Why is Rust the Most Loved Language of 2022?

In May 2022, StackOverflow conducted a survey where Rust won 86.73% of the votes of 70K respondents as one of the most loved programming languages. The first stable release was in 2014. Since then, Rust has been recognized by the developer’s community and is actively used by the tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta, Dropbox, and Amazon. 

Rust is used in system programming, so businesses that plan to develop system software, embedded systems, or IoT should consider hiring a Rust developer. In this article we discuss the pros and cons of Rust programming language and the ways to hire Rust experts for your business.   

What Are the Real-World Use Cases of Rust?

“Look around, most systems code below a certain layer in the stack is written in C and C++. ” – Graydon Hoare, creator of Rust.

In his interview with InfoQ, Graydon Hoare said that Rust’s creators were focused on “frustrated C++ developers” who had to choose C++ or C over other system languages due to their performance and in spite of complexity. So, Graydon and his team decided to design a system programming language that is much safer and “less painful”.

What makes Rust stand out among system programming languages? 

Rust is a multi-paradigm and general-purpose programming language that provides memory safety, concurrency and increases performance. Primarily, it was designed to prevent errors in memory access in high-performance applications. Nowadays, Rust is used to maintain specific features in software such as Dropbox file sync and to create an entire application like Discord. 

Although Rust syntax is similar to C, the language has high-level features that help developers increase their performance. The most notable Rust features include but aren’t limited to: 

• Concurrent task execution
• Pattern matching 
• OOP support
• Generic type parameters 
• Buffer overflow prevention
• Higher-order functions 
• Immutable variables by default
•  Garbage collector based on a sophisticated type system 

Due to Rust’s efficient memory management, the language got the recognition as a reliable and safe programming language. If your project needs to process tons of data, you should consider including Rust in the project’s tech stack. Here are a few examples of projects in which Rust can be handy: 

• embedded systems,
• blockchain, 
• the Internet of Things,
• high-performance web apps, 
• operating systems, 
• distributed online services, 
• command line tools. 

Rust Developer Roles and Responsibilities 

Rust developers are seldom ‘juniors’, so their duties at work tackle each software development lifecycle stage that includes planning, designing, building, testing, and implementing software. Rust developer responsibilities include:

• the understanding of business requirements to provide quality software,
• designing, building, and testing system components using Rust language, 
• working with a team of developers to improve software performance,
• maintaining and updating software when needed,
• detecting and resolving vulnerabilities in code, 
• implementing third-party software,
• create technical documentation,
• assess user feedback and offer improvement solutions. 

What Are the Main Tech Skills of a Rust Developer?

Software developers who work with Rust have a background in other system programming languages such as C, C++ or Go. 

If you need to hire a decent Rust programmer, you should check if the candidate has a proven record of Rust projects they worked on. The ideal candidate should have experience in building large, concurrent systems and clearly understand memory management at a low level. Minimum requirements for Rust developers are: 

• experience with Rust and Cargo (package manager used with Rust),
• knowledge of low-level system programming language, 
• knowledge of data structures and algorithms, 
• understanding of debugging tools, 
• understanding of OOP principles.

Rust pro should be able to use main Rust features (speed, safety, and concurrency) efficiently. Knowledge of web development tools (frontend and backend) can be considered a plus. 

The Best Way to Hire Rust Developer

The newest SlashData report revealed that the Rust devs community is approximately 2.2 M developers. The number is not huge compared to the JavaScript community, which includes 17.4 M devs. So, finding a proficient Rust developer may be more complex than JavaScript pro. However, the Rust community is growing. Besides, there are plenty of devs that are well-versed in C/C++. The same SlashData report showed that 11M engineers are working with C/C++. 

So, how do you find and hire skilled Rust developers and don’t drown them in this enormous and messy talent pool? We suggest you consider the following ways of hiring Rust devs:

Search for candidates on job boards and freelance platforms 

If you have extra time, you can search for candidates by yourself. Post the open position on the job board and wait until candidates send you their CVs. Be sure to compose a clear and attractive job description where you outline job requirements and responsibilities, your expectations, and the benefits you offer. Here are a few job boards to find tech specialists for a smooth start: Dice.com, Angel.co, CrunchBoard.   

Another option is to reach out to Rust developers via freelance platforms. Freelancers can perform a specific task in the short term, however, you can also build a long-term professional relationship with them. 

Keep in mind that when you hire devs by yourself, CV screening and interviewing candidates fall on your shoulders, so be prepared to handle this. 

Hire an in-house recruiter 

If you don’t have enough time to search and filter candidates by yourself, you can delegate this task to a professional recruiter. We suggest finding an IT recruiter who’s hired Rust programmers before. Remember that hiring an in-house recruiter will cost you extra money, so it’s best to hire an IT recruiter if the position implies a full-time workload. 

Turn to an IT recruitment agency 

IT recruitment agencies offer the service of searching and filtering candidates according to clients’ requirements. Such agencies are experts in hiring tech specialists and usually have a talent pool of vetted candidates. So, with a recruitment agency, you’ll need to interview only the candidates that fit your requirements. Moreover, such agencies as Talentica, provide you with a personal manager to support you in the hiring process. 

Since 2017, Talentica has helped more than 650 companies to find tech experts for their projects. The agency works by an outstaffing model, which means that you get a dedicated developer for your team without the need to be involved much in the recruitment process. 

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Rust Developer?

Hiring Rust developers isn’t cheap, because Rust devs usually have extensive expertise in programming and several years of experience. In the U.S. an average Rust developer salary is USD 122,000 per year, according to PayScale. But it doesn’t mean recruiting Rust programmers can’t be cost-effective. 

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, remote work is more popular than ever. You can hire Rust developers where the average cost of living is lower than in the U.S. For example, Rust developers in Latin America make from USD 76,000 to 100,000 yearly. Tech-savvy people from Ukraine (Eastern Europe) can also make up to USD 100,000 per year. 

Conclusion 

Rust developers can be handy when you build large-scale projects from scratch or want to improve an existing one. However, hiring one is not a walk in the park. You can try and find Rust developers by yourself, or use recruitment services. We hope our advice will help you acquire the perfect candidate. You can always ask us about hiring IT pros. So, keep in touch and good luck.  

Faq

• What is Rust?

  Rust is a multi-paradigm and general-purpose programming language that provides memory safety, concurrency and increases performance. Primarily, it was designed to prevent errors in memory access in high-performance applications.

• Is Rust better than C++?

  Rust is similar to C++ syntax, but its capabilities go beyond low-level programming language. The main difference is that Rust is much safer when it comes to memory management meaning it keeps developers from making unintentional memory leak errors.

• Does Rust Have Any Benefits?

  Rust is more efficient than other system programming languages because it supports concurrency, has a sophisticated algorithm to collect garbage, supports OOP and immutability, and has high-level programming features such as high-order functions, etc.

• Where is Rust Being Used?

  Rust programming language is used to build large software applications, embedded systems, the Internet of Things, blockchain, VR/AR, operating systems, command line tools, distributed online services, and more.