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Ask HN: JavaScript and/or front end developers, why are you switching to rust?

3 points by jvanderbot ↗ HN
I've met and read articles by a lot of JS devs who are enamored with Rust. I love Rust and c and c++ because I work at systems level and sometimes in backend for robotic systems. Even in these domains, uptake of rust is mostly experimental.

But I'm ignorant about the uses of Rust in frontend, or as a replacement for javascript in other areas.

Am I misreading the situation or are JS devs really wanting Rust, and why and for what types of projects?

4 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 20.7 ms ] thread
akaike
I don't think anyone uses Rust seriously for frontend work or backend unless they have a justified, specific use case; otherwise, currently, it is just a waste of resources and time.
giorgioz
I'm a fullstack javascript developer I'm not switching to Rust but I like the whole concept of Rust and I wish it to thrive. It feels C++ never developed a ton of Developer Experience and Rust is finally a C++ with a better DX. For me one of the things about Rust is being a low level language with a decent package system. Also Rust tutorials they tend to be written in a modern actionable style like for JS/Python/Ruby. C++ has years and years of guides on the style "You wanna learn, sure, prepare yourself to bleed, a lot, it will be worth it though".
jvanderbot
For backend work, why rust over Python?

I ask because C++ was never really a huge contender for me, just something I had to use to get some things working because they haven't been ported over. So I never understood the C++ vs Rust argument in that subdomain.

giorgioz
Personally I'm a fullstack javascript developer so I write my backends in Node (no Python, no Rust). I do believe though Rust is more low-level comparable with C++. I'm all up for my tools to be written in Rust, which it has been a trend in the JS community (to rewrite tooling in Rust).