Rust in production at planet scale : lessons learned deploying Rust code to millions of devices
Coding Chats episode 55 - Emma Nedelcu discusses her experience managing teams that transitioned to Rust at Amazon Prime Video. She highlights the reasons for choosing Rust, including its performance and safety features, and the challenges faced during the transition from JavaScript. Emma explains the importance of over-the-air updates, device constraints, and effective onboarding strategies for engineers. The conversation also covers testing strategies, managing technical debt, and hiring practices for Rust teams, emphasizing the need for a mindset focused on problem-solving and adaptability.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Rust and Its Adoption
03:49 Performance Gains with Rust
06:37 Challenges of Over-the-Air Updates
09:36 Onboarding Developers to Rust
12:33 Team Collaboration and Trust
14:53 Testing Strategies for Rust Applications
17:38 Trade-offs and Considerations with Rust
20:13 Hiring and Team Building for Rust
23:02 Advice for Organizations Considering Rust
26:00 Managing Technical Debt in Rust
28:48 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
33:52 Exploring Related Content
LINKS
Emma's Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanedelcu/
John's Links:
John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/
John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett
John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett
John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social
Check out John's software engineering related newsletters:
Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.
Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.
Takeaways
Rust was chosen for its performance and safety guarantees.
Transitioning from JavaScript to Rust involves a steep learning curve.
Over-the-air updates are crucial for device management.
Device constraints significantly impact application performance.
Onboarding to Rust can take about three months for JavaScript developers.
Building trust within teams is essential for fast-paced development.
Testing strategies must be robust to handle diverse devices.
Rust's compile-time checks require strict runtime discipline.
Compiling for WebAssembly requires careful optimization to manage bundle size.
The Rust ecosystem is maturing but still evolving.
Organizations should engage with the Rust community for better integration.
Prototyping can effectively demonstrate Rust's potential to stakeholders.
Managing technical debt in Rust involves understanding complexity depth.
Hiring for mindset and adaptability is more important than experience.
Ideal Rust engineers should have a deep understanding of low-level systems.
Candidates should demonstrate initiative and impact in their projects.
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