Rust vs C++: An in-depth language comparison (2024)

FAQs

Rust vs C++: An in-depth language comparison? ›

C++ has a large support community and a lot of libraries and frameworks, making it a staple in systems programming. Rust is easier to use and produces safer code on average. While Rust is still in its earliest phases and experimenting, C++ is well-established and widely used.

Rust utilizes memory safety through its ownership model without needing a garbage collector. C++ provides manual memory management, with the potential for memory safety issues like dangling pointers. Rust is designed for safe concurrency. The ownership and type system ensure thread safety at compile-time.

jasmer on Jan 30, 2023 | parent | context | favorite | on: Swift Achieved Dynamic Linking Where Rust Couldn't... Rust will not replace C++. Everything is thrown out the window, including developer productivity in order to provide the 'zero overhead runtime guarantee' feature.

Strictly speaking all turning-complete languages are equivalent, but there are plenty of things that are easy in C++ but more-or-less impossible in Rust (the opposite is true, too, though Rust can do things that C++ couldn't).

Rust's syntax is similar to that of C and C++, although many of its features were influenced by functional programming languages such as OCaml.

The C++ Killers (Not You, Rust) | Hacker News. [Languages like Rust] do help you to write more features with fewer bugs, but they are not of much help when you need to squeeze the very last flop from the hardware you rent. I do think that Rust helps you squeeze out that last 1% of performance over C++.

cpp file. This compilation is done in parallel, but parallelism is imperfect. For incremental builds, Rust will take longer to compile than C++ (i.e. C++ wins). This is because Rust compiles one crate at a time, rather than one file at a time like in C++, so Rust has to look at more code after each small change.

While the programming landscape continues to evolve, the relevance of C and C++ is sustained by their unique strengths and the ongoing use of these languages in various domains.

Compared to C++, Rust promises more security. But, just like with any language, it's still likely to write insecure code in Rust if the developer isn't experienced yet. In general, Rust is considered to be a safe programming language that is often used in operating systems, file systems, and web browsers.

Rust is a rather new language that has quickly captured the developer's attention. More than 13% of developers worldwide in 2024 are making it a programming language to learn. Learning to code in Rust can benefit developers planning to grow their careers in the tech industry.

Does Rust use less memory than C++? ›

Go, Rust and C++ has minimal usage with C++ CPU usage being the least. C# memory usage is certainly higher in this scenario, followed by Go. But C++ and Rust's memory usage hasn't changed.

Tldr: It's too new. Rust is a promising language, but because it's so recent, you're not very likely to find good libraries or docs. It doesn't have what something like C has, and that's over 50 years of existence.

Therefore, if the lack of tools and frameworks does not scare you off, you should definitely try learning Rust, especially if you already know C++. Thus, the final ruling of Rust vs C++ depends on the way you see the future and which features are more appealing to you.

Rust is One of the Fastest Growing Programming Languages, According to The IEEE Spectrum Development report by Tiobe Co. There are 2.8 million coders writing in Rust, and companies from Microsoft to Amazon regard it as key to their future.

Rust enforces strict safety guarantees at compile-time, preventing common bugs like null pointer dereferencing and data races. In contrast, C++ provides more flexibility but requires manual memory management, which can lead to potential safety issues if not handled carefully.

Mojo is the first programming language to take advantage of all the advances in MLIR, both to produce more optimized CPU code generation, but also to support GPUs and other accelerators, and to also have much faster compile times than Rust.

C++ boasts impressive concurrency features that are arguably more powerful and versatile than Rust's, however, it is more prone to concurrency errors and can be difficult to debug. Ultimately, if you'd prefer to use a concurrency system that is straightforward and secure, Rust is a more favourable choice.

Choosing Between C# and Rust

When deciding between C# and Rust for a project, several factors should be considered: Safety vs. Productivity: If safety and performance are paramount, especially for systems programming or building high-reliability software, Rust may be the better choice.

In Rust, dereferencing a raw pointer is considered unsafe behaviour and the programmer is expected to isolate that code into an unsafe block if needs be. Rust makes these base scenarios inherently safer when compared to C++ or Zig.