[andrewflnr]

It kind of shades into post-purchase rationalization, which is (in my experience), the standard theory of why programmers get attached to all kinds of tools, notably text editors with high learning curves.

Bear in mind that I am a bit of a Rust enthusiast myself, but I wonder if this effect is a contributor to Rust hype.

[hueving]

Post purchase rationalization doesn't apply in the rust example because you've received gains that no other language offers.

I learned it knowing well up front that it had a difficult learning curve and that was the price to pay for safe/performant code.

[andrewflnr]

Humans being what they are, the actual benefits don't necessarily come into the equation. :) Sure, Rust's manifold qualities contribute to its popularity, but post-purchase rationalization could still be one of the reasons that people get excited about it.