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People tend to write dev tools in the languages they develop in. C compilers written in C, JavaScript minifiers written in JavaScript, etc. There's often no rea

People tend to write dev tools in the languages they develop in. C compilers written in C, JavaScript minifiers written in JavaScript, etc. There's often no reason to use the same language for the tooling, but you use what you know and like to work with, and if you've got a need for a language-specific tool (like Webpack) you're probably going to start out writing it in the same language. If Rust becomes popular for JavaScript tooling, how long until those developers abandon JavaScript entirely? This isn't necessarily a problem, but it could lead to some, if you can't fix your own tools because you're not conversant in the language. More importantly, if the key toolmakers all switch to Rust and lose interest in JavaScript, the tool authors might lose touch with (or interest in) the problems of the JavaScript community. We all talk about dogfooding, and this is the opposite. Rust seems to have this cult-like power. Rust developers are definitely drinking a lot of Kool-Aid. Maybe if all the JavaScript tools are written in Rust, we'll start seeing Rustscript in the browser.

Daishiman 5y ago
> Rust seems to have this cult-like power. Rust developers are definitely drinking a lot of Kool-Aid. Maybe if all the JavaScript tools are written in Rust, we'll start seeing Rustscript in the browser. Rust has tremendous popularity because it solves an enormous class of problems for system programmers and require very few compromises compared to any alternative. The hype is real, but it is very unlikely that another language will compete for this space. Rust doesn't really work well in the niches most impacted by fad-driven-development. Nobody is claiming you should do web dev in Rust nor consider it comparable to much better languages for that space.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  Except web development isn't systems programming.
  - cema 5y ago
    Not _except_ but _because_.
friedman23 5y ago
> Rust seems to have this cult-like power. Rust developers are definitely drinking a lot of Kool-Aid. The community is pretty exciting, new things are being written every day with the language, people are approaching it with optimism. Sure you can call it cult like and take the cynical route, I'm just going to be happy that I can write safe and performant code using a language with modern ergonomic features. I imagine this must have been what it was like in the early days of python and ruby.
- caymanjim 5y ago
  I'm not dissing Rust, I think it's great. I was just snarking about the rabid enthusiasm to emphasize that tool authors who switch to Rust might get so into the scene that they stop caring about JavaScript.
- heromal 5y ago
  It's an annoying cult, same as the Tesla Crypto NFT fan boys.
  - friedman23 5y ago
    who are you and why do you matter again?
echelon 5y ago
> Rust seems to have this cult-like power. Rust is to lazy memory allocation as static types are to lazy typing. A lot of people are content with dynamic typing until they see the other side. These people claim types make you think more. Ultimately, they reduce the maintenance burden and get rid of an entire class of bugs. The same can be said of GC tuning. Rust is a game changer, and it certainly doesn't hurt that the tooling and language ergonomics are also the best in class. They hit a home run with all of the bases loaded with this one.

Daishiman 5y ago

> Rust seems to have this cult-like power. Rust developers are definitely drinking a lot of Kool-Aid. Maybe if all the JavaScript tools are written in Rust, we'll start seeing Rustscript in the browser. Rust has tremendous popularity because it solves an enormous class of problems for system programmers and require very few compromises compared to any alternative. The hype is real, but it is very unlikely that another language will compete for this space. Rust doesn't really work well in the niches most impacted by fad-driven-development. Nobody is claiming you should do web dev in Rust nor consider it comparable to much better languages for that space.

pjmlp 5y ago
Except web development isn't systems programming.
- cema 5y ago
  Not _except_ but _because_.

friedman23 5y ago

> Rust seems to have this cult-like power. Rust developers are definitely drinking a lot of Kool-Aid. The community is pretty exciting, new things are being written every day with the language, people are approaching it with optimism. Sure you can call it cult like and take the cynical route, I'm just going to be happy that I can write safe and performant code using a language with modern ergonomic features. I imagine this must have been what it was like in the early days of python and ruby.

caymanjim 5y ago
I'm not dissing Rust, I think it's great. I was just snarking about the rabid enthusiasm to emphasize that tool authors who switch to Rust might get so into the scene that they stop caring about JavaScript.
heromal 5y ago
It's an annoying cult, same as the Tesla Crypto NFT fan boys.
- friedman23 5y ago
  who are you and why do you matter again?

echelon 5y ago

> Rust seems to have this cult-like power. Rust is to lazy memory allocation as static types are to lazy typing. A lot of people are content with dynamic typing until they see the other side. These people claim types make you think more. Ultimately, they reduce the maintenance burden and get rid of an entire class of bugs. The same can be said of GC tuning. Rust is a game changer, and it certainly doesn't hurt that the tooling and language ergonomics are also the best in class. They hit a home run with all of the bases loaded with this one.