(For context: I teach Rust since 2015) Rust is "simple" in that it is based on a few solid principles. Data with layout, Ownership of the data and the distinct

(For context: I teach Rust since 2015) Rust is "simple" in that it is based on a few solid principles. Data with layout, Ownership of the data and the distinction between sharing and mutability (through immutable references and mutable references). Most of the interesting API in _some_ way leans into that. So, the _basics_ of Rust are indeed quite constrained. But that's "simple" in the sense of "Ruby is simple, everything is objects and message passing". But then: Generics introduce a ton complexity on top, because they open a space where you are _potentially_ in a borrowed _or_ an owned situation. There's tons of tiny optimisations and protocols: for example that `Box<[u8]>` exists and turning it into `Vec<u8>` comes basically for free. There's tiny details like compiler assists that sometimes trigger and sometimes not. But even Generics can also be seen as an application/extension of the basic principles. And then, there's tons of tooling and language that you need to know. Standard traits and features of the stdlib. Clever applications of Ownership based management for handles. And particularly Rust is (currently) not _easy_, because the programming environment has fundamentals that are unusual to program that you cannot bypass as a beginner. That actually changes, the more those practices get known to people and individuals can teach each other rather than finding out themselves. I think what people say when they say "Rust is simple" is that they can break down any house to a limited set of bricks. That is certainly true. But that needs a level of proficiency with the language. So, telling beginners "look at Rust, it's simple" is harmful - it's full of combinations and applications of its language core and it will take quite some time to learn breaking that down for people and figure out which tool is for which moment.