Is Rust faster than C?

Comparing Rust and C performance is complex because 'all things being the same' is difficult to define. While both languages can achieve similar performance through inline assembly and compiler optimizations, they differ in default behaviors like struct field ordering, bounds checking, and safety guarantees. Rust's compile-time safety checks may lead developers to write different code patterns than in C, affecting runtime performance. Social factors also play a role, as developers may be more willing to write performance-oriented code in Rust due to its safety guarantees. Fundamentally, there's no inherent reason Rust cannot match C's performance capabilities.