Rust vs C++ - Which Technology Should You Choose?
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What is Rust?
Rust, developed by Mozilla in 2010, is a programming language built to focus on safety and performance, especially safe concurrency. Rust programming language is similar to C++, but it provides memory safety without using garbage collection. It aims to achieve higher performance and better safety than C++.
What is C++?
C++ is an object-oriented programming language. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1985 who was a Danish computer scientist. It is an extension of the C programming language, which has improved concepts. Therefore, it is also known as "C with Classes". C++ is an object-oriented programming language. It provides us with awesome performance, and we can build super-fast applications because it has a very rich library of methods known as the STL (Standard Template Library).
Common Uses of Rust and C++
Although the article is about Rust vs. C++, we must still know the common uses of these programming languages, which are as follows
- Software running on constrained devices, also known as embedded devices.
- Kernel driver development
- Designing libraries for integration with other languages
- Backend development
- Game development
Comparing Rust and C++ from a Techincal Perspective
Memory Safety
Initially, the C++ programming language did not have memory safety because the features such as garbage collection may slow down the program's performance. After the recent update in C++, it gets updated with new features like the RAII (Resource Acquisition is Initialization), and the manual memory management features are removed. However, still, the issues related to memory safety are not resolved.
On the other hand, Rust uses its ownership system to solve this issue, which has improved memory safety. This is because it has removed the procedures for manual memory management. Rust provides in-built functions for management procedures, but C++ does not.
Compile Time in Rust vs. C++
Although if we calculate the build times for C++ and Rust, they are almost the same. It still depends on how many templates we have implemented in the C++ project (the more templates, the more will compile time). But generally, C++ performs better when it comes to compiling time. Rust’s compiler is very user-friendly and offers many useful tools which provide error messages.
Pointers and Addresses
A pointer is an object that stores the memory address of another object. Most high-level and low-level languages have some or the other pointer functionality.
C++ provides the shared_ptr and the unique_ptr that can be used and treated like smart pointers. The standard library of Rust also provides many smart pointers. So both Rust and C++ use smart pointers, which provide them many advantages as programming languages.
Object-Oriented Programming
As we already know, C++ is an object-oriented programming language, which is the biggest advantage of C++ over Rust, because Rust is not an object-oriented programming language. C++ provides many features as an Object-oriented language like Classes, objects, templates, inheritance, polymorphism, etc.
Concurrency
The concurrency features in Rust Programming's standard library are nearly similar to that of the C++11 version, i.e., atomics, threads, condition variables, mutexes, etc. However, after the C++ 11 version, many new concurrency-related features were added in the C++14, C++17, and C++20 versions.
Compiler and Platform Support
C++ and Rust have multiple platform support like Windows 32 and 64-bit architectures, Mac, and Linux. But we have more compilers for C++ than that of Rust. As C++ is a widely used programming language, the compiler bugs and glitches are generally reported and fixed quickly, compared to Rust.
External Libraries
Both C++ and Rust offer excellent frameworks and libraries. In Rust, several frameworks offer functional, secure, and robust code like Rocket, Nickel, Azul, etc. On the other hand, C++ contains its famous library known as STL or the Standard Template Library, which is a collection of many useful classes and functions. It provides many containers which can be directly used as data structures, functions that provide different functionality and manipulation for these containers, generic strings, streams, and other language support.
Package-Management and Tooling
Rust has an official package manager known as Cargo, which is similar to Python and JavaScript package managers. On the other hand, C++ also has some good package managers, such as Conan. The Cargo is much easier to use than the Conan.
Support for Game Development
According to the current scenario, C++ is the most used language for game development, and most of the games in the markets are built using C++. Also, the Unreal Engine is developed using C++, the most used game development framework. Although Rust also provides a game development platform, it has powerful frameworks, as we have in C++. We can develop games in Rust, but it will take longer than C++. To conclude, C++ is a better choice for game development than Rust.
Framework Support
Rust is famous for its framework support and has many useful frameworks such as Rocket (A web framework that provides better security, speed, and flexibility), Nickel (A framework that provides user-friendly information flow control systems), and Azul (A GUI framework used to develop desktop applications).
On the other hand, C++ has a rich library known as the STL (Standard Template Library), which contains many built-in functions.
Comparing Rust and C++ from a Non-Technical Perspective
Performance Levels
As both C++ and Rust are low-level languages, the applications build using both languages perform well in latency and throughput. All of them rely on something other than the garbage collector. The point to be kept in mind is that some specific optimization is required in Rust code. C++ allows us to use safe controls such as smart pointers, but Rust uses a binding syntax.
Community Support
Both languages have large community support. C++ has the C++ ISO Committee, while Rust has the Rust Foundation. The community of both languages is very active. But C++ has many more forums, open-source projects, and StackOverflow contributors. This is because C++ is a much older language compared to Rust.
Learning Curve and Speed of Development
Both C++ and Rust are challenging to learn for beginners. However, most people already familiar with C, Java, or C# find the basic syntax of C++ easier to understand. On the other hand, the ownership model and the OOPs implementation of Rust are complicated for most Rust beginners. According to Rust programmers, understanding the syntax of Rust, the development pace of Rust developers has been boosted because the ownership model of Rust provides many features. On the other hand, the ownership model C++ provides unique_ptr and shared_ptr.
What are the Problems That Rust Solves But C++ Doesn’t?
Rust is used in Augmented Reality, Virtual reality, IoT apps, and hardware programming in which C++ failed. Rust is also performing better in embedded or device-based development. It works perfectly for writing low-level software, like system utilities, operating system kernels, microcontroller drivers, etc.
When does C++ Still Win?
C++ is over 35 years old but still performs outstandingly in some areas compared to other languages.
- Existing code base is more than other languages regarding Existing Products.
- Compilation time is comparatively less.
- Game Development is the area where this language performs outstanding.
- C++ has multiple compilers, i.e., GCC, Clang, Cfront, MinGW, LLVM, and many more.
- C++ has its very vast STL, i.e., Standard Template Library.
Some Myths Related to C++ and Rust
- C++ arithmetic is safer than Rust.
- The only advantage of Rust is object lifetime analysis.
- C++ is faster than Rust.
- Rust's safety isn't proven.
- Rust won't help with C libraries.
How to Switch between Rust and C++?
The CXX library is responsible for easy switching between Rust and C++ because it helps call C++ code from Rust and Rust code from C++ and is safe and effective. Before the invention of the CXX library, Rust-C++ integration was very difficult and inconvenient because it required the manual crafting of Rust-C and C-C++ interfaces.
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Conclusion
Both C++ and Rust have great potential and are excellent project choices. Both have outstanding performance, tooling, and community support. But we can conclude the article Rust vs. C++ with the following.
- Rust is better in memory safety.
- C++ is better in terms of compile-time and pointers.
- Rust is better in framework support, while C++ has better libraries than Rust.
- Object-oriented programming and game development are better in C++.
- Both have a large community and platform support.
- The CXX library is responsible for easy switching between Rust and C++.