Performance with safety.
WHY IT IS USED
Performance comparable to the fastest languages Memory safety without a garbage collector Strong type system catching errors at compilation Excellent tooling
WHAT OWNERSHIP IS
The rule that each value has one owner, and is freed when the owner goes out of scope.
WHAT BORROWING IS
Temporary access to a value without taking ownership.
WHAT THE COMPILER ENFORCES
That references cannot outlive what they refer to, and that data is not mutated while shared.
WHAT THAT PREVENTS
Entire classes of memory and concurrency bugs, at compile time.
WHAT IT COSTS
A genuinely steep learning curve Slower initial development Longer compilation
WHAT THE LEARNING CURVE FEELS LIKE
Fighting the compiler, until the rules become intuitive.
WHAT IT SUITS
Performance-critical services Systems where correctness matters greatly Long-lived infrastructure
WHAT IT DOES NOT SUIT
Rapid prototyping Teams without time to learn it
WHAT TO ESTABLISH BEFORE ADOPTING IT
Whether anyone else can maintain it.
