So, I've decided to learn Rust in my free time while I am waiting to reenroll in university during the Fall 2025 term. This decision has come only after two weeks of going back and forth with thoughts such as, "Should I learn C++? Maybe I can get a job as a Quant Dev if I get gnarly with it.", "Should I learn Python? Maybe I can become an AI engineer if I get skilled with it too."

At the moment, I am currently passionate about the Rust programming language and the multitude of benefits to the software infrastructure of the world it would bring to further implement Rust as the principal language option for various software engineering dreams and projects.

PYTHON?!... Yeah, I know that in comparison to Rust and C++, Python does not appear as an obvious pick to someone with grand notions such as rewriting a "C" world, using a more optimal programming language such as Rust. However, I was almost swayed to relearn Python when I found out about Harvard's CS50P course on eDX. After learning about the soon-to-be-released superset of Python, created by a company named Modular, known as Mojo. Mojo utilizes an MLIR compiler, which stands for Multi-Level Intermediate Representation. The MLIR compiler technology reduces Mojo's runtimes to thousandths less than what is typically expected to run an identical task in the vanilla version of the Python language. However, there is a catch: the MLIR compiler technology is written in C++. So, under the hood, one could assume that Python is still utilizing a "C" based language in order to obtain performance enhancements. I should state here that my position is firmly against the current "C" software infrastructure that we have used to tear down the modern world. This is because the "C" programming language is inherently unsafe. However, now, come to think of it, this may be a good thing. Simply because if human civilization falls due to undefined programming behavior, then maybe the global ecology will survive. Although this is a rather biocentric way of thinking about the plight of humankind.

"And then there was Pliron." Today, April 15th, 2025, I found out about Pliron, which stands for Programming Languages Intermediate RepresentatiON, which is an MLIR-inspired compiler written in the Rust programming language. This blew me away!!! So, I have to retake Operating Systems in the Fall 2025 term, which is still taught in "C' to my knowledge. So, it is impossible for me not to have to learn "C" while on this extended "financially induced break" from my studies. However, that should only take me about a month of lead time to do. Classes start in late September 2025. So, if I start learning "C" in early July and take a Udemy course on Operating Systems after finishing the "C" course. Then, my success in the course should be solidified.

Getting back to Rust...

A Rusty Future (A presentation I made for the 2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge): https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Eyf1hP_CXcwcQTs_Olbru4Hh7UDd1S66hbEGSKa743s/edit?usp=sharing

CS50P: https://cs50.harvard.edu/python

Mojo in Comparison to Rust (From Modular's Official Site): https://www.modular.com/blog/mojo-vs-rust

pliron: An Extensible IR Framework in Rust | Vaivaswatha Nagaraj | IICT'24: https://youtu.be/LobYuwcUaZA?si=0oj4iG_3lH1nr9yv

Rust(ing) the Future of Compilers: Implementing a Custom IR in Pliron (Cranelift to Pliron-CLIF) – 2: https://youtu.be/d__XhSbFNCM?si=EN5XjjXm80oSE2kZ

Pliron Rust Workshop Session 1: https://youtu.be/6EjMWJ2PY-o?si=CvbxH6K91HF4Ge-9

Pliron on GitHub: https://github.com/vaivaswatha/pliron

Udemy: https://www.udemy.com