Why use Rust? Explore the benefits of Rust development

What is Rust?

Rust is a programming language focusing on memory safety and other security considerations. Mozilla developed it in 2010 and released the first stable version in 2015.

As of spring 2025, Rust is far from the most widely used language. The TIOBE Index, which ranks programming languages by popularity, places Rust in 19th place. However, research by Stack Overflow has found that Rust is developers' "most admired" language, implying that it's a language most would like to use, even if they don't currently.

4 benefits of Rust

Admiration of Rust stems from the following four key benefits, which include, but are not limited to, software security.

1. Memory safety

Memory safety refers to measures that prevent an application from accessing memory that shouldn't be available. Memory safety is critical to application security because many common attacks involve misusing memory. For example, buffer overflows, a technique that can result in the execution of malware or other arbitrary code, work by writing data to a buffer outside an application's allocated memory.

A leading cause of memory safety issues is oversights within source code that allow an application to use memory in ways developers didn't intend.

Rust includes built-in memory protection features that require ownership-based resource management (OBRM) to mitigate this risk. OBRM automatically releases resources, such as memory, when the object that uses them is removed from an application. In less technical terms, OBRM helps prevent scenarios where memory accidentally remains available -- and therefore usable as a place to store malicious code -- because developers forgot to write code that "cleans up" unused memory.

Rust also mitigates certain memory safety risks during compilation time. The Rust compiler automatically removes null and dangling pointers, adding another layer of memory protection.

2. Cross-platform support

Rust programmers benefit from cross-platform capabilities across Linux, macOS, Windows and other supported platforms. Developers can access various command-line tools that compile to their platform of choice. As a result, developers can use Rust for high-level, front-end and low-level, back-end development.

Of course, most other modern languages also work across all major OSes. But Rust offers a more seamless cross-platform experience than some alternative languages, which require more effort on the part of developers to ensure that code written for one platform will run on another.

For example, Rust developers can write code that compiles to WebAssembly, the open standard that enables high-performance applications on webpages, and can access tooling to ship Rust code into JavaScript packages for web deployment using bindings. In addition to improved IDE support, Rust includes the Rust-specific formatting tool, aptly dubbed RustFmt, and users can take advantage of Clippy and Atom to detect bugs, specify lint levels and reinforce idiomatic code. The number of available Rust frameworks also continues to rise, with Rocket, Nickel and Actix recently appearing.

3. The Cargo package manager

Cargo is a community-built package manager for Rust libraries, providing numerous API bindings to common libraries and frameworks.

Rust isn't unique in having a package manager; other languages have equivalents, such as RubyGems for Ruby and npm for Node.js. However, some popular languages like C and C++ lack commonly used package managers. This gives Rust an advantage over the languages that some of its proponents would like to see Rust replace.

4. Rust performance advantages

In most cases, Rust code isn't faster than code written in C or C++, which are the highest-performing programming languages in many scenarios. But well-written Rust code can be as fast as C or C++ thanks to features like zero-cost abstractions -- which consolidate inefficient routines to reduce resource consumption -- and static memory management -- which is more efficient because it eliminates the need to allocate memory at runtime.

Rust's ability to perform on par with C and C++ is a big deal because programmers don't have to compromise on performance to take advantage of Rust's other benefits. The main reason developers use C or C++ is that they are cross-platform languages whose code usually executes quickly, not because they're the easiest or most secure languages. If speed were not a priority, programmers would likely prefer slower but simpler languages like Python, which is helpful in various circumstances but not when performance is key.

But with Rust, programmers enjoy the advantages of built-in security protections, cross-platform support and a developer-friendly package manager while still being able to write applications that will execute quickly and consume resources efficiently.

Why use Rust?

The main benefit of Rust is the language's security advantages that don't compromise performance.

The main benefit of Rust is the language's security advantages that don't compromise performance.

Given the growing popularity of Rust in sectors like the U.S. government, developing applications in the language could help future-proof software against emerging compliance rules or cybersecurity guidance that calls for Rust code. No regulations require Rust, but as of 2025, choosing to code in Rust increasingly reflects a commitment to cybersecurity.

Like all languages, Rust comes with a learning curve, and concepts like OBRM can be challenging for newer programmers. It's fair to say that Rust is more difficult to learn than languages like Python or Java, which are known for their simplicity.

There are also potential downsides to Rust. While it enjoys a sizable and growing following, it isn't nearly as popular as C and C++. As a result, there are fewer third-party tools available. Documentation and community support can also be hard to find, though not impossible.

Editor's note: This article was initially published in 2020 and was updated in 2025 to include additional information on the benefits of Rust and explore its growing popularity following a 2024 White House report.

Chris Tozzi is a freelance writer, research adviser, and professor of IT and society. He has previously worked as a journalist and Linux systems administrator.