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I've been a C++ dev for most of my career. Not looking to change jobs at the moment, and I like C++ a lot. We still occasionally start new projects in C++ where

I've been a C++ dev for most of my career. Not looking to change jobs at the moment, and I like C++ a lot. We still occasionally start new projects in C++ where I work. I've tinkered with rust in my spare time, but never introduced it at work. I think the borrow checker is a fantastic tool, but Rust has just never been the right tool for the domain we're in. But I'm a bit confused by your statement. There's a lot of overlap in the domains that C++ and Rust serve. Isn't it a good thing for job candidates to have an interest in learning about other approaches to their work? To understand what makes C++ better or worse than Rust in difference circumstances? Why would a mere mention of Rust be a red flag?

wredue 3y ago
It’s a red flag because you’re going to get people bring in random languages just because, then they fuck off to another job and you’re left supporting code that nobody knows.
- namaria 3y ago
  People _mentioning_ Rust means they will bring a random language into your stack if they are hired? This red flag cultural trend is blinding people to nuanced thought.
  - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
    n=1 but I did bring Rust to my C++ job. I needed a web server, and I didn't want to put in an order with the web server team, and writing a web server in C++ looked like a recipe for pain.
    - zaphirplane 3y ago
      Really people write a web server from scratch? What industry? Don’t tell me it’s some CRUD
      - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
        I learned a lot from it
    - EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 3y ago
      What pain? Just include mongoose.h and .c in your project. It's in C, but C is C++.
      - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
        I did try both Civet and Mongoose. We didn't have a good build / dependency system for C++ at the time, just CMake, so when I considered all the little libraries I'd have to learn and pull in like HTML templating, SQL, etc., while making sure my code was thread-safe, it looked like too much work.
    - quickthrower2 3y ago
      docker run --name docker-nginx -p 80:80 nginx
      - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
        Yes I suppose I could have written it as a Lua plugin for Nginx. Or CGI.
        quickthrower2 3y ago
        A bit of greenfield NIH is damn fun through sometimes :-)
  - wredue 3y ago
    I feel like you’re giving rust a pass here. It would be a red flag if you were interviewing for react and decided to bring up vue or svelte or angular or whatever else as well. It’s not like it’s only this C++/Rust type deal that is being picked on. Although I would suggest that rust fans tend to be particularly ardent and loud at the current moment, so interviewers may be far more turned off of you as a person just for bringing it up. Interviewers probably felt this way about people bringing up Python 20 years ago (Python devs of yore were WAY WAY worse about their “HAVE YOU HEARD THE WORD?!” Than rust devs are today), blockchain 7 years ago, etc. Anyway. As an interviewee, I’d probably try to avoid being the one to bring up alternative technologies.
    - namaria 3y ago
      I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time understanding why a person bringing up a tool in conversation during an interview is seen as such a clear and strong signal containing so much information about their professional performance. But nowadays it seems like one has to 'turn on' an interviewer and avoid a minefield of forbidden words to get a job. If a workplace is to become a toxic cult-like environment being policed against such thoughtcrimes as being curious and interested in technology for its own sake I think one would be fortunate to be passed on after an interview to enter such a place.
    - theon144 3y ago
      >It would be a red flag if you were interviewing for react and decided to bring up vue or svelte or angular or whatever else as well. ...why? Seriously, why on earth? I don't follow this train of thought at all; if they demonstrate proficiency within the scope of the position, why does it matter if they also happen to know other technologies? "Oh, Alice? Yeah, she was a great candidate, unfortunately she also had experience in Vue, so there's nothing we could do. We decided to hire Bob, who has 3 years less experience with React, but fortunately that's the only stack he's ever heard of." If anything, it's a sign the person is interested in learning, most great devs I've met were not proficient only with a single technology. This sounds completely alien to me.
      - wredue 3y ago
- fl0ki 3y ago
  > bring in random languages Rust is hardly a random choice. You can debate its merits for some domains, but replacing C++ in most of the places that C++ is used is exactly what Rust was built for and is widely recognized as doing well at. > just because If your engineers are pitching a technology with no more basis than "just because", I can understand dismissing them out of hand. But ask yourself if that's actually what happened, or if they gave specific reasons justifying their proposal and you dismissed them out of hand anyway. Even if you disagree with the reasons, or agree with them but conclude they are outweighed by other arguments, either of those is totally fine, but dismissing them as "just because" is not an effective way to make technical decisions as a team.
  - wredue 3y ago
    They’re not “your engineers”. This is an interview for a position listing the job requirements. You go ahead an interview however you like, but generally, giving your interviewer a feeling that you plan to shake up their tech stack because you feel like it isn’t going to go well.
    - Capricorn2481 3y ago
      What is this job where the position is so high up that it can make unilateral decisions on the tech stack but also needs to be punished if they know about Rust? Would you hire a team leader that didn't know what Rust was?
- oldpersonintx 3y ago
  [dead]

wredue 3y ago

It’s a red flag because you’re going to get people bring in random languages just because, then they fuck off to another job and you’re left supporting code that nobody knows.

namaria 3y ago
People _mentioning_ Rust means they will bring a random language into your stack if they are hired? This red flag cultural trend is blinding people to nuanced thought.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
  n=1 but I did bring Rust to my C++ job. I needed a web server, and I didn't want to put in an order with the web server team, and writing a web server in C++ looked like a recipe for pain.
  - zaphirplane 3y ago
    Really people write a web server from scratch? What industry? Don’t tell me it’s some CRUD
    - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
      I learned a lot from it
  - EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 3y ago
    What pain? Just include mongoose.h and .c in your project. It's in C, but C is C++.
    - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
      I did try both Civet and Mongoose. We didn't have a good build / dependency system for C++ at the time, just CMake, so when I considered all the little libraries I'd have to learn and pull in like HTML templating, SQL, etc., while making sure my code was thread-safe, it looked like too much work.
  - quickthrower2 3y ago
    docker run --name docker-nginx -p 80:80 nginx
    - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
      Yes I suppose I could have written it as a Lua plugin for Nginx. Or CGI.
      - quickthrower2 3y ago
        A bit of greenfield NIH is damn fun through sometimes :-)
- wredue 3y ago
  I feel like you’re giving rust a pass here. It would be a red flag if you were interviewing for react and decided to bring up vue or svelte or angular or whatever else as well. It’s not like it’s only this C++/Rust type deal that is being picked on. Although I would suggest that rust fans tend to be particularly ardent and loud at the current moment, so interviewers may be far more turned off of you as a person just for bringing it up. Interviewers probably felt this way about people bringing up Python 20 years ago (Python devs of yore were WAY WAY worse about their “HAVE YOU HEARD THE WORD?!” Than rust devs are today), blockchain 7 years ago, etc. Anyway. As an interviewee, I’d probably try to avoid being the one to bring up alternative technologies.
  - namaria 3y ago
    I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time understanding why a person bringing up a tool in conversation during an interview is seen as such a clear and strong signal containing so much information about their professional performance. But nowadays it seems like one has to 'turn on' an interviewer and avoid a minefield of forbidden words to get a job. If a workplace is to become a toxic cult-like environment being policed against such thoughtcrimes as being curious and interested in technology for its own sake I think one would be fortunate to be passed on after an interview to enter such a place.
  - theon144 3y ago
    >It would be a red flag if you were interviewing for react and decided to bring up vue or svelte or angular or whatever else as well. ...why? Seriously, why on earth? I don't follow this train of thought at all; if they demonstrate proficiency within the scope of the position, why does it matter if they also happen to know other technologies? "Oh, Alice? Yeah, she was a great candidate, unfortunately she also had experience in Vue, so there's nothing we could do. We decided to hire Bob, who has 3 years less experience with React, but fortunately that's the only stack he's ever heard of." If anything, it's a sign the person is interested in learning, most great devs I've met were not proficient only with a single technology. This sounds completely alien to me.
    - wredue 3y ago
fl0ki 3y ago
> bring in random languages Rust is hardly a random choice. You can debate its merits for some domains, but replacing C++ in most of the places that C++ is used is exactly what Rust was built for and is widely recognized as doing well at. > just because If your engineers are pitching a technology with no more basis than "just because", I can understand dismissing them out of hand. But ask yourself if that's actually what happened, or if they gave specific reasons justifying their proposal and you dismissed them out of hand anyway. Even if you disagree with the reasons, or agree with them but conclude they are outweighed by other arguments, either of those is totally fine, but dismissing them as "just because" is not an effective way to make technical decisions as a team.
- wredue 3y ago
  They’re not “your engineers”. This is an interview for a position listing the job requirements. You go ahead an interview however you like, but generally, giving your interviewer a feeling that you plan to shake up their tech stack because you feel like it isn’t going to go well.
  - Capricorn2481 3y ago
    What is this job where the position is so high up that it can make unilateral decisions on the tech stack but also needs to be punished if they know about Rust? Would you hire a team leader that didn't know what Rust was?
oldpersonintx 3y ago
[dead]