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Rust

1 min read
Pronunciation
[rust]
Analogy
Rust is like C++ with built‑in safety guards—it gives you low‑level control without risking memory bugs.
Definition
A systems‑programming language focused on safety and performance, increasingly used for smart contracts on blockchains like Solana and NEAR.
Key Points Intro
Rust’s design principles benefit blockchain development by:
Key Points

Memory safety: Ownership model prevents data races.

Zero‑cost abstractions: High‑level features compile to efficient code.

Cargo ecosystem: Integrated package manager and build tool.

WebAssembly target: Compiles to WASM for cross‑platform contracts.

Example
A Solana program written in Rust handles token swaps with on‑chain order books, leveraging Rust’s performance for high throughput.
Technical Deep Dive
Rust contracts use the Anchor framework on Solana, defining accounts and instruction handlers. The Rust compiler (rustc) emits LLVM IR, optimized and compiled to native BPF or WebAssembly. Cargo.toml manages dependencies, and the borrow checker enforces safe memory use at compile time.
Security Warning
Unsafe blocks bypass borrow checks; misuse can introduce memory vulnerabilities.
Caveat
Steeper learning curve due to ownership model and lifetime annotations.

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