[mtzet]

In my opinion, the advtanges of Rust over C++ are not so much the borrow checker, but all the other features. In particular the error handling. I understand the reasoning for implementing exceptions in C++, but I really don't like the implicit nature of them. Algebraic Data Types are really easy to use, and with the '?'-operator using them is very clean.

Having proper metaprogramming is also really great. Sure, you can definitely go overboard, but a few things are just only possible with proper metaprogramming like quickly printing the value of a struct or enum for debugging and easy serialization/deseralization (like serde does). It's just a huge boon for doing introspection.

But it's not just the particular features that are important, it's the fact that best practices are integrated into the language. There are standard solutions for most things: error handling, unit tests, build system, package management, formatting style, etc. Sure, if you have a long-running C++ project, you're gonna have answers for all that, but the consistency matters when you want to integrate libraries.

I think if you're going to use Rust, you should try to speak to its strengths rather than retrofitting existing C++ idioms onto it. There are both real advantages and very real costs to doing this, and you certainly shouldn't just switch an existing C++ codebase to rust.