Cranston's Life - Rust and More Rust

It is not a new article but it is the FIRST TIME that I have seen the Prefer Rust to C/C++ for new code. article!

This article discusses WHEN to use Rust, and WHEN to not use Rust, and WHEN to use languages like C or C++.

The lesson that I take away from this is that it can be a HARD CHOICE to make!

There can be so MANY factors involved with making such a decision.

When starting a project today this choice could be felt for DECADES or even longer in some cases, if the software has a long lifespan.

What a COMPLEX topic!

I have learned that Rust will soon be reducing support for 32-bit Apple targets!

This is what the announcement says: "The Rust team regrets to announce that Rust 1.41.0 (to be released on January 30th, 2020) will be the last release with the current level of support for 32-bit Apple targets. Starting from Rust 1.42.0, those targets will be demoted to Tier 3."

Why is this being done? According to the announcement: "Apple dropped support for running 32-bit binaries starting from macOS 10.15 and iOS 11. They also prevented all developers from cross-compiling 32-bit programs and apps starting from Xcode 10 (the platform’s IDE, containing the SDKs)."

So, yes, I can very much UNDERSTAND why Rust will be reducing support for those targets!

Older platforms usually aren't supported forever, so sometimes we must MOVE ON.

I think this is one such case!

Rust users REJOICE!

This Week in Rust 319 is now AVAILABLE!

This Week in Rust is one of my MOST VALUED resources for learning all about Rust!

I will have SO MUCH to learn!

Ben Lovy asks us the question "What Does C++ Do That Rust Doesn't?"

This question, merely seven words long, I think is one of the MOST DIFFICULT questions to answer!

Step 1 is to not just know of C++ and Rust, but to KNOW INSIDE AND OUT each one of those languages.

Of the MILLIONS of programmers in this world, how many TRULY KNOW both C++ and Rust?

Let's simplify my question!

Of the MILLIONS of programmers in this world, how many TRULY KNOW just C++?

Of the MILLIONS of programmers in this world, how many TRULY KNOW just Rust?

The answers to each of those questions is a VERY SMALL group of people, I believe.

The intersection of those two groups of people is EVEN SMALLER!

And of this small group of people, we must then ask, are any even prepared just to ATTEMPT such a comparison?

Then after all that, I ask myself, is that comparison EVEN NEEDED?!

From the perspective of a programmer, if Rust satisfies MY NEEDS and if Rust satisfies MY WANTS, do I even care about C++?

An answer to Ben's question would be intellectually desirable.

But for a question that SEEMS SO SIMPLE, I think it is EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT to answer in full.

Many a year ago I used ODBC and then later I used JDBC when using the Java programming language.

Now I have learned of the Rust DataBase Connectivity (RDBC) API for Rust!

It's page says that it is currently experimental.

It does have traits like Connection and Statement and ResultSet, and it does look similar to the very little I remember about ODBC and JDBC!

I do not know what to think about this though.

I am so conflicted!

Rust, to me, is a CLEAN START.

Should Rust be inspired by old APIs that were developed for languages that are so un-Rust-like?

I can see benefits to it.

I can see drawbacks to it.

That is why I am SO CONFLICTED!

I must STUDY this RDBC project and its ideas.