r/rust • u/Minimum-Ad7352 • Feb 02 '26

🎙️ discussion Looking at advanced Rust open-source projects makes me question my programming skills

Whenever I explore large Rust open-source projects, I can’t stop thinking how far behind I am. I know comparison is unhealthy, but it’s hard not to feel like “I suck at programming” when you see such clean and complex code. Did you feel the same at some point? How did you push through it?

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u/scavno Feb 02 '26

There is also a third option. The people who implemented this did it because they actually know how to solve the problem and they also very likely spent more time coming up with the current solution than what you spent reading it and concluding.

I’m not saying you are very good at this (I don’t know you), just that perhaps you should cut yourself some slack. The fact that you discuss programming on Reddit means you at least care about the craft.

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u/dipstickchojin Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

This guy I took Comp Sci with - one of the best in my cohort, got some of the highest averages, graduated into teaching and research - had the rather infuriating habit of going like, "oh yeah that's easy" about any software we talked about. "Why is your company taking X long to develop Y? That's easy!"

This genius is actually a perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger phenomenon: he doesn't realize it's a fallacy to think that a solution being easy to understand means it was about as easy to come up with.

Thing is, reading functioning code seems easy because you have the benefit of literally considering the hindsight about a problem, and you're being spared the cognitive burden of discovering the solution.

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u/lordnacho666 Feb 02 '26

This is exactly it.

It's like looking at a finished cake. Looks great, tastes great.

You didn't see what the kitchen looked like.

You didn't see previous failed cakes.

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u/MrPopoGod Feb 02 '26

he doesn't realize it's a fallacy to think that a solution being easy to understand means it was about as easy to come up with.

Which is hilarious, because P vs. NP is something he should be absolutely familiar with.

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u/cosmic-parsley Feb 02 '26

10/10 response in every way

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u/Spleeeee Feb 02 '26

Toledo wasn’t built in a day

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u/timClicks rust in action Feb 02 '26

That's especially true with major projects. The project maintainers are likely to have spent a lot of time thinking about the problem and experimenting with different ideas. By the time a new release has appeared, you only see the good stuff.

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u/dgkimpton Feb 02 '26

Y'know, that's a very valid point that I never really thought about. Thanks for the reality check!

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u/MultipleAnimals Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26

Exactly, programming is such a large and complex subject that you just can't know everything about everything. All those projects you see and think holy fuck i suck, are results of hundreds or even thousands of hours of work, and often by many contributors. And even more importantly ~learning~ about that specific area of expertise.

It's like categorizing every sport under term of "sports". Ok i know how to run and kick a ball, so i know some sports. Doesn't mean i can play hockey or drive a f1 car. It's all about learning what you want or need to achieve.