I haven't used Rust before, but I can relate to the experience. In general I lean towards it not being a waste. That's not to say it's always useful for that p

I haven't used Rust before, but I can relate to the experience. In general I lean towards it not being a waste. That's not to say it's always useful for that project but it is usually useful as a learning exercise, that allows me to better identify similar patterns later (including whether generics are worth using compared to primitive types, in situations like that). For example, I spent a good year or two forcing all of my iteration into functional styles. Now I am much better at coding in that style... and at knowing when a for loop is the more appropriate tool.