Short version for the impatient: the real difference between Rust and C++ is not speed. Both compile to native code and both can hit the same hardware limits. The difference is who checks your lifetimes, and when. C++ lets you check them yourself, with discipline and tooling. Rust makes the compiler check them before the program exists.

I want to show that with a small program rather than a slogan, because I've read a lot of "Rust vs C++" posts that are just two benchmark charts and a fan club. I write mostly PHP, Go and TypeScript for clients, so I'm not a systems programmer, and I won't pretend to have shipped a game engine in either language.…