Why Rust is The Future of Robotics Projects? Should You Learn It?

The inclusion of Rust into the Linux Kernel might seem like a small detail, but it couldn't have come at a better time.

Rust is an excellent language to learn in 2022. It is fast, safe, concurrent, and portable. It also has excellent tooling and a thriving community. If you are looking for a systems programming language, Rust is a perfect choice. There's a vast ecosystem of robotics tools and paradigms like ROS and OpenCV that operate best within the Linux ecosystem. Like it or not, most robotics engineers get their start playing around in these sandboxes. Whole companies have based their work on these tools and have done very well for themselves.

Those that do are turning to Rust more often than not. This has led to a budding robotics ecosystem full of enthusiastic developers who just want to write better tools in the most loved programming language around. As excited as these developers might be, though, these tools by and large aren't ready for prime-time. They are missing features that most engineers take for granted, or haven't been used enough to be trusted by the larger community.

This means many older robotics companies are still playing it safe, still working in the sandbox full of familiar software. Some are simply loath to leave the comfort of C++, or Python, or whatever the senior engineer on staff believes is the Right Language. It's certainly still early days for Rust in robotics, and it takes an enterprising team to take it on. Yet those who have ventured beyond the familiar and invested the time have been rewarded for their efforts with better products. In fact, for the newest generation of engineers, Rust is familiar. And that's great news.

Between old tools, new programming languages, and the rise of automation, robotics is in a time of change. The inclusion of Rust into the Linux Kernel might seem like a small detail, but it couldn't have come at a better time. The robotics community has been pushing Rust development for years now; for Linux to support, and be supported by, these efforts is a tide that lifts all boats. Rust has strong support for concurrency, with built-in tools such as the Arc smart pointer that make it easy to write safe code. Rust also has excellent memory safety, with automatic garbage collection and ownership rules that prevent dangling pointers. It is an excellent choice for creating safe and efficient software. With its strong support for concurrency and memory safety, it can help you create robust applications that are able to handle high loads.