What I love? The safety. The compile-time optimizations (definitely check out the include!() macro, which easily compiles-in any resource you need without you doing the damn about it). The zero-cost abstractions. On top of it all, Rust is very cross-platform. However, what I really love the most, is the package management. I can create a new project, I can define the exact dependencies and I can implement my code. Then, when I build it, Cargo does the magic and I end up with a library or executable. I can even write my own build-script (in Rust), which does custom compile-time optimizations, like transforming shaders into SPIR-V binaries.
What projects have I done? Well, in order to learn Rust, I re-implemented the C++ application I used to learn OpenGL. It does nothing more than basic camera control and renders Sponza with a few shader effects. However, it gave me a good access to the language. At the moment, I play around with the Amethyst game engine, which is in very early development, so currently I try to implement missing basic features. Unfortunately, I do not have any other Rust projects for now. I hope that changes at some point!
If you start learning Rust, do not get discouraged by the borrow-checker. Often, cloning the object or rethinking the borrow-strategy helps to solve the issue. The optimizer will then optimize that abstraction away, for a speedy application.
Marco Alka
Software Engineer, Technical Consultant & Mentor
What I love? The safety. The compile-time optimizations (definitely check out the
include!()macro, which easily compiles-in any resource you need without you doing the damn about it). The zero-cost abstractions. On top of it all, Rust is very cross-platform. However, what I really love the most, is the package management. I can create a new project, I can define the exact dependencies and I can implement my code. Then, when I build it, Cargo does the magic and I end up with a library or executable. I can even write my own build-script (in Rust), which does custom compile-time optimizations, like transforming shaders into SPIR-V binaries.What projects have I done? Well, in order to learn Rust, I re-implemented the C++ application I used to learn OpenGL. It does nothing more than basic camera control and renders Sponza with a few shader effects. However, it gave me a good access to the language. At the moment, I play around with the Amethyst game engine, which is in very early development, so currently I try to implement missing basic features. Unfortunately, I do not have any other Rust projects for now. I hope that changes at some point!
If you start learning Rust, do not get discouraged by the borrow-checker. Often, cloning the object or rethinking the borrow-strategy helps to solve the issue. The optimizer will then optimize that abstraction away, for a speedy application.