1. EachPod

Why I Like Rust Better Than Python

Author
Pragmatic AI Labs
Published
Sun 16 Feb 2025
Episode Link
podcast.paiml.com

Systems Engineering: Rust vs Python Analysis

Core Principle: Delete What You Know

Technology requires constant reassessment. Six-month deprecation cycle for skills/tools.

Memory Safety Architecture

  • Compile-time memory validation
  • Zero-cost abstractions eliminate GC overhead
  • Production metrics: 30% CPU reduction vs Python services

Performance Characteristics

  • Default performance matters (electric car vs 1968 Suburban analogy)
  • No GIL bottleneck = true parallelism
  • Direct hardware access capability
  • Deterministic operation timing

Concurrency Engineering

  • Type system prevents race conditions by design
  • Real parallel processing vs Python's IO-bound concurrency
  • Async/await with actual hardware utilization

Type System Benefits

  • Compilation = runtime validation
  • No 3AM TypeError incidents
  • Superior to Python's bolt-on typing (Pydantic)
  • IDE integration for systems development

Package Management Infrastructure

  • Cargo: deterministic dependency resolution
  • Single source of truth vs Python's fragmented ecosystem (venv/conda/poetry)
  • Eliminates "works on my machine" syndrome

Systems Programming Capabilities

  • Zero-overhead FFI
  • Embedded systems support
  • Kernel module development potential

Production Architecture

  • Native cross-compilation (x86/ARM)
  • Minimal runtime footprint
  • Docker images: 10MB vs Python's 200MB

Engineering Productivity

  • Built-in tooling (rustfmt, clippy)
  • First-class documentation
  • IDE support for systems development

Cloud-Native Development

  • AWS Lambda core uses Rust
  • Cost optimization through CPU/memory efficiency
  • Growing ML/LLM ecosystem

Systems Design Philosophy

  • "Wash the Cup" principle: Build once, maintain forever
  • Compiler-driven refactoring
  • Technical debt caught at compile-time
  • 80% reduction in runtime issues

Deployment Architecture

  • Single binary deployment
  • Cross-compilation support
  • ECR storage reduction: 95%
  • Elimination of dependency hell

Python's Appropriate Use Cases

  • Standard library utilities
  • Quick scripts without dependencies
  • Notebook experimentation
  • Not suited for production-scale systems

Key Insight

Production systems demand predictable performance, memory safety, and deployment certainty. Rust delivers these by design.


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