Can Rust Outperform C++ in Finance? Insights on Safety, Speed, and Hiring Challenges

Based on experience, Rust is not suitable for most programming tasks unless in specific cases.

Rust has long been on the edge of breakthrough, and its adoption in large‑tech sectors may soon become a reality. Google engineering director Lars Bergstrom recently noted that rewriting C++ code in Rust cut build and maintenance effort by more than half.

Many companies therefore wonder whether they can reap these productivity gains. The financial services sector appears less interested: hedge funds and banks have few Rust engineers, though exceptions exist in cryptocurrency, where demand for low‑latency Rust developers is high and smart‑contract roles requiring Rust experience are rising.

Steve Taylor, one of the few Rust practitioners in banking, is rewriting low‑latency C++ trading systems for a large bank. In an eFinancialCareers interview he discussed Rust’s advantages and challenges compared to the industry‑standard C++.

Advantages of Rust

The main advantage of Rust over C++ is safety. Taylor explained that once code is written, Rust turns many hard‑to‑track bugs into compile‑time errors, preventing runtime failures that only appear after many executions. The compiler is almost "bullet‑proof," providing a strong sense of security.

Although C++ is fast, Taylor says writing good Rust code can be as fast or faster because Rust enforces a single mutable reference, allowing optimizations that C++ cannot perform, such as preventing data races and making performance more predictable.

Rust is hard to master, but the payoff can be exponential. Taylor warned that the learning curve is steep before any productivity gains are realized, yet Rust formalizes many practices that C++ developers already follow.

Advantages of C++

C++ also has strengths that come with inherent drawbacks. While Rust offers safety, it can be frustrating; even when you "believe the code is correct," a one‑in‑a‑million bug can still surface. Taylor feels Rust is less programmer‑friendly, describing C++ as "holding your hand" while Rust "grabs your throat." The steep learning curve is perhaps the biggest barrier to Rust’s wider adoption. Taylor noted that unless the salary is compelling, learning Rust is very difficult. He first encountered the language while building a crypto‑trading platform and found many hobbyists quit early, while large companies hesitate due to the cost of training. Reports indicate junior Rust engineers are among the lowest‑paid in the Web3 space. Low‑pay Rust jobs further impede adoption. Technical staff in quantitative trading are experimenting with Rust, but the lack of high‑salary positions compared to C++ makes sustained use challenging. C++ is also considered more "elegant" and has a broader library ecosystem, meaning Rust developers often need to build functionality from scratch, especially for niche technologies.

Will Rust Become Popular in Finance?

In finance, Taylor expresses enthusiasm for Rust but frustration over the limited pool of Rust programmers. He recalls receiving only three Rust resumes over three to four months, versus about fifty C++ resumes. He predicts Rust will become more common in the future, yet it may remain a niche technology, especially as some view programming itself as becoming obsolete.