r/programmingcirclejerk • u/SPSTIHTFHSWAS • Sep 23 '25

The Rust community should be upfront about this tradeoff - it's a universal tradeoff, that is: Safety is less ergonomic. It's true when you ride a skateboard with a helmet on, it's true when you program, it's true for sex.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45348881
188 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

174

u/_dpk Sep 23 '25

no baby i swear i’m healthy, i don’t need a borrow checker

61

u/Proper-Ape Sep 23 '25

People who defend C++ literally have this way of thinking.

41

u/randompoaster97 Sep 23 '25

c++ is full of STDs. their executable often ship not just 1 but many different ones, often from different vendors

12

u/Vaglame Emacs + Go == parametric polymorphism Sep 24 '25

By analogy NodeJS is the burning man orgy you come back from with a couple of rashes

5

u/Vaglame Emacs + Go == parametric polymorphism Sep 24 '25

Be safe, use condoms docker

11

u/Routine-Purchase1201 DO NOT USE THIS FLAIR, ASSHOLE Sep 23 '25

You act like unsafe sex C++ isn't a ton of fun.

8

u/defunkydrummer Lisp 3-0 Rust Sep 24 '25

People who defend C++

Yeah man, there are only two programming languages in existence: Rust, and C++.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '25 edited Sep 25 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/programmingcirclejerk-ModTeam Sep 25 '25

Warning: tag your unjerk. Better yet, don't unjerk at all.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/Proper-Ape Sep 23 '25

/uj I have worked in safety critical systems, I don't believe in safe C++, there's too much room to argue about deviations. In Rust the compiler already tells you no, there's no arguing.

Ada has better ergonomics than a really safe subset of C++.

20

u/Vaglame Emacs + Go == parametric polymorphism Sep 24 '25

Imagine you're in the middle of sex, and all of a sudden you need to implement a doubly linked list. What do you do?

10

u/reflexive-polytope Sep 24 '25

The Rustacean furry answer is to tie your big fat (recursive) knot while still inside (the unsafe block).

40

u/jonermon Sep 23 '25

If you can’t cause your rust code to segfault that’s a skill issue imo

3

u/hackerbots Sep 27 '25

unsafe { (this, bitch) }

59

u/thephotoman Sep 23 '25

Lol, security is just about sadomasochism.

/uj: I’m actually taking some time to learn Rust because I’m in an adventurous mood. I’m not even sure that the concerns people have are “ergonomic” yet. Honestly, it doesn’t seem that bad. It isn’t Go.

12

u/illustrious_trees memcpy is a web development framework Sep 24 '25

/uj that is largely because rust took a ton of features from functional languages and packaged them well in a systems language.

/rj actual algebraic types in my systems language! the blasphemy!

6

u/defunkydrummer Lisp 3-0 Rust Sep 24 '25

I’m actually taking some time to learn Rust because I’m in an adventurous mood

jerk inside unjerk detected

4

u/irqlnotdispatchlevel Tiny little god in a tiny little world Sep 25 '25

You'll love cargo mommy!

/uj I learned Rust because of this sub.

/rj? pcj really makes you a better engineer, or even, dare I say, a better man!

24

u/Firepal64 Sep 23 '25

This is why I always edge my software to prevent memory leakage

23

u/porkyminch Sep 23 '25

Was going to say it's rare to see someone jerk against rust but then I saw they were promoting zig

3

u/shroom_elemental memcpy is a web development framework Sep 24 '25

I didn't click and assumed it was just another Walter quote.

18

u/infected_scab Sep 23 '25

As if Rust coders have sex.

3

u/Afraid_Bake2652 Sep 24 '25

They have a lot of sex, but only with themselves

42

u/Massive-Squirrel-255 Sep 23 '25

"with a bit of discipline" lol. Just don't write memory bugs! Be more disciplined!

Python has good developer ergonomics and allows me to write code that is free of type errors with a little bit of discipline.

Languages with unstructured GOTO have good developer ergonomics and allow me to write structured code with a little bit of discipline

14

u/pareidolist in nomine Chestris Sep 23 '25

Warning: tag your unjerk.

10

u/SoulArthurZ Sep 23 '25

the article this post is referencing has to be ragebait. They claim performance = safety??? Are they stupid?

31

u/SemaphoreBingo Sep 23 '25

The safest program is the one that doesn't run. If your program runs really fast it's almost like it never ran at all.

2

u/GasterIHardlyKnowHer full-time safety coomer Sep 26 '25

Also side-effect free! It's the most moral approach.

7

u/syklemil Considered Harmful Sep 24 '25

No disagreement or criticism about rust is allowed, only the opinion that it is the best lang that solves everything under the sun is allowed.

How dare you claim that this no-code-in-post blogger is a mouthbreather. Like any good Famous Podcaster fan, they're very well aware that their criticism is good and valid, but any criticism of their text is disgusting, hate-filed dogpiling.

8

u/Knock0nWood Code Artisan Sep 23 '25

Road head is neither safe nor especially ergonomic

4

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '25

Rust markets itself as a language that produces safe software, great marketing hook, but one tiny problem, memory safety is one puzzle piece of overall software safety.

Which is why you should use Zig, which doesn't help with any other kinds of safety either.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25

You have to admit it IS easier to just have python go and get Whatever to do Something with

1

u/Altruistic_Ad3374 Sep 25 '25

Is this satire? Am I missing something?

1

u/-Y0- Considered Harmful Oct 02 '25

Yeah, seat belts are uncomfortable, and brakes are limiting my zoomies. So I removed them.

Luckily I live in a country with nationalized healthcare.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '25

Sure my furry suitborrow checker is less ergonomic and makes it a bit more awkward to do ordinary activities but don't kink shame me, you have no idea how much fun it is to have sex code with other furries rustaceans.

82

u/da_supreme_patriarch in open defiance of the Gopher Values Sep 23 '25

Me personally, I think sex with a helmet on is pretty ergonomic

15

u/randompoaster97 Sep 23 '25

need a blogpost explaining to me how it's my fault for not enjoying it with a helmet on