Okay, everybody knows the debate about C++ vs Rust (less of a debate at this point, I’d call it a war).
Rust is being put everywhere, rewritten C/C++ codebase in Rust, the whole bit. They say it’s because of the “memory safety of Rust” and I agree with that sentiment, but Rust is not the only existing memory safe languages, Java and Python are some examples, but they come at a performance cost while being memory safe, Rust doesn’t. Now C++ is a necessary evil, it adds to C (most times more than it needed to), and is not something you can get rid of easily. Think of game engines (Unity, Unreal, Frostbite) they use C++, with some Rust code likely but not full engines in it (at least not commercial or mainstream ones). I’m going to say something insane… Maybe you don’t need everything to be in Rust, C++ with Rust is a good combo. Take Chromium for example, the more critical (both memory and security) parts of it are in Rust, while around 50% is C++. I think the two have their strengths and weaknesses but neither should be replaced outright, maybe the Rust and C++ people can eventually accept that neither of them may win. Or another hyped language will come and kill them off, who knows?

SHAPeS

The Rust vs C++ debate has intensified, with Rust gaining adoption for its memory safety without performance costs. However, complete replacement may be unnecessary. Major projects like Chromium demonstrate that combining both languages strategically works well, using Rust for memory-critical components while maintaining C++ for other parts. Game engines and established codebases show C++ isn't easily replaceable. A pragmatic approach suggests both languages have distinct strengths and can coexist rather than one completely replacing the other.

C++ and Rust

As Porsche can live along Ferrari and as each can benefit from one another technology, high performance languages as C(++) and Rust are effectively complementary and rewriting GOOD C++ code in Rust has no meaning.
If it’s bad code, no matter the language, it should be rewritten.
My real concern is more around AI and such tools .
Rust is not as difficult as C++, and a good Rust developer can easily produce readable, clean and performant code.
AI takes more and more resources because, among other things, all the main tools are written in this shitty “language” they call Python, which is one of the slowest and ridiculously resource-heavy idiom that lives in the CS area.
Considering its origin, all its references and the second degree approach of Guido Van Rossum, I even wonder if python was not a joke.
Really!!! Like some of those student jokes that you can make in your twenties, like malbolge or brainfuck or so on.
But it appeared that the “AI Scientists” found it very easy to use (and it is!), and started to develop their research tools with this language, as scripts they could easily share and call, from script to script.
And here we are : AI is becoming what we know , and stil, it’s whole ecosystem is turning around this mad and horrible “language”.
To make a long story short, and I think everybody know what’s coming :
Let’s use Rust to rewrite, little by little and brick after brick , all those aberrations that are named TensorFlow, thoses abominations like Ollama (i know OLLamac++, and it proves my point, performance wise).
Lets use Rust to write an efficient, consuming 10 times less resources for the same (if not better) performance AI Ecosystem and to get rid of all those python tools before it’s too late, and before this joke of a language has really became the Lingua Franca of AI.
Don’t misunderstand me : AI Researchers are not computer scientists, and they can (need to) use python because it’s really very close to pseudo-code, so they can just think about their ML,DR,RAG, and any algorithm related to their science without loosing themselves in some idiomatic complexities.
But please, WE should do something to prevent merchants and scammers to assemble and sell those scripts as AI tools for us (and anybody who’s not in the AI research field) to use.
WE SHOULD take our part of responsability as engineers, computer scientists, developpers and show the world that we can make cheaper and performants AI tools that care about eco conception and that goes in the right direction : the benefits of humanity , and not the profits of Sam Altman.
And, as I see it, Rust would be the perfect game changer in that “vertuous battle”, and every serious developer knows that the very complex learning curve associated to C++(some things, you learn without any problem , day after day. Then , comes an area SEG_FAULTS for example you can spend your entire life on and still can’t master all its complexities).
Rust is not the easiest language to learn , but it’s easy, logical and designed in a way so that every motivated developer can learn and practically master enough to write any kind of code.
So please don’t lose time and energy in a non sense fight.
Put some Rust in the AI area, so you will help people understand why and how they are scammed, and how what’s called AI nowadays is ONLY about profits and markets, when you and some Rust could bring it where it fits : progress ,benefits of humanity and environment wise science

Yeah, pragmatism will probably win out over a simple rule like Rust &gt; C++.
I loathe C++ intensely. For normal stuff not requiring too much template magic it’s fine. Template (metaprogramming) is hellish and grotesque.
With AI getting better, it’s not out of the question that rewrites from C++ to Rust might become more viable.

Exactly! I’m all for these two languages complementing each other. As a Rust developer, I believe both languages have unique strengths that work well together. The success of one language doesn’t require the extinction of the other, each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and they can coexist in the ecosystem.