Posted by Although many programming languages already exist, such as C++, Pascal or Java, new ones continue to be developed that aim to be simpler, safer or faster . Rust fulfills these three objectives at once and is therefore very successful. According to a survey of users on software development services platform Stack Overflow , Rust was the most popular programming language of 2019.
What is Rust?
The Rust programming language was created in 2010 by Mozilla. At first, it was just a hobby that a developer dedicated his free time to. This language was later used to develop a new rendering engine for Firefox and is currently an open source project maintained by a very active community that still receives financial support from Mozilla.
This programming language falls between low-level C languages and very abstract languages, such as Java. In fact, Rust is a systems programming language , that is, a language used to implement applications by custom software development services or operating systems that are closely related to Windows, Linux or macOS. At the same time, Rust is used to program web applications – that is, on a much smaller scale.
Rust Features
The biggest advantage of Rust over other programming languages is security, which is guaranteed, among other things, by a good error management system . If an error occurs that cannot be corrected during compilation, the “panic!” macro is started, which performs a cleanup and issues an error message so that no damage occurs.
The storage management of this language is also considered extremely secure. The advantage of Rust is that it guarantees memory safety without a garbage collector . For many years, memory was a common target of hackers in many programming languages. If a memory becomes full, it causes a system error and therefore a gap that can be exploited. A garbage collector ensures that unnecessary objects disappear from memory. However, this slows down code execution. The Rust compiler deprecates the garbage collector by checking for errors in memory at compile time.
If you’re wondering if these strong security measures cause a drop in performance, the answer is no: Rust is a systems programming language, just like C/C++, so it offers the same execution speed. On the one hand, this is due to the absence of a garbage collector. On the other hand, so-called zero-cost abstractions ensure high speed during runtime . This concept, in reality, only indicates that the language allows programming in an abstract way without affecting performance.
Therefore, Rust is considered to be a combination of high-level and low-level programming languages . Like C/C++, Rust is very close to the hardware, which guarantees high speed, but it can be programmed with relative ease, which characterizes other high-level languages.
Finally, both novice and professional programmers can quickly learn how to use Rust. In terms of use, the language hardly differs from the more well-known alternatives. A big advantage is its elaborate error message issuing system : where other programming languages only generate cryptic warnings, Rust provides actionable tips for fixing errors.
Rust Syntax: Example
At first glance, Rust’s syntax is very similar to that of C or C++, other systems programming languages. As is usual in this type of language, Rust also includes functions, loops, queries, constants and variables. Brackets are used differently in some cases, following the syntax of older languages, but the basis remains the same. Of course, Rust also has its peculiarities:
- New functions are defined with the fn command .
- The language works with macros , which are distinguished by the exclamation mark at the end of the term.
- Variables can be determined with let ; In order for the information to be modified, it must be expressly allowed with mut .
- Rust also follows a special ownership model .
In Rust syntax, the concept of property refers to the relationship of a variable to its value. The peculiarity is that a value can only belong to one variable. If the value is passed to another variable, the previous one will no longer be valid:
fn main() {
let hello = String::from(“Hello, world!”);
let hello1 = hello;
println!(“{}”, hello);
}copy
The syntax of this code is not correct: the content of “hello” was passed to “hello1” and therefore cannot be called again in the macro. Instead, the new variable must be written in the last command, which will generate the correct output.
fn main() {
let hello = String::from(“Hello, world!”);
let hello1 = hello;
println!(“{}”, hello1);
}copy
In summary
Rust is a simple language that provides more security and performance. This modern programming language does not present a completely new syntax, but is based on the characteristics of C/C++, although it also offers some very interesting new features. Getting started with it is not difficult, especially if you already know other languages.