Rust vs Crystal | Popularity, Salary, Performance, Features, and Applications
If you are interested in building command line tools, network services, embedded systems, webAssembly, or systems programming, you should learn Rust over Crystal
Rust is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language that emphasizes performance, type safety, and concurrency.
If you want to build automation tools, data processing services, Networking services, web applications, cloud services, etc. you should learn Crystal over Rust.
Crystal is a high-level general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that was designed to be easy to read and write.
Comparing programming languages and choosing which one to learn or use for your next project can be tricky.
There are many factors to consider in order to choose the right programming language for the job you want to do.
Popularity, opportunities, type of projects, salaries, resources, learning curve, etc. are some of the factors that many people consider when comparing programming languages and choosing which one to learn or use.
Here are some of the comparisons and considerations you should make when choosing to learn a new programming language.
RUST VS CRYSTAL POPULARITY
Comparing the popularity of programming languages is not an easy task because each programming language is different.
Although the usage of many programming languages may intersect, different fields and projects may require the use of different programming languages.
Plus, other programming languages have been around for a longer time than others, giving them more time to be tried and tested, so, bear that in mind.
If you want to learn a programming language solely for its popularity among developers, you should learn Rust over Crystal.
Generally, Rust is more popular than Crystal. As of July 2023, the TIOBE INDEX ranks Rust as the 17th most popular programming language while Crystal does not appear in the top 50 popular programming languages.
According to a Stack Overflow survey of 2023, Rust is the 14th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 13.05% of developers.
On the other hand, Crystal is the 47th most commonly used programming language, it is used by 0.44% of developers according to the same survey.
Further, Rust has been the most loved programming language for seven years straight. As of 2022, Rust was loved by 86.73% of developers versus 13.27% of developers who dreaded it.
In 2023, Rust is the most admired programming language. It is admired by 84.66% of developers. On the other hand, Crystal is admired by 48.07% of developers.
Ultimately, if your choice of which programming language to learn depends on popularity, you should learn Rust over Crystal.
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RUST VS CRYSTAL SALARY
Another popular criterion that many people use to compare programming languages and as an incentive to learn a new programming language is salary.
Salaries for developers differ from one company to the other and from one country to the other.
Experience is another factor that comes into play as far as salaries are concerned.
The more experience you have with a certain technology or programming language, the more likely you are of getting a higher salary.
Generally, Rust developers get higher salaries than Crystal developers. The 2023 Stack Overflow survey of top-paying programming languages revealed that Rust developers get a median salary of $87,012 per year.
On the other hand, Crystal developers get a median salary of $77,104 per year, about $9,900 less than Rust developers.
So, if the salary is your major incentive for learning a programming language, you should learn Rust over Crystal, because you are more likely to get a higher salary as a Rust developer than as a Crystal developer.
Here are 10 Programming Languages that Pay more than $90,000
IS CRYSTAL EASIER THAN RUST
Yes, Crystal is generally easier to learn than Rust. Crystal’s syntax is heavily inspired by Ruby’s, so it feels natural to read and easy to write.
On the other hand, Rust has a steeper learning curve compared to Crystal. Rust can be quite challenging, especially for complete beginners.
Some Rust concepts like ownership and borrowing add a little bit of complexity to the language.
But if you are familiar with systems programming, you will find Rust very easy and straightforward.
Especially when you are targeting low-resource devices, Rust will give you low-level control without giving up high-level conveniences, this makes it a little bit easy to work on systems.
The good news is that there are plenty of helpful resources for both Crystal and Rust to help you learn the languages.
The Crystal and Rust communities are very active and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.
RUST VS CRYSTAL PERFORMANCE
If you plan on working on applications where top-notch performance is critical, you should use Rust over Crystal.
Rust is generally faster than Crystal. Rust is known for its emphasis on performance and control over system resources.
It provides fine-grained control over memory management, and its ownership system enforces strict rules that prevent common bugs like null pointer dereferences and data races.
Rust’s zero-cost abstractions allow you to write high-level code without sacrificing performance. It also provides advanced features for concurrent programming.
As a result, Rust is often chosen for systems programming, networking, embedded systems, and other performance-critical applications.
One of the best features of Rust is how it handles memory.
While developers have to manually handle memory management in languages like C and C++ or use a garbage collector with languages like Crystal, Go, Java, Scala, Kotlin, etc. Rust takes a unique approach;
Developers can still handle memory without shooting themselves in the foot with a concept of ownership and borrowing. This makes it easy and quick to build reliable and efficient software.
Since Rust does not perform garbage collection, it is often faster than other memory-safe languages like Crystal.
RUST VS CRYSTAL FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS
RUST
Rust has great unique features that make it suitable for building command line tools, network services, embedded systems, and more. One of the best features of Rust is how it handles memory.
Rust can power performance-critical services, run on embedded devices, and easily integrate with other languages.
Rust can interface with other programming languages such as C and C++, it has a foreign function interface that can be used to call code written in C from Rust and to call Rust code from C.
Rust also has a library called CXX that can be used to call C++ code from Rust and to call Rust Code from C++.
There are many companies using Rust, some of the popular ones include Dropbox, Firefox, Cloudflare, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Discord, Mozilla, NPM, etc.
CRYSTAL
Crystal was designed to be easy to write and read. It is hugely inspired by Ruby but Crystal compiles to much more efficient native code using an LLVM backend.
The designers of Crystal refer to it as the language of humans and computers because of how easy it is to work with.
Crystal is statically type checked, as a result, any type errors will be caught early by the compiler rather than fail on runtime.
Concurrency in Crystal is achieved using green threads called fibers. These fibers communicate with each other using channels without having to turn to shared memory or locks.
Crystal is used by applications and companies such as Diploid, XevIT Networking, Universal Layer, Invidious, Bright Security, Kagi, Phenopolic, AppMonitor, Errordeck, PlaceOS, Eat App, GigSmart, Mailer To Go, 84Codes, BlockVue, Nikola Corp, MeasureChine, and many others.
SHOULD I LEARN RUST OR CRYSTAL
Once you have compared the languages and evaluated all the factors, you can choose which programming language to learn or use depending on the factors that are on your side and what you want to build.
If you want to build automation tools, data processing services, Networking services, web applications, cloud services, etc. you should learn Crystal over Rust.
If you are interested in a popular, high-performance language that can help you in developing systems quickly, working on command line tools, network services, embedded systems, and webAssembly, you should learn Rust over Crystal.