Rust Is The Next Big Thing in Web Backend Development?

There’s no denying that Node.js or Google’s Go programming language have changed the way we develop the web backend. According to McKinsey’s tech trends report, we’re gradually moving towards automated, unified, and fast development techniques that will help us keep up with the rapidly changing business world. And Rust is bringing us one step closer to a truly universal programming language.

It’s time to take a look at the value of Rust for web development and see whether it lives up to the hype — that it isn’t only the next big thing in web backend development but could also be considered a viable alternative to other backend programming languages down the road. For more information on Rust web development, check out a detailed Yalantis article on the popular Rust web frameworks that can significantly elevate your software development process.

Let’s consider first why is Rust getting popular? And what could be the possible reasons to decide on Rust for backend development? 

What makes Rust a great fit for web backend development

The web backend is the system that accepts requests from clients and returns a necessary response. Importantly, backend development isn’t just about writing code but also about understanding the business requirements, and designing and implementing features application users need. Thus, the choice of the backend programming language plays a crucial role not only in building a responsive and well-functioning backend but also in making your application perform just the way you want it to.

If you’ve been long considering Rust as your go-to programming language for web backend development but feel a bit hesitant about using it, as it’s still an evolving language — check out a few established Rust features that help it stand out from all the other backend programming languages.

Memory safety. This is an important feature that ensures that your program will not crash due to memory corruption or other errors. This can help you build faster applications that can handle high volumes of data without crashing down due to memory leaks or slowdowns due to poor performance of CPU or RAM resources.

Cross-platform support. You can build your application and run it on any platform using Rust. It supports Linux, macOS, Windows, and more operating systems. This makes it easier for developers to create applications that can be used on multiple platforms without much hassle.

Concurrency. Rust is suitable for writing highly concurrent applications with minimal overhead. This language integrates with a number of third-party libraries like Tokio or Hyper. These libraries make it easy to write concurrent programs while safely managing shared resources like threads or connections.

These Rust innate characteristics make this language a worthy opponent to more common backend languages like JavaScript or Python.

Benefits of Rust backend development

In the previous section, we’ve discussed why you should consider adopting Rust web programming for building a web backend. Now, let’s address what benefits you can get once you do make a choice in favor of Rust. 

Safe and flexible code. The Rust compiler will prevent memory leaks or buffer overflows at compile time. This means that there will be no runtime errors or security vulnerabilities in your code. With Rust, you can write asynchronous and as a consequence more flexible code that can handle multiple tasks at once instead of one task at a time compared to such languages as Python or Ruby which are used in synchronous programming.

Fast compilation. Because Rust code doesn’t contain any runtime overhead, it compiles very fast. This makes it great for developing large projects with multiple developers working on them at the same time. You get full access to the compiler so you don’t have to worry about things like compiler errors or library dependencies when building your application from scratch.

Concurrency friendly. Applications built with Rust can take advantage of multithreading without having to worry about race conditions or deadlocks like they would in other languages like C++ or Java where concurrency is not as easy to implement due to a lack of proper memory management support.

Variety of web development tools. The next benefit is that Rust has great tools that simplify building web applications and dealing with web services. For instance, you can connect the database with your Rust application using Diesel ORM (Object Relational Mapper), which is an abstraction layer that provides an API for database access. You can make HTTP requests from your Rust code using Rocket, which is an easy-to-use framework for building high-performance web applications in Rust.

Let’s switch to some examples of the Rust use in web backend development to have a look at this language from a more practical standpoint.

Examples of using Rust in the web backend

Many companies, from small startups to large enterprises, choose Rust over other languages for backend development. And below are some examples.

Mozilla uses Rust as the backend for its Firefox browser. It uses a library called Servo (also written in Rust) that makes it easy to build web browsers in Rust.

Tauri is a desktop-building framework that uses Rust as its backend. The framework allows for integration with diverse front-end frameworks capable of compiling into CSS, JavaScript, or HTML.

Meilisearch is a blazingly fast search engine, written completely in Rust. It returns exhaustive results to any users’ requests in less than 50 milliseconds.  This search engine can be integrated anywhere, from applications and websites to workflow systems. For instance, the Meilisearch team cooperated with Louis Vuitton company to integrate the search engine into one of their iOS applications.

Rust is like a breath of fresh air in the web programming world as it allows for the development of the most ambitious solutions. It may be a bit risky to use Rust due to its still growing community, but once you find your way and your niche, you’ll be able to reap multiple benefits of this language. To guarantee success for your Rust web backend project, we’ve also prepared for you a few tips on hiring the best specialists.

Tips on choosing qualified Rust backend developers

Here are some tips on finding Rust developers who can write bug-free and high-quality code to make your backend work like clockwork:

1. Look for experience in other languages. Look for developers who have worked with other backend languages such as Python or JavaScript before learning Rust. Experience in other languages helps them understand how to use the language effectively and avoid making mistakes when writing code.
2. Find out the time of involvement with Rust. Learn how long they’ve been using Rust so you can tell if they’re experienced enough to work on your project or not. You also need to know how much time they spend developing applications with this language because this will help you determine how much they charge per hour/month/year.
3. Check their portfolio. If they have impressive projects listed on their website, this is a good sign that they know what they’re doing. You can also ask for references from previous clients or colleagues who used their services and were satisfied with them.
4. Look for an active GitHub account. If your candidate has an active GitHub account where they’re regularly contributing to open-source libraries or projects, this is a good sign that they’re passionate about coding in general and not just using it as a way to make money. This means they will likely take pride in their work and deliver quality results on your project too.

You should entrust your project only to an experienced team with a proper work ethic and an aspiration to become dedicated to your business. With a skilled software development partner, you’re already halfway to success.

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what Rust is, what it offers, and how it can be used in the world of web backend development. It’s still a fairly new language, but if you’re looking for an alternative that helps fight memory corruption errors, demands fewer dependencies, and runs blazingly fast — Rust may be just the language for you.

For more information on Rust web development, check out a detailed Yalantis article on the popular Rust web frameworks that can significantly elevate your software development process.