Pitching Rust to decision-makers, with Joel Marcey
Sep 11, 2023
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Joel Marcey, Director of Technology at the Rust Foundation, discusses the value of Rust adoption, real-world success stories, Rust's competitive advantage for hiring, where Rust shines, and the future plans of the Rust Foundation.
Rust offers memory safety guarantees and high performance, potentially improving application performance and reducing security vulnerabilities.
Rust is a versatile solution applicable in systems programming, backend development, web development, embedded applications, networking protocols, and security-driven projects.
Deep dives
Introduction to the Rust Foundation
The Rust Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding the Rust programming language and supporting the community. As the Director of Technology, Marcey oversees technical initiatives, such as the security initiative, where an engineering team assesses and strengthens the security of the Rust ecosystem. She also supports the foundation's infrastructure. The foundation engages with companies to understand their interest in Rust and offers membership opportunities.
Benefits of Adopting Rust
Rust offers a secure and optimized environment for projects, providing memory safety guarantees and high performance. This enables the development of fast and secure applications. By using Rust, companies can potentially improve application performance, reducing processing time and saving costs. The language's focus on security can lead to fewer security vulnerabilities, requiring less investment in security response teams. While Rust may not be suitable for all engineering situations, its benefits in terms of performance, security, and reduced complexity are well-documented and increasingly recognized in the industry.
Range of Applications for Rust
Rust is widely adopted in the systems programming and backend development domains, where it excels in providing safe and efficient infrastructure. Companies leverage Rust for CLI-based applications and systems supporting web applications. While Rust adoption in web development is still growing, it offers possibilities for efficiency, stability, and reliability in that context as well. Additionally, Rust is utilized in embedded applications, networking protocols, and security-driven projects. The extensiveness of applications shows that Rust can be a versatile solution in various domains.
Challenges and Recommendations for Adopting Rust
Adopting Rust requires a commitment to investing time and resources in learning the language and integrating it into existing workflows. Decision-makers should consider the potential benefits in terms of enhanced productivity, improved security, and reduced server costs. While there may be upfront costs and challenges associated with adopting Rust, including the learning curve, companies can reap long-term rewards by allowing employees to gain proficiency in the language. It is important to understand the specific use cases where Rust may not be the best fit and to be upfront about its limitations. Moreover, highlighting the environmental benefits and industry recognition of Rust can provide additional incentives for decision-makers to consider adopting the language.
Marco Otte-Witte discusses how to pitch Rust to decision-makers with Joel Marcey, the Director of Technology at the Rust Foundation.
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