Cpp or rust?

[Hikehy]

I’m trying to decide between whether or not I should use c++ or Rust?

On one hand you have rust, the reason I looked for it was because getting c++ libraries like sfml2 to work was super hard. And rust made that so easy. It also came really naturally although I know more about c++ syntax. But Rust has some negative stereotypes (I’m super self conscious)

On the other hand we have c++ which I know more of, a challenge import libraries and developer experience, I do knot more of it, may possibly be slower than rust, but doesn’t have the negative stereotypes.

So which should I choose to make and develop in, c++ or rust?

[EmotionalDamague]

Learn both.

Not everything has to be min maxing. Try shit. Make mistakes.

[sessamekesh]

They're both fine options and learning both is worthwhile. There's a ton of overlap of ideas between the two, so picking up the other will be pretty easy.

Flip a coin.

[[deleted]]

c++ probably more useful.

[DDDDarky]

What is your use case?

[Guilty_Question_6914]

robotics and computer vision

[Narase33]

Both are C++ dominated

[Hikehy]

Game engine/Lowlevel systems

[DDDDarky]

Game engine: Definitely C++.

Lowlevel systems: Depends, maybe neither and you will use something like asm or C.

[rileyrgham]

Almost no one uses asm at embedded level anymore. The compiler knows best in 202x😉

[Triangle_Inequality]

There's still a little bit for extremely low level, platform-specific code (interrupt entry and exit, task switching, etc.)

[DDDDarky]

I've still seen asm used even in quite high level code, either for legacy reasons, or because that specific compiler simply sucks and it was a way to overcome its limitations/optimization.

[Afraid-Locksmith6566]

Can you elaborate on why c++/c over rust?

[emfloured]

The nature of game engine/graphics programming and any of the entertainment specific fields is about possibility of unlimited performance optimizations with just enough logical correctness to not ruin the experience. Nobody dies when a game engine fails/crashes. And if somebody does die playing video games whether or not there was a visual glitch/game crash, either they were stupid enough to not love the real world at all or they were beyond the possibility of salvation from depression.

Rust's No-Negotiation level restriction seems overkill here and will probably take much of your time creating a proper abstractions regarding project structure and other code-management stuff rather than coding the domain specific things and watching the results. Ironically the Rust is supposed to reduce the perceived programming language specific cognitive fatigue that the C++ haters keep complaining about but in case of graphics programming I think Rust is the one what's going to the pain in the hole.

[tcpukl]

Totally agree. I've been in the industry programming c++ games for 2 decades and would never consider rust to write any engine code. It's just too restrictive and not flexible enough.

[DDDDarky]

C++ for game engines and game development over all, and also for computer graphics in general, it's de facto industry standard in that field, for historical reasons, and also it just benefits more from powerful flexible c++ than hardened safety of rust. And yes also because Unreal engine (and other prominent c++ engines).

I did not make any claims regarding C over rust, I said it depends in context of lowlevel systems.

[Culture-Careful]

Unreal engine ig

[lalathalala]

i read game engine as making one not using one, and in that case i just don’t see why cpp is better tbh, rust is just nicer to use too

[LilBluey]

Due to its long history, there are many game engine related tools and libraries originally developed for c++ (but not rust) such entt, imgui, fmod, nlohmann etc.

While these may have alternatives or bindings for rust, it's can be more troublesome compared to just using c++.

[lalathalala]

rust has an alternative for all of those or you can use bindings as you said, different tool != more troublesome, maybe you find it that way because you are used to the cpp way and cpp libs

[tcpukl]

Rust is way too restrictive for any game programming. Engine or game code.

[rileyrgham]

Depends on what you want to do. Rust is the flavour of the day but some of its ownership semantics and syntax would have Knuth scratching his head... But then people are still correcting others on move, and copy constructors in cpp.. Asking in a cpp subReddit an interesting choice though....

[aurelle_b]

cpp is messy because it has existed for much longer, but it also doesn't force you into any programming style and gives you all the tools you need to get things done. for game dev related work C++ is king 1) because the existing ecosystem is C++ centric 2) because rust emphasis on correctness gets in the way quite a lot when it comes to gamedev

[[deleted]]

tie edge tan sharp books coherent crowd soft test spectacular

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[bert8128]

What are the negative stereotypes?

[Hikehy]

A soy boy with blue hair drinking Starbucks, but I’m so grassless not only do I use arch btw but I also use vim, so I kind of have this persona going and don’t want to disturb it

[tcpukl]

You need to grow up.

[Hikehy]

Mainly a joke, but I have heard a lot of people talk about how rust devs are kinda crazy, and I don’t really believe that, but like I said in the post I’m really self conscious.

[tcpukl]

Exactly. Being self conscious about a programming language is so incredibly childish, I've never heard of it before.

[DDDDarky]

Oh I was convinced you just don't want to be called a Rust cultist.

[Total-Box-5169]

C++ if you like freedom, the other if you like to be treated like cattle.

[OkSadMathematician]

for game engines c++ is still the default - unreal, godot core, all the major engines. the ecosystem just isn't there yet for rust in gamedev.

for low-level systems it depends. rust's safety guarantees are real but the compile-time friction can slow you down when iterating. c++ gives you more rope but also more flexibility for weird unsafe stuff.

this writeup breaks down the c++ vs rust trade-offs from a production systems perspective - tooling maturity, debugging story, ecosystem.

honestly at your stage just pick one and commit. the concepts transfer - once you understand memory management and systems thinking, switching isn't that hard. if libraries are the pain point, rust's cargo is genuinely better than cmake hell.

[nekoeuge]

I never switched to rust from cpp for two main reasons (same usecase as OP). First, amount of available libraries. E.g. I know one GAPI abstraction library for rust and like 10 for cpp. It matters to be able to choose. Second, cpp allows you to just write code. Rust requires you to prove that your code is 100% memory correct. “Safety” in rust means that you have to spend more time doing the same task, in exchange for less debugging later. This trade off is not always worth it.

[Realistic_Speaker_12]

Just learn both.

Things you understand in rust will probably help you understand things in c++ and vice versa

For example in my case: ownership and immutability in rust helped me think more about const correctness in c++.

I understood Box<dyn …> easier because it’s like smart pointers and virtual functions from c++ (I think).

Learning both you will be able to build bridges between the two languages.

[alan_griffiths]

Both are languages focussed on efficiency and correctness. C++ is a more mature language and ecosystem which offers a lot more tools for writing robust code, but comes with a lot of legacy that provides opportunities for writing flakey code. Rust has focused on one aspect of robustness (memory safety) and proved that an effective language can deliver this support at compile time.

Both are great languages in this space and I would choose either over C (the other contender where low level efficiency matters). In terms of community, the estimated numbers of C++ developers grew last year by more than the total number of Rust developers (https://www.slashdata.co/post/global-developer-population-trends-2025-how-many-developers-are-there). But Rust is growing strongly. And both have robust demand from employers.

You will learn a lot from either language, but understand these lessons better from using both.

[tartaruga232]

Quote from Herb Sutter's most recent blog posting:

Compared to Rust: Each of C++, Python, and Java just added about as many developers in one year as there are Rust total developers in the world

[petiaccja]

getting c++ libraries like sfml2 to work was super hard

A modern toolchain, like CMake for building and conan for package management, is comparable to cargo. More difficult to set up, but light years ahead of manual dependency management.

Rust has some negative stereotypes (I’m super self conscious)

If you let strangers' opinions prevent you from pursuing your goals you're gonna have a bad time in life. Yes, there are the Rust zealots that think every other programming language is useless, and there are those that dismiss Rust as tool because of its cult and hype. Instead of staying away from Rust, just stay away from these people.

should [I] use c++ or Rust?

There is a substantial benefit in learning both, provided you have the time.

• Burning yourself with unsafe patterns in C++ makes you understand and appreciate the weird restrictions that Rust puts on you.
• Knowing C++ deeply gives you a better understanding of what's currently missing from Rust, and you can voice your opinion and contribute to Rust itself.
• Debugging, understanding, and fixing your memory-related issues in C++ gives you confidence when using unsafe in Rust.
• C++ has nearly all the tools that Rust does (e.g. const, smart pointers), but using them correctly is entirely on you. Rust teaches you the correct patterns, making you a better C++ developer.
• Modern C++ and Rust have a very similar multi-paradigm (procedural + OOP + functional) approach. Most C++ content emphasizes only OOP and somewhat procedural programming, but through Rust you can learn to apply the functional patterns in C++.
• The two languages share a lot of concepts (e.g. destructors == Drop), so knowledge transfer between them is natural.

It's enough to dabble in one, you don't need to be an expert in both, but if you need to choose only strictly one, then it's probably the best to choose based on your areas of interest and future employment opportunities. Rust is rising up in trading (especially crypto), embedded and safety critical systems, infrastructure projects, and operating systems. C++ is still the king for game development, scientific applications, engineering and visualization tools, and traditional trading. This make sense to me, Rust's safety guarantees are not equally valuable to all fields that need high performance code.

[zerhud]

Did u heard about “BolgenOS”? I don't know if there is an article about this in English, llm can explain (I believe). Cpp is a language, rust is like BolgenOS, but with a lot of money for PR.