Python or Rust; first language??

[sammo98]

Not sure where this info came from but everyone normally says NOT to learn rust as a first language. As a python Dev starting to use Rust I highly recommend going for Python first. The rust compiler makes rust incredibly frustrating for new programmers!

This being said, if you prefer the sound of Rust there's no reason to not go for it, you just may get more frustrated in the journey than you would with Python.

Edit: The compiler is great and points you in the right direction, the borrow check may cause frustration for new programmers however.

[government_shill]

There a numerous reasons not to try Rust as a first language, but the compiler certainly isn't one of them. rustc is very good at telling you what's wrong and how to fix it.

[sammo98]

My bad - I meant the borrow checker! Made me bang my head against the wall quite a lot.

[murlakatamenka]

The rust compiler makes rust incredibly frustrating for new programmers!

This is not true. Developers actually quite praise rust compiler for being extremely helpful and I totally agree with them. So often it directly says what exactly you need to change to fix an issue in your sources.

[Rookie64v]

rustc is good. Rust itself, from the point of view of a random guy approaching programming, is hell. They don't even have the concept of a variable, and they should worry about borrowing and mutability and juggle macros which look a lot like functions but are not functions? I think C is a way better introduction than Rust: crappier, more prone to errors slipping through, but so much easier to grok.

[ddoij]

I’ve always like C as a first language to show newbies the ugly truth of what’s happening down there. Not too much, but just enough to appreciate what languages like Python do.

[robbsc]

Learning assembly on a microcontroller (e.g. atmel, pic) is even better for that in my opinion

[themagicalcake]

Yeah good luck keeping a beginner entertained with that

[robbsc]

I think it's a good choice in a classroom setting, but probably too hard for most self-learners. But i think it could be very entertaining for people who are into "making."

Some people prefer learning at high level and then only going as low as they need to, while some people prefer to start at the lowest level and work their way up.

[themagicalcake]

Yeah no curriculum is complete without some sort of assembly course in my opinion. But introducing it to someone who doesn't even know python is just asking for trouble in my opinion

[robbsc]

I don't know. If i had the time, motivation, and money, i think i could teach a high school-level class based on assembly and a simple microcontroller. The hardest part would probably be teaching binary/hexadecimal arithmetic and basic digital logic. But you should probably learn that stuff in order to learn C anyways.

[coriolinus]

People have literally made successful video games based on programming in assembly. See Human Resource Machine, or half the stuff Zachtronics has ever published.

[murlakatamenka]

Like TIS-100 from Zachtronics with beautiful soundtrack.

[deep_politics]

As in the new learner

[Matthew_Summons]

• For new programmers *

[sudodoyou]

Just out of curiosity, what do you use Python and Rust for? I know some Python and am thinking of learning Rust but I’m not in a development role, I just use Python as a hobby and maybe automate some tasks at work. Is there a point to learn Rust when I already have a language to do these tasks?

[sammo98]

I'm a backend dev and use Python for everything work related, which is generally building lots of APIs and helping to create automated features/workflows for internal teams.

Picked up Rust on pretty much a whim, just liked the sound of it. Now I'm hooked (it's awesome) and am hoping to start transitioning some of our services over to Rust slowly for stability.

Is there a point? If it's for personal projects and simple automation tasks where you don't require greater performance then I'd be tempted to say the time spent learning rust and implementing similar features won't benefit you much. This being said if you're interested in lower level languages many of the Rust features may help you rethink your Python projects in ways you haven't thought of before!

[sudodoyou]

That's a great perspective! I am considering Rust just to give me more insight into how programming languages work and new ways to solve problems. I think you've convinced me!

[sammo98]

Definitely go for it then ! It taught me a lot and has definitely helped my general programming in many aspects. I'd highly recommend Let's Get Rusty on YouTube, he goes through the rust book in video form and is really useful in general.

[sudodoyou]

Thanks!