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I think an even bigger aspect of this is that C++ users are technical people who make technical decisions. If Rust is a better tool for them, they will switch.
by ChrisRackauckas 6y ago
I think an even bigger aspect of this is that C++ users are technical people who make technical decisions. If Rust is a better tool for them, they will switch. For a lot of scientific programmers, or even just a lot of general Python users, they don't necessarily choose Python because they know 20 languages and think Python is the best tool for the job. A lot of people use Python because... they use Python and it's what they were taught. That's a much harder audience to go to and say "would you change to this technically better language?". Most just say "I'm not really a programmer, I'm a researcher/scientist/etc. so I shouldn't spend time learning more programming", and that makes it fairly difficult.
- eigenspace 6y agoYeah definitely. That's what I was trying to get at in the last paragraph, and you might be right that it's an even bigger aspect than the other things I mentioned.
- cs702 6y agoAgree. Speaking from personal experience, I would add that some people use Python, not only because that's what they already know, but also because... everyone else in their field is using Python and its ecosystem. New advances in their field occur largely within the confines of that ecosystem. It's hard to leave the pack behind. Large ecosystems have significant network effects that act as barriers to new entrants.