Posts tagged "What Is Rust?"

Rust vs C++: A Comparison of the Two Languages

January 25, 2023 Comments Off Roxana read

Rust and C++ are powerful programming languages that developers have widely adopted for various purposes. They both have their own unique features and characteristics that make them well-suited for different types of projects.

What is Rust?

Rust is a programming language that is designed for systems programming, and it is particularly well-suited for low-level systems programming tasks such as embedded systems, operating systems, and games. Rust is known for its memory safety and thread safety features, which help to prevent common programming errors such as buffer overflows and data races. Rust also provides a powerful type system and a package manager, making it easy to build and distribute software. Rust is open-source and actively developed by the Rust community, with contributions from companies such as Mozilla and Microsoft.

What is C++?

C++ is a high-level, general-purpose programming language designed for system and application programming. It is an extension of the C programming language, and its addition of object-oriented and generic programming features make it a popular choice for developing complex software systems. C++ is widely used in areas such as game development, computer graphics, and operating systems.

Rust vs. C++

Let’s take a look at some of the key differences between Rust and C++ and compare the two languages in terms of performance, safety, and ease of use.

Performance:

When it comes to performance, both Rust and C++ are considered to be high-performance languages. C++ is known for its ability to write low-level, highly optimized code, making it a popular choice for system-level programming and game development. Rust, on the other hand, is designed to be memory-safe and concurrent, making it well-suited for developing large-scale, concurrent systems. Both languages offer similar performance, but Rust has an edge over C++ in terms of safety and concurrency.

Safety:

Rust is designed to be a memory-safe language, meaning that it has built-in features to prevent common programming errors such as null pointer dereferences, buffer overflows, and data races. Rust’s ownership model and borrow checker make it extremely difficult to write code that has undefined behavior, unlike C++ which has a lot of undefined behavior in the language. This makes Rust more suitable for systems that need to be highly reliable and secure.

Ease of Use:

C++ is known for its complexity and steep learning curve. The language has a lot of features, and it takes a lot of time and practice to master them. C++ is also known for its verbosity, which makes it difficult to write and maintain large codebases. Rust, on the other hand, is designed to be more expressive and user-friendly. Its syntax is similar to C++, but it is more consistent and easier to learn. The borrow checker and ownership model make it easy to reason about the code and avoid common errors.

In conclusion

Rust and C++ are both powerful languages that have their own unique features and characteristics. C++ is well-suited for low-level, highly optimized code and game development, while Rust is designed to be memory-safe and concurrent, making it well-suited for large-scale, concurrent systems. Rust has an edge over C++ in terms of safety and concurrency, but C++ has been around for a lot longer and has a huge user base, so it has a lot more libraries and tools available.

In the end, it really depends on the use case and personal preference. If you want a high-performance language with a lot of features, C++ is a good choice. If you want a memory-safe and concurrent language that is easy to reason about, Rust is a great choice. Both languages are powerful and have their own advantages and disadvantages; it’s just a matter of which one is a better fit for your project.

Developer

Web3 Development: Differences Between Solidity and Rust

December 30, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Solidity and Rust are mainly used to build web3 applications on Solana and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible blockchains. This is because Ethereum and Solana are two of the most popular public smart contract-based blockchains.

In this article, we will be comparing these two web3 programming languages to help you understand the pros and cons of each one. So, let’s get into it!

What is Solidity?

Solidity is a programming language that is object-oriented, high-level, and statically typed. It is used to implement smart contracts on the Ethereum Virtual Machine. The EVM is a runtime environment, so it works like a virtual computer.

To clarify, object-oriented means that the programming language is centered around data and objects as opposed to logic and functions.

High-level, on the other hand, means the programming language is easier to implement than lower-level languages easier to use because it is independent of the computer hardware architecture.

Finally, statically typed means that the programming language performs type checking and error checking during compile time.

Blockchains Compatible with Solidity

Ethereum is not the only blockchain that is compatible with Solidity.

Other examples include:

Arbitrum – a layer 2 functionality that looks to solve the congestion on the Ethereum network. Arbitrum uses the Ethereum mainnet for security but allows the contracts to run on a separate layer.
Polkadot – a blockchain platform that allows specialized blockchains called parachains to communicate and transact with each other.

Optimism – a layer 2 protocol built to allow users of the Ethereum network to speed up and pay lower transaction fees.

Avalanche – an open-source, decentralized, proof-of-stake blockchain. Avalanche smart contract functionality.

Celestial – is a minimal blockchain that decouples the consensus and application execution layers. Celestial does not execute transactions; it only orders and publishes them.
Polygon – is a layer 2 blockchain platform that runs alongside Ethereum to increase transaction speeds and decrease costs.

What is Rust?

Rust is a multi-paradigm, general-purpose programming language that emphasizes type safety and performance. Rust is also low-level programming, that allows you to build fast applications where trustworthiness is key.

Low-level means that instructions from the programming language have direct control of the computer’s hardware. On the hand, multiparadigm refers to a programming language that uses different types of paradigms like procedural, object-oriented, etc.

Blockchains Compatible with Rust

Solana – a blockchain that is open-source and programmable that allows the creation of smart contracts called Programs. Programs can be developed in C, C++, and Rust.

It is one of the fastest blockchains out there, with a block time of 400 milliseconds and now close to 65,000 transactions per second.

Near – a layer 1 proof-of-stake high-performance blockchain that uses sharding to be able to scale infinitely the number of transactions per second. It is also very fast.
Aptos – Initially built as a scalable layer 1 blockchain by the team at Diem, Meta’s (formerly known as Facebook) blockchain initiative, it uses Move, a programming language based on rust, to deploy smart contracts.
Sui – A permissionless decentralized platform that uses Move to write smart contracts. It is geared toward managing assets in a low-latency manner.

Developer

Rust vs Go: Which Is More Popular and Why?

June 10, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Programming languages are constantly evolving allowing developers to get involved with new coding techniques and environments. Software Developers are always looking for new ways to ease the programming and code performance which is why they prefer flexible languages to build their applications.

In the last few decades, there have been multiple programming languages that have come out, some popular and others not so well known but they have all created prime alternatives for big business development. Two of these languages are Rust, created by Mozilla, and Golang, created by Google.

It’s the development of these languages that have given us vital highlights in making propelled programming which includes coordinated device chains, open-source development models, memory wellbeing, and solid networks for current users.

While you may be thinking that Rust and Go are so similar that they might even be the same, you would be surprised to find that they are significantly different from each other. In this article, we will be going through the pros and cons of both Go and Rust to better understand why they are popular in their own right.

What is Golang?

Go, also known as Golang, is an open-source programing language that is used to make server-side applications much more powerful. It was announced as the quickest developing program language in 2019 with its main objective being development.

The Go language was created in 2009 by Google in order to develop a secluded framework, making it a composed, gathered, and superior language. Go allows you to compose code that corresponds with your own code with the aim of making it direct and simple to comprehend. Golang is effectively a compiler that orders the program and makes sure they both sort, transform and find similarities.

Advantages of Golang

Ease of convenience
Google Supported
Easily document your coding
Has a host of standard libraries available for use.

Disadvantages of Golang

Newly-made language means there is not a large community for it
Does not work well in other developments as it is programmed to work with google developers only
While it is a simple language to use, Golang lacks a lot of adaptabilities making it complex to use

What is Rust?

Rust is a rather new programming language on the scene, having only been first created in 2010 with the first version of it only being released in 2015 and another update for it in 2019. It is said to be an augmentation of Machine Learning programming languages and therefore is used primarily for better security, improved parallelism, execution, and most notably seclusion. It has a reliable capacity, with an unlimited lifecycle of memory making it great for composing programs. Mozilla, a popular internet browser, was created using the Rust programming language. While there are a huge amount of benefits for Rust, there are also a few setbacks that can make using a painstaking task.

Advantages of Rust

Has more secure memory allowing you to have both control of your coding and security
Rust doesn’t have garbage collection making it a competing language
Rust is a highly compatible language
Has a stable and secure code execution

Disadvantages of Rust

There are not a lot of developers who know how to utilize Rust correctly compared to other languages like Java
Being only able to access the basic libraries means you have to invest more resources to summarize what you are going to need with Rust libraries.
Rust does not have a standard way of getting databases.

Developer

What Is Rust and Why Is It so Popular?

March 8, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Rust is the language of the future. With the growth and potential of crypto, as well as its reliance on the blockchain, Rust is the next language to learn to set yourself apart as a seriously useful developer. Called a “perfect” language by Jack Dorsey (Twitter co-founder and Blockchain guru), Rust is setting itself up to be the future of blockchain interoperability.

What Is Rust?

Focussed on speed and memory safety, Rust’s parallelism gives this open-source code a serious advantage. With wide-ranging capabilities, Rust is used for everything from game engines to file systems. It’s becoming increasingly popular for blockchain creation because of the safety inherently worked into the language.

Why Is Rust Popular?

The popularity of Rust on Stack Overflow has boomed in recent years. Stack Overflow is the hub for programmers, so this enthusiasm represents an accurate picture of the enthusiasm for this language. This language grew 234% in one year, showing that it’s expanding and developing at lightning speed.

This is compounded by Rust’s adoption into the coding practices of industry titans including:

Mozilla
Microsoft
Facebook
Huawei
Amazon Web Services
Dropbox
Cloudflare

Another component is the shift toward blockchain. Blockchain is a system of recording information. This system makes it very difficult to hack, duplicate, or otherwise change the information held within. This makes it immensely useful in financial transactions. As online transactions soar (in 2020, consumers spent over $870.78 billion online with U.S. merchants), security is paramount.

What Makes Rust a Strong Language?

Rust is a high-level language syntax-wise while offering the control and performance of low-level language. It is the answer to the holes left by C and C++. While the latter two languages are excellent high-performance languages, they lack safety. Rust emphasizes safety while still ensuring high performance. This is critical for blockchain services that need to be rendered impervious to attacks. While Rust does have a steep learning curve, the safety and speed it offers may be unparalleled, which makes it a lynchpin in future services.

By piggy-backing off the efficacy of C++, developer Grayson Hoare was able to integrate friendlier syntax when he created Rust in 2006. While working at Mozilla, he also infused this language with tools for simplifying development and focusing on safety. This language was created specifically to plug the gaps left by other languages.

The main selling feature of Rust is that it’s safe by default. Memory corruption is not possible by accident because memory access is checked. This makes it the language of choices for blockchain services. Rust strictly enforces safe borrowing of data while selecting, destructuring, aggregating, and operating on data.

Significance to Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency (also called crypto) has blown into the mainstream limelight recently. As more people turn to crypto, programming languages are also becoming more popular. Rust is among these, because its significance to the blockchain, and therefore to crypto, is so great.

Rust is used by alts like Polkadot and Solana, showing its intrinsic flexibility and capacity for interoperability. Polkadot is a multi-chain application environment, and Solana is a blockchain platform with smart contract functionality. Both are written with Rust, showing the possibilities for a language like Rust.

Should I Learn Rust?

Crypto is growing steadily and rapidly. Currently, there is a shortage of blockchain developers. Rust is making itself known in the programming world. Its built-in safety allows for stronger security from the beginning. Developers who learn Rust and make themselves masters of this multi-tool language will make themselves a hot commodity in blockchain and crypto.

By becoming proficient in Rust early, you open your skills to an ever-widening network of platforms that are and will be reliant on the language.