[jamincan]

I think you have a point. Rust is primarily focused on being a systems language, and memory safety is the killer feature it brings to the table in that domain. But we know that Rust is being used in areas where its qualities as a systems language are less important.

Why, for example, would a Python developer pick up Rust? Probably because of the really strict typing addressing a major pain point for most Python developers and the trait system being somewhat analogous to Protocols, which any Python developer who has chafed with the dynamic typing is almost certainly already familiar with. With good library support for interfacing between the two, it's a more natural coupling than most people would think on the face of it.

That said, while I don't think a Python developer reaches for Rust because of memory safety, I do think it's still an important factor as it provides the guard rails that make it so someone who has primarily used a GC language and not had to concern themselves as much with managing memory can start using Rust knowing that the compiler is not going to let them accidentally shoot them in the foot when it comes to memory management.