Rust: From Elevator Fixes to Big Tech’s Quiet Backbone

Many moons ago, if you heard the word Rust, you’d probably think of either a survival video game or the reddish-brown process of iron oxidization. But after spending months in the malloc log, you’d know it as something else entirely — a programming language that sneaked its way from fixing an elevator to powering production servers at some of the biggest tech companies on the planet.

The language famous for “$0 at checkout abstractions.”
The language infamous for its steep learning curve.
And lately, the language quietly proving the haters wrong.

Rust Wasn’t Supposed to Work (But It Did)

Admittedly, Rust was dismissed not too long ago for not being widely used in production (which, compared to mainstream languages, is technically true).But here’s the catch: getting a new language adopted is brutally hard.

Just ask Google’s so-called C++ killer, Carbon. Hyped up, polished slides, GitHub repo… and then? Silence. It didn’t even make it past the “cool announcement” phase.

Meanwhile, Rust has been grinding. In 2022, only 9% of developers reported using it, according to Stack Overflow’s survey. That number has since climbed to nearly 15%. For perspective, OCaml — better known as Jane Street’s employee DRM — jumped from 0.59% to 1.2%. (Congrats?)

When you strip away the memes, the hair dye, and the Twitter flame wars, here’s what’s left:
👉 A blazingly fast, memory-safe, developer-delighting language.

Big Tech’s Rust Agenda

Rust didn’t just survive the hype cycle. It quietly infiltrated critical infrastructure across big tech:

Amazon built Firecracker in Rust, which powers AWS Lambda and Fargate.
Microsoft is rewriting parts of Windows and Azure in Rust (yes, your blue screens will now render faster).
Google added Rust to Chromium and Android.
Meta uses it for Mononoke, their Git alternative.
Discord rebuilt their backend in Rust (so when you say “ez clap” at 3 AM, it actually delivers).
Dropbox moved file sync logic to Rust.
Twitter/X runs a Rust-based ML serving layer.

And here’s the thing: big tech doesn’t adopt tech because it’s trendy. They adopt it because it increases shareholder value. If you’re rewriting your backend, core OS code, or browser engine in a new language — it better be safe, fast, and built to last.

Beyond Shareholders: Rust in the Open

But Rust isn’t just for trillion-dollar companies. The open-source and Linux world has also embraced it:

Linux kernel now supports Rust.
Ubuntu announced that core utilities (like sudo) will soon run in Rust.
Valve has been backing Rust in Proton for years.
Python’s ecosystem is getting rusty too — UV, the new package manager, is written in Rust, finally replacing pip’s dependency circus.
Figma uses Rust to render massive design files 3× faster.
Shopify runs untrusted partner code in Rust sandboxes.

Rust even compiles to WebAssembly, letting you ship safe, fast code straight to the browser.

The Elephant in the Room: Rust’s Learning Curve

Let’s be real: Rust isn’t the easiest language to learn.

Most complaints about its “learning curve” come from developers used to ignoring memory safety until production crashes force them to care. If you’re coming from C++ or Zig, Rust will feel natural (and honestly, easier).

If you’re coming from high-level land (JavaScript, Python, Ruby), expect some frustration. But also — expect to walk away with skills that make you a better programmer overall.

Rust isn’t just a low-level language. It’s a high-level language with low-level capabilities. And learning it is an investment that pays off.

So… Should You Learn Rust?

I’m not here to scream:
🚀 “Rust is the future!”
💀 “Learn Rust or perish!”
📜 “Top 10 reasons Rust will change your life!”

No. Calm down.

Here’s the truth:
Rust is a cool, growing technology with serious momentum. If you enjoy it and have a project where it fits, go for it. Don’t overthink ROI. Don’t become one of those sigma-grindset ROI bros calculating if Rust adds “alpha.” Just build cool stuff.

Learning is a privilege, and if you’ve got the time and space to pick up Rust — take it.

Final Thoughts

Rust started as a joke, got memed to death, and still managed to become the backbone of critical infrastructure. Whether you’re running cloud services, fixing the Linux kernel, or just trying to make Discord stop lagging, chances are there’s Rust under the hood.

And that’s the real story: not hype, not memes — just a stable, reliable, robust programming language with a bright future.