Yeah, my point about std::variant is that it doesn't get used pervasively. With a few standardized macros for pattern matching we could get someplace, but right

Yeah, my point about std::variant is that it doesn't get used pervasively. With a few standardized macros for pattern matching we could get someplace, but right now, like with most new C++ features, codebases and libraries are very selective about the ones they use. This means that your natural C++ "style" can't rely on them, and not all libraries are written with the pattern in mind. OTOH in Rust everything is designed using enums, and any Rust code I write will be free to use enums. It works out quite nicely. In Rust it's not a tool you sometimes might reach for, it's a tool you reach for a lot, because most data is an "or" type.