Author: Zander
Created at: 2025-11-19 10:08
Number: 139
Clean content: It is undeniable that Rust offers superior safety over C and can effectively prevent many errors that would otherwise occur. However, introducing Rust into CPython may inevitably lead to some divergence within the community, with some developers in favor and others potentially having reservations. Additionally, this would require developers to be proficient in C, Rust to effectively address related issues. More importantly, as the proportion of Rust code in the project gradually increases, there may be growing calls within the community for a full transition of CPython to Rust. This could further intensify disagreements among core developers, somewhat reminiscent of certain situations the Linux community has experienced in the past. If all proceeds smoothly, we might eventually achieve a RustPython that remains compatible with the C ABI. That said, RustPython already exists today, though it still lags behind CPython in terms of features and ecosystem. Wouldn’t steadily improving it be a more feasible path forward? This approach may prove more manageable than integrating Rust directly into CPython. If there is a clear advantage to introducing Rust into CPython, it may lie in the ability to gradually migrate the official Python implementation from C to Rust while preserving existing functionality and compatibility. If the current path is maintained, CPython will continue to be implemented in C, and even if RustPython develops remarkably, replacing the official implementation would present significant challenges—since doing so would likely require the current maintenance team to undergo a major transition.
