system, a new nomenclature (“Vec”s instead of “Array”s), new concepts like allocators, plus the borrow checker and lifetime annotations, and module/crate system. Former C++ programmers only have to learn the latter half.

0 comments

saghm3y ago

> The differentiating factor is probably prior exposure to C++. If you have used C++ then Rust is so easy and convenient and fun. It takes hideous C++ monstrosities and turns them into easy one liners.

Obviously you didn't mean that as a universal rule, but for posterity, I'm a counter-example to that. I learned Rust before learning C++ or Go. If anything, I think this biased me _more_ towards Rust than the others; C++ just kind of felt like a more error-prone, less ergonomic Rust, and Go just felt like it took far too much boilerplate to get anything done.

Klonoar3y ago

>If you have never used C++ and your baseline is Go or JavaScript then it probably looks like a confusing hellscape.

I'm not sure this is accurate - have you seen modern TypeScript? I actually find that more confusing than Rust to read.

(FWIW, I was predominantly Python/JS-centric before just going "all in" on Rust. It's not that bad, in my experience - if anything, I find Rust "just works" whereas I got tired of the churn in those environments)

zarzavatOP3y ago

Yes, TypeScript can get very complex too. But there is little overlap in the complexity of TypeScript, which mostly comes from learning how to program within the structural type system; and Rust which is about memory management without a GC.

Rust and C++ are like Hebrew and Arabic. Difficult languages for an outsider, but if you speak one you have a significant head start towards learning the other. TypeScript is Japanese: knowing Japanese doesn’t help you speak Arabic, despite both being difficult.

baby3y ago

I hate C++ but got used to Rust. It just has a steep learning curve unlike Golang. Takes a while but when you get there it is really pleasant.

On the other hand Golang can be fun in like a week of learning it.

cercatrova3y ago

Not really. I come from TypeScript and started writing Rust, and they're quite similar in terms of type expressiveness. With both I feel the same level of comfort of refactoring.

Meanwhile Go doesn't even have algebraic data types. I can't imagine working with a language that doesn't have these kinds of functional features anymore after having gotten used to them.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse