> I think the person you are characterising is quite rare.
You could be right... I hope you are right, but I'm afraid you're not...
> I'm not sure about that. I've spent 18 years programming in C++, for much of that time in a senior professional capacity and am excited to learn Rust for whatever my next project will be. Most of my colleagues and peers feel the same. [...] I like C++ but don't love all of the baggage and am delighted that things are moving forward.
I don't know what the "split" is regarding mentality, and I've definitely seen a lot of experienced C++ devs in Rust communities, but then there's also a lot of people in "Rust bad"[1] circles (you see them on Reddit and HN). I think it might be an even split (as with most polarised opinions), but I don't think that either sort is rate.
[1]: I don't blame these people, btw. If you're in a senior or leadership position and you choose C++ for a new project, because C++ is your strong suit. Then you read online "C++ bad" comments that glorify Rust. It's hard to not take these things personally, when it might be affecting your livelihood. Especially if semi-technical management "drinks the Rust Kool-Aid" (for a lack of better expression) and grills you over your decision. It's not a very disheartening situation to be in, and that frustration can fester into contempt, and so on.
I think maybe you're paying too much heed to what you see in concentrated and very self selecting online communities. A lot of professional C++ programmers are more focussed on particular industries, and the domain problems to solve and less so on the language or specific tools. It just so happens that C++ has been the only game in town in a lot of industries until quite recently. At work we've been looking into trying out Rust in some modules where it would make sense. There has been zero objection based on it being Rust, from a team of senior C++ devs. Quite the opposite, most are keen to try it out. But those people don't spent their time on language message boards. Sure, you will find the type of person that you describe. They definitely exist. But it's not the typical case of senior C++ developer, in my experience. Most of us are domain experts in something (automotive, security, medical devices, games, OSes, networking, etc...) and the language comes secondary. If we can better solve our primary goals with a different language then we'd be fools not to have an open mind.
Senior C++ developer here and I totally agree. Anything that can improve productivity/quality while maintaining high performance is very much welcome. Obviously!
You could be right... I hope you are right, but I'm afraid you're not...
> I'm not sure about that. I've spent 18 years programming in C++, for much of that time in a senior professional capacity and am excited to learn Rust for whatever my next project will be. Most of my colleagues and peers feel the same. [...] I like C++ but don't love all of the baggage and am delighted that things are moving forward.
I don't know what the "split" is regarding mentality, and I've definitely seen a lot of experienced C++ devs in Rust communities, but then there's also a lot of people in "Rust bad"[1] circles (you see them on Reddit and HN). I think it might be an even split (as with most polarised opinions), but I don't think that either sort is rate.
[1]: I don't blame these people, btw. If you're in a senior or leadership position and you choose C++ for a new project, because C++ is your strong suit. Then you read online "C++ bad" comments that glorify Rust. It's hard to not take these things personally, when it might be affecting your livelihood. Especially if semi-technical management "drinks the Rust Kool-Aid" (for a lack of better expression) and grills you over your decision. It's not a very disheartening situation to be in, and that frustration can fester into contempt, and so on.