Comment on What to learn next, Swift or Rust

farcaller@fstab.sh ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

• Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I was working on the assumption that it would make it harder to learn two at once. Maybe you are right though.

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  • abhibeckert@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Honestly - now that you know one language learning any new language is a pretty simple task. For example - here’s a hello world in the three languages:

    # Python
    print("Hello, World!")
    

    // Swift
    print("Hello, World!")
    

    // Rust
    fn main() {
        println!("Hello, World!");
    }
    
    As you can see, the differences are pretty minimal aside from rust's requirement to have a "main" function.
    
    ChatGPT is very good at translating from one language to another. Try pasting in some code you've already written in python and ask it to convert it to Swift or Rust.
    

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    • Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Python actually isn’t my first language, just my current choice. I’ve programmed in Basic, Pascal, Fortran, PL-SQL, Prolog and C at various times in the past.

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      • abhibeckert@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        OK - well at the end of the day the right approach is to have a problem you’re trying to achieve and pick the best language for that (wether you know the language or not).

        If it’s MacOS/iOS apps, then definitely don’t choose Rust. But reconsider that choice for your next project.

        Also, with modern large language models, it’s even easier to work with an unfamiliar language. And honestly it wasn’t ever all that difficult.

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  • farcaller@fstab.sh ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    The tricky part isn’t the syntax, it’s the domain knowledge. Well, actually it’s syntax, too. Swift has a whole lot of things that aren’t like anything else with sprinkles of Objective-C. Rust turns the common patterns upside down because they make borrow checker sad. But, in the end, what makes you a good engineer is knowing how to apply the tool to solve the problem and that goes well beyond syntax.

    Programming languages are like different kinds of saws: all of them are made to cut things, but there are nuances. Some are replaceable, others can be used for one specific thing. Knowing how to operate a hacksaw gives you some idea how a chainsaw would work even though they are fundamentally different. But tinkle it this way: what are you trying to do? Answering that will tell you which saw you need to use.

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    • Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I’m trying to work out which one will have better for ML in a couple of years time.

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