Why Rust is Becoming Developers’ Favorite Programming Language

As widely used programming languages like JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python continue to dominate, Rust is emerging as a surprising favorite among developers, showing an intriguing trend in recent years.

According to Stack Overflow’s 2023 Annual Developer Survey, Rust may only rank 14th in terms of the most commonly used languages, but it has secured the top spot as the “most admired” language. Over 80% of developers who have worked with Rust express a strong desire to keep using it in the coming year.

The survey report captures this sentiment, stating, “Rust is a language that generates a desire to use it once you get to know it.”

A Growing Popularity

Supporting this trend is data from the Popularity of Programming Language Index, which tracks search queries for programming language tutorials on Google. Rust has seen a remarkable growth rate of 2.1% over the last five years, making it the fastest-growing language in that period.

But what is it about Rust that has captivated so many developers?

A Fresh Perspective

Rust is relatively new on the scene, having been conceived in 2006 as a personal project by Graydon Hoare, a Mozilla programmer. The story goes that after a software crash left him stranded, forcing him to walk up 21 flights of stairs, Hoare became frustrated with the flaws in how software handles memory management. Determined to fix this issue, he set out to create a language that produces small, fast code without memory bugs, leading to the birth of Rust.

Released as version 1.0 in 2015, Rust has steadily gained popularity ever since. Although its backstory is fascinating, the reasons behind its rising prominence today are equally compelling.

AI Fueling Rust’s Adoption

The rise of artificial intelligence is one major driver of Rust’s adoption. GitHub’s Octoverse report highlights a massive 148% year-over-year growth in individual contributions to generative AI projects, accompanied by a 248% increase in generative AI projects overall.

Rust is well-suited for AI development because it offers high performance and memory safety without compromising speed. Unlike languages that rely on a garbage collector, Rust manages memory efficiently, leading to faster execution. In fact, Discord’s engineers rewrote a system in Rust in 2020 and reported a tenfold improvement in performance.

Beyond AI, Rust is used in a wide range of applications, including web development, network programming, system programming, game development, and data science infrastructure.

Widely Adopted by Leading Companies

Many major companies have adopted Rust for critical operations. Dropbox uses it to sync files across devices, Cloudflare processes more than 20% of the world’s internet traffic using Rust, and Meta has incorporated it into their internal tools for managing source code.

For those interested in learning Rust, the Rust Foundation offers free resources to get started. And if you master the language, you could join the community of “rustaceans,” as Rust developers fondly refer to themselves.

High Demand for Rust Developers

Despite recent tech layoffs, the demand for skilled software developers, particularly those proficient in Rust, remains strong. Developers with expertise in high-demand languages like Rust can command top salaries, especially in countries such as Switzerland, Norway, and Denmark, where compensation can range from €80,000 to €100,000 annually.

As Rust continues to grow in popularity, it’s clear that it’s more than just a passing trend. It represents a significant shift in how developers approach performance, memory management, and modern software development.