The Rust Programming Language

What Hacker News says

1. lordgregAug 2026
   Hi,

   for the past few months, I've had a chance to start a private project called Rodeo, a clone of MC or NC. After a while, it took most of my free time away so I took AI assistance to help me out finish it. I am releasing it as the open source; it was (and still is) my entry to the Rust and honestly, AI took a good job helping me understand few Rust paradigms (btw, The Rust Programming Language book helped too!).

   If you are the Terminal person as I am, love the vim-based shortcuts and would like something old but new, give it a shot and let me know, how you like it and what feature would you like to see implemented. I'll be happy to add it to TODO list ;)

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2. dprkhJul 2026
   > as does python, which had a reputation for decades as THE language to use to teach new folks to code

   I am very perplexed by this. I am going through Neetcode's DSA course where he explains what RAM and arrays are, but then he goes on to say something like "but since we are going to use Python, none of this applies." Personally, I learned the most about how software really works from reading The Rust Programming Language. It not only teaches you how to program in Rust, but also how memory works, what a string really is, etc.

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3. pie_flavorJun 2026
   In my experience working with newbies, the alterations Brown makes to the chapters on borrowing are strictly worse. It is entirely focused on ramming the difference between the stack and the heap down your throat, which has nothing to do with ownership and borrowing, and newbies will frequently say that they are extremely confused by the chapter, then sigh in relief upon reading the original version. Just use the official guide, nobody has improved upon it yet. https://doc.rust-lang.org/book
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4. dbdrMay 2026
   Learning Rust is more alike to learning a new programming paradigm (e.g. functional when you only know imperative) than a new language with different syntax only. If you ignore that and try to jump directly to writing code more or less the same way as you used to, it will be painful. So take it slow and follow along with The Book (https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/). It all makes sense eventually and is very much worth it!
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5. nritchieMay 2026
   Not true for everyone. I learned Rust from The Rust Programming Language ("The Rust Book") and "Rust for Rustaceans." Sure, coming from C/C++, I could have learned the syntax online but learning best idioms and styles required the time and commitment to read a book cover-to-cover. In fact, I've probably read each page in "Rust for Rustaceans" at least twice to ensure that I understood some of the more subtle points. I could have developed a half-baked notion of how the borrow-checker worked by fooling around and reading blurbs on Stack Exchange. But Rust for Rustaceans made clear the more subtle points that might have taken years of tinkering to understand. Thank goodness people still write excellent books on computer programming.
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6. jjiceSep 2025
   Some of my favorites that have stayed at least pretty relevant. Disclosure: not an old timer.

   - UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook. Get the most recently volume. It's a tomb (~1200 for the most recent).

   - If you do any SQL, SQY Performance Explained is an 80/20 read for DB indexes, query optimization, and troubleshooting

   - A Philosophy of Software Design (more recent). Just a great book on good design considerations to keep in mind.

   - Mastering Regular Expressions. The first half of the book will make you confident. The second half will show you how they're implemented. Regular expressions aren't something to be afraid of!

   - Designing Data Intensive Applications (more recent). Great book about data infra design decisions. Maybe not the scope you're looking for though.

   - Design Patterns (Gang of Four). Absolute classic. Hard to read all the way through though, more of a reference read. You'll recognize a lot of the patterns. You'll find some great to see a formal definition of, and you'll see some you never want to use.

   - Clean Architecture - Uncle Bob's best book IMO. I really don't like Clean Code, but this book talks a lot about interfaces and the right level of separation in your systems.

   - K&R, as you mentioned, is of course a classic

   - The AWK Programming Language is a nice quick read with similar quality and structure to K&R.

   - Beej's Guide to Network Programming. The best overview of network programming, including the C API. Plus this book is genuinely funny. Beej has a ton of great stuff, all on their website for free, or in print.

   - The Rust Programming Language is very well written too. Also online for free or in print.

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