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I was a C++ programmer for 25 years. Last 3 years, I'm using Rust language in my daily job and for all my hobby projects. I will not return to work in C++ again

by sigi64 4y ago

I was a C++ programmer for 25 years. Last 3 years, I'm using Rust language in my daily job and for all my hobby projects. I will not return to work in C++ again. No money can make me to change my decision. Nowadays, programming is a pure joy for me again. This was not the case when I had to work with C++.

npigrounet 4y ago
selfmodruntime 4y ago
I agree. No matter gray beards bashing Rust on HN every time it comes up, programming in Rust brings me joy and I will never use C++ again if I have a choice.
- gigel82 4y ago
  Interesting; could this be because you've been using outdated C++ ? (legacy codebases started before C++98 tend to be particularly painful) FWIW, I prefer the power of C++ over Rust's hand-holding; but can also see its appeal for someone that's not as confident over the minutia.
  - hedora 4y ago
    Not the person you asked, but for me (coming from C++20, with lambdas, async, etc), the big win is that the borrow checker automates away boring PR comments about "you used std::unique_ptr in a non-idiomatic way that is technically safe, and it bleeds memory unsafety into some random API, so write this level N+1 magic instead". It also checks that all my threaded code is data race free. On the downside, it's support for safe (in the sense that the compiler checks it) lock free programming is basically non-existent, which means that stuff that would be easy in C++ ends up being in Rust unsafe blocks that you need a PhD in type theory to reason about.
    - gavinray 4y ago
      > On the downside, it's support for safe (in the sense that the compiler checks it) lock free programming is basically non-existent, which means that stuff that would be easy in C++ ends up being in Rust unsafe blocks that you need a PhD in type theory to reason about. I'm not familiar with the C++ built-in facilities for lock-free stuff (but learning about them currently) Could you expand on this if you're willing, maybe with some pseudocode? I've also been curious about things like cache alignment, aligned memory, and false-sharing size detection in Rust -- all of which C++ has as std built-ins
    - zozbot234 4y ago
      Rust has atomic types that rely on interior mutability. No unsafe blocks are needed for those.
  - returningfory2 4y ago
    > ... but can also see its appeal for someone that's not as confident over the minutia. I think this is mischaracterization of why people choose Rust (and FWIW it comes across as condescending). People choose Rust over C++ partially for the same reason people write unit tests. We accept that no matter how good we are at writing software, we are still fallible, and so we introduce structures around our work to minimize the fallout from that fallibility.
  - ZephyrBlu 4y ago
    > but can also see its appeal for someone that's not as confident over the minutia It's not confidence, I just don't care. I don't want to learn the minutia of C++. Rust is the thing that has got me interested in lower level programming.
  - selfmodruntime 4y ago
    No, it‘s exactly the opposite: I enjoyed C++ 11 but trying any feature tacked on beyond that just makes me want to smack my head onto my desk. The standard isn‘t slowing down: for c++ 23 the committee has announced even more features when compilers haven‘t yet implemented every CPP 17 feature. What good is a standard if no one is following it?
- zabzonk 4y ago
  i will admit to the beard, but isn't it strange that the number of posts praising rust and haskell has dropped of a cliff here in the past months?
  - kibwen 4y ago
    There are just as many written-in-Rust posts as ever, although the practice of appending "in Rust" to the title has fallen off (there's literally one of these at #3 on the front page right now). Meanwhile, an article from IEEE evangelizing Haskell was literally on the front page this morning with 256 votes.
thrwyoilarticle 4y ago
I've drank C++'s kool aid. I believe in the vision and think of everything in C++ terms. ...I think I could last about 3 months in another language before I'd forgotten too much to go back.
- gridspy 4y ago
  I doubt that's true. I haven't used C++ for many years now. I was in your boat a few years ago (C/C++ since 1990) but now 6+ years Python then Rust centric. I still think in C++ terms when writing rust, although most of the time it's "I would need 10 lines to do this 1 line of rust code were I still using C++." I dabble in C++ occasionally as a contractor. No problem picking up the new features and making useful contributions. C++ maps pretty directly into Rust. I found it useful to understand the underlying data representation in memory. For instance https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/repr-rust.html https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/repr-rust.html
- pjmlp 4y ago
  I moved into managed compiled languages back in 2006, still dabble in C++ pretty much ok, and code is relatively modern (enjoying modules in VC++ nowadays).
martin1975 4y ago
same here. I've pounded C++ and C code for 20+ years. Rust is the right tool to replace both of these. Long live Richie (well maybe not him but his work), Kernighan and Stroustrup.
keithnz 4y ago
long time C++ programmer here too, 30ish years, but I don't use it for much anymore. While I like that the language has improved, it's just a nicer experience coding in other languages.
primeblue 4y ago

by sigi64 4y ago

npigrounet 4y ago

selfmodruntime 4y ago

I agree. No matter gray beards bashing Rust on HN every time it comes up, programming in Rust brings me joy and I will never use C++ again if I have a choice.

gigel82 4y ago
Interesting; could this be because you've been using outdated C++ ? (legacy codebases started before C++98 tend to be particularly painful) FWIW, I prefer the power of C++ over Rust's hand-holding; but can also see its appeal for someone that's not as confident over the minutia.
- hedora 4y ago
  Not the person you asked, but for me (coming from C++20, with lambdas, async, etc), the big win is that the borrow checker automates away boring PR comments about "you used std::unique_ptr in a non-idiomatic way that is technically safe, and it bleeds memory unsafety into some random API, so write this level N+1 magic instead". It also checks that all my threaded code is data race free. On the downside, it's support for safe (in the sense that the compiler checks it) lock free programming is basically non-existent, which means that stuff that would be easy in C++ ends up being in Rust unsafe blocks that you need a PhD in type theory to reason about.
  - gavinray 4y ago
    > On the downside, it's support for safe (in the sense that the compiler checks it) lock free programming is basically non-existent, which means that stuff that would be easy in C++ ends up being in Rust unsafe blocks that you need a PhD in type theory to reason about. I'm not familiar with the C++ built-in facilities for lock-free stuff (but learning about them currently) Could you expand on this if you're willing, maybe with some pseudocode? I've also been curious about things like cache alignment, aligned memory, and false-sharing size detection in Rust -- all of which C++ has as std built-ins
  - zozbot234 4y ago
    Rust has atomic types that rely on interior mutability. No unsafe blocks are needed for those.
- returningfory2 4y ago
  > ... but can also see its appeal for someone that's not as confident over the minutia. I think this is mischaracterization of why people choose Rust (and FWIW it comes across as condescending). People choose Rust over C++ partially for the same reason people write unit tests. We accept that no matter how good we are at writing software, we are still fallible, and so we introduce structures around our work to minimize the fallout from that fallibility.
- ZephyrBlu 4y ago
  > but can also see its appeal for someone that's not as confident over the minutia It's not confidence, I just don't care. I don't want to learn the minutia of C++. Rust is the thing that has got me interested in lower level programming.
- selfmodruntime 4y ago
  No, it‘s exactly the opposite: I enjoyed C++ 11 but trying any feature tacked on beyond that just makes me want to smack my head onto my desk. The standard isn‘t slowing down: for c++ 23 the committee has announced even more features when compilers haven‘t yet implemented every CPP 17 feature. What good is a standard if no one is following it?
zabzonk 4y ago
i will admit to the beard, but isn't it strange that the number of posts praising rust and haskell has dropped of a cliff here in the past months?
- kibwen 4y ago
  There are just as many written-in-Rust posts as ever, although the practice of appending "in Rust" to the title has fallen off (there's literally one of these at #3 on the front page right now). Meanwhile, an article from IEEE evangelizing Haskell was literally on the front page this morning with 256 votes.

thrwyoilarticle 4y ago

I've drank C++'s kool aid. I believe in the vision and think of everything in C++ terms. ...I think I could last about 3 months in another language before I'd forgotten too much to go back.

gridspy 4y ago
I doubt that's true. I haven't used C++ for many years now. I was in your boat a few years ago (C/C++ since 1990) but now 6+ years Python then Rust centric. I still think in C++ terms when writing rust, although most of the time it's "I would need 10 lines to do this 1 line of rust code were I still using C++." I dabble in C++ occasionally as a contractor. No problem picking up the new features and making useful contributions. C++ maps pretty directly into Rust. I found it useful to understand the underlying data representation in memory. For instance https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/repr-rust.html https://doc.rust-lang.org/nomicon/repr-rust.html
pjmlp 4y ago
I moved into managed compiled languages back in 2006, still dabble in C++ pretty much ok, and code is relatively modern (enjoying modules in VC++ nowadays).

martin1975 4y ago

same here. I've pounded C++ and C code for 20+ years. Rust is the right tool to replace both of these. Long live Richie (well maybe not him but his work), Kernighan and Stroustrup.

keithnz 4y ago

long time C++ programmer here too, 30ish years, but I don't use it for much anymore. While I like that the language has improved, it's just a nicer experience coding in other languages.

primeblue 4y ago