I have been learning and practicing Rust for 2 years (part-time). I love the language and feel at home with it. Recently, I got the opportunity to develop a Rusty service from scratch at my work, which makes me very happy.
However, I also feel overwhelmed. There are so many things out there that I don't know how to do in Rust. Whenever I face a new challenge, I doubt myself and hesitate to try. I feel like I have hit a wall in my mind and I can't break free.
It is hard to stuck in this state. I need some guidance -- a push maybe.
I think one way to overcome this is to join a group of Rusty people who can support me and inspire me. But where I can find such a group?
I would appreciate any advice or resources that can help me improve my situation.
I am new to the language as well, started my journey in may this year, as a hobbyist. Prior to Rust I was doing my thing with C, also as a hobbyist.
One of my biggest struggles is to make my mind accept the things that Rust offers that feel a bit unnecessary at first, when looking from a C perspective. After accepting them, I have to make me feel familiar enough with them to actually use them. And only after using, I begin to understand really.
With C this was much easier, as I did assembly before C. As soon as you see that C is just assembly in a bit more generic form, you have taken the most important step. With Rust, I find, I have to unlearn that way of thinking.
For example, as long as I was looking at the borrowing system as just a fancy way of talking about pointers (and pointers for me, I understand at the machine level), I wasn’t really getting it. Now that I do get it (I think) I can allow myself to see the borrowing system with the context of pointers and the machine level again.
Anyhow, that is my way of struggling. The “support groups” you are looking for, I have found in a couple of places:
Here, this forum. A lot of people who are great. Kind, helping, really going all the way in helping you understand, pushing you forward, and if needed give you a small kick in the ass.
Reddit. A few Rust subreddits, with the same kindness, a bit less structured, a bit more room (at least in my mind) to just talk a bit around questions then this forum, but generally very similar.
StackOverflow. But read only Rust related answers. The atmosphere there is a bit toxic, at least for hobbyists, outside the Rust environment
YouTube. Not really a group, but also a lot of kind Rustaceans who dive into interesting subjects and who do motivate me.
Welcome. Thanks for joining the group.
The first step is getting yourself motivated to complete some project. Simple is a good start. What kind of stuff interest you? If you find something you want to create, it is a lot easier to do the work.
Then just try to code it. Start with 'rust' that looks like 'c'. If you get stuck, ask here for help. Someone here will have advice on how to understand the compile errors or make your code more rusty.
If you feel uncomfortable asking a "stupid" question, please remember that there is someone out here that also has a very similar "stupid" question and your asking may get them the answer they want.
