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Mozilla is not “one of the biggest proponents of Rust” anymore, in that other, larger entities are now as well. Rust is at the center of many products, large an

Mozilla is not “one of the biggest proponents of Rust” anymore, in that other, larger entities are now as well. Rust is at the center of many products, large and small. That doesn’t mean that C and C++ aren’t also large, even larger, but this has been changing for years and only shows signs of accelerating, not slowing down.

dimitrios1 3y ago
The size difference is like Sutter Buttes versus Mahalangur Himal, so unless it's accelerating at the speed of light, C++ will be dwarfing rust's usage for many years to come. This is the umpteenth time large tech companies have sponsored C++'s successor. Go was famously created to eventually supplant C++ at Google (or more specifically, solve the issue of long build times). Over a decade later, C++ is very much still in heavy usage at Google. If I were a bettin' man (or if I were trying to increase my general employment odds), and the choices were between Rust or C++, I would pick C++. That being said, if I were in a comfortable financial position, wanted to scratch a nerd itch, and have fun programming again, I would absolutely pick Rust over C++. But those are two very different scenarios.
- steveklabnik 3y ago
  I certainly do not disagree that C and C++ will be in general usage for a long time, if not forever. However, because the industry is still growing, the proportions change, even as the total number grows in size. C and C++ do not have to die, or even shrink, to become a smaller part of the overall pie, and Rust does not need them to outright die in order to grow and thrive. I agree with you that this is not the first time languages have tried to encroach on the last bastions of the spaces where C and C++ have not yet been ousted as the default choice, but Rust is actually gaining traction in production use-cases in those spaces, unlike many of those languages.

dimitrios1 3y ago

The size difference is like Sutter Buttes versus Mahalangur Himal, so unless it's accelerating at the speed of light, C++ will be dwarfing rust's usage for many years to come. This is the umpteenth time large tech companies have sponsored C++'s successor. Go was famously created to eventually supplant C++ at Google (or more specifically, solve the issue of long build times). Over a decade later, C++ is very much still in heavy usage at Google. If I were a bettin' man (or if I were trying to increase my general employment odds), and the choices were between Rust or C++, I would pick C++. That being said, if I were in a comfortable financial position, wanted to scratch a nerd itch, and have fun programming again, I would absolutely pick Rust over C++. But those are two very different scenarios.

steveklabnik 3y ago
I certainly do not disagree that C and C++ will be in general usage for a long time, if not forever. However, because the industry is still growing, the proportions change, even as the total number grows in size. C and C++ do not have to die, or even shrink, to become a smaller part of the overall pie, and Rust does not need them to outright die in order to grow and thrive. I agree with you that this is not the first time languages have tried to encroach on the last bastions of the spaces where C and C++ have not yet been ousted as the default choice, but Rust is actually gaining traction in production use-cases in those spaces, unlike many of those languages.