Re:Rust for C++ programmers – part 2: control flow
by bjz_ on Sunday April 20, 2014 @08:56AM
(#7616638)
> after getting over the hump of Rust's pointer semantics, I've found that it's a very elegant and fairly simple language
Definitely, I cannot stress this enough. Back when I first looked at the language in 0.3 it was awfully complex and I had doubts about hwo successful it would be. But ever since 0.4, with the removal of classes and argument modes, the core devs have been working extremely hard to make the core semantics of Rust as simple as possible, whilst at the same time making the language powerful and extensible. It will take time to dispel the myths still hanging around though, so I would urge you to share your experiences more widely.
Re:Rust for C++ programmers – part 2: control flow
by steveklabnik on Sunday April 20, 2014 @12:48PM
(#7617456)
Have you read http://static.rust-lang.org/doc/master/guide-pointers.html ?
Re:Rust for C++ programmers – part 2: control flow
by jnbiche on Sunday April 20, 2014 @08:12PM
(#7618991)
Yes. That was the guide, along with the pointer semantics table, that basically convinced me to give Rust a second chance, since if pointers could be summed up in a table, they were definitely comprehensible even for a PL peon like me.
Re:Rust for C++ programmers – part 2: control flow
by steveklabnik on Sunday April 20, 2014 @08:35PM
(#7619063)
Cool, thank you. I was wondering if it helped or hurt. Great!
pcwalton: after getting over the hump of Rust's pointer semantics, I've found that it's a very elegant and fairly simple language. So I was partially wrong about my assessment of Rust as a "complex" language (I say "partially" because the pointer semantics do add a significant layer of unavoidable complexity).
I'd encourage anyone put off by the complexity of Rust's pointers to just push on through. I think you'll find it's worth the trouble.
Rust is definitely the language of the future for games, embedded programming, system programming and other areas of programming that require a high level of determinism. I can't wait until it's stable enough to use for real projects (hopefully sometime this year).