Ask HN: Go deep Rust or C++ or Golang? If your goal is to get maximum financial payoff by getting expertise in one of the above mentioned languages which one would you choose? I know languages matter less. But still I would like to see what you guys think. |
If your goal is maximum financial payoff, it won’t be done with knowing any single programming language.
Pick a product/industry first, then pick the mostly optimal tool. The market cap of the product/industry will determine the payoff (unless you’re inventing a completely new sector).
Ex: if you work at a hedge fund as a top quant/algo person, C++ will be THE language. Being close to the money, literally trading it as the day job, will reward the most financially.
If you think google products and joining google will be the highest payoff, then learn golang.
I hear there’s a lot of rust and go in crypto, if that’s your thing (def not mine).
If you don’t know what product you want to work on, and are only technically minded, then it doesn’t matter, just pick one and go deep - after you master one, look at the others figure out what’s similar, what you didn’t know - all the languages have the same basic principles; some make trade offs while others provide convenience features.
The most popular languages at Google are C++ and Java, and both are an order of magnitude more popular at Google than Go :P
In this article, I'll try to give a brief overview of where I think Go is the ideal choice, and where I think Rust is a better alternative. I'll also try to give a flavour of the essential nature of both languages (the Tao of Go and Rust, if you like)."
C++ and Go are the easiest to get started coding something.
Rust has been for me the most frustrating of the three to start being productive.
I've ended up deciding on Rust, based largely on recommendations from people I trust that Rust is the better language. I've just done some intro videos on both, and like the look of Rust.
One thing to consider: Make sure that there are libraries for what you want to be building.
That brings the choice down to C++ / Rust. Rust seems to have the wave, ride the wave.
I know people will say, this is blasphemy, may be it is, but financial incentive is important.
Staff Engineer skills are where your payoff are.
Hard truth - most programming problems can be solved with most languages with varying degrees of optimal. But the language isn’t what’s separating a major project from success or failure - it’s usually aligning a bunch of humans and pushing them in the right direction.
Devs are expensive, sure, but I'm never hiring a dev who knows a single language. That's a red flag. Personally speaking. Like people who edit files in nano.
https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2021#section-top-p...
Rust pips Go very slightly and C++ is near the bottom (I imagine because of underpaid and overworked game devs dragging the average down?).
I'd take the entire survey with a pinch of salt.
BFung's advice is decent. I would also add:
- What is a problem that lots of people have that you have the skills, willpower, time and creativity to solve?
If you want maximum financial payoff you're better off thinking about what is the maximum value you can offer to the world through problem solving and then select the appropriate language for solving that problem. And again, if maximum financial payoff is your sole goal, you're ultimately going to want to either own your own business or join the management/executive track otherwise you're probably going to hit a pay ceiling. So you might need to simultaneously study up on business skills depending on your existing background.
Another thing to consider:
If Capital by Thomas Piketty is to be believed, capital is growing quicker than wages. So would you be better served by taking time to invest your existing wage in a smarter manner than focusing on increasing your wage? I remember working in a coffee shop in 2014 whilst in debt wishing that I had the money to invest in shares in Tesla because I'd been reading about it and it seemed like a good bet. If I had maxed out all my credit cards and invested in Tesla stock I would actually be a millionaire right now because the stock has risen by over 3000% since then.
Obviously that would have been an insanely risky financial strategy but I think it illustrates the point nicely that maximum financial output is a pretty hard target to optimise for. Instead, optimise to add value. Most people find this a more rewarding path emotionally, spiritually and, as a happy byproduct, often financially as well. After all, a company's share price is, theoretically, a reflection of the value it offers the world at any moment in time.
You can find money in many corners though.