“I know other languages, I don’t need to learn Rust” – sound familiar? If you haven’t started learning about Rust yet, you may want to change your tune. According to a recent study by technology training company, O’Reilly, developers who code in Rust receive the highest average salary compared to other programming languages.
Rust has been steadily growing in popularity for the last number of years. In fact, according to this year’s StackOverflow developer survey, Rust is the most beloved language by developers. So, what’s the deal? What makes it so brilliant?
Rust is blazingly fast and memory-efficient: with no runtime or garbage collector, it can power performance-critical services, run on embedded devices, and easily integrate with other languages. Rust’s rich type system and ownership model guarantee memory-safety and thread-safety, enabling you to eliminate many classes of bugs at compile-time. How wonderfully convenient?
Rust also has great documentation, a friendly compiler with useful error messages, and top-notch tooling in the form of an integrated package manager and build tool, smart multi-editor support with auto-completion and type inspections, an auto-formatter, and more.
Brush up on the wonderful world of Rust here.
In 2021, Rust developers are actually hard enough to come by, which may explain why they actually earn more than Python developers (hard to believe, I know!) In an interview the author of the O’Reilly report, Mike Loukides, explained:
There’s a huge demand for Python programmers, but there’s also a huge supply.
There are boot camps turning out Python programmers by the thousands; it’s become the standard language for introductory CS in college; and it’s one of two languages that are typically used for data analysis in the sciences. For Rust and Go, the demand is smaller, but the supply is much smaller.
Still not convinced? We had a look through Jobbio data over the last 12 months to find out what the highest paying roles for Rust developers are now. Check them out…
Game Engine Programmer
Engine programmers develop the game engine from which a game runs. They create new functionality in the engine and rewrite the existing systems to make them as efficient as possible. When a new game is being devised, the engine programmer will figure out how to create the best engine for that particular game. They also fix bugs and deal with any technical glitches along the way. Pretty cool gig, right?
The average salary for a Game Engine Programmer in the UK is £34,830 per year.
Software Engineer
Software engineers are the wonderful people that make IT systems ‘tick’. Essentially, they write and code both computer operating systems and the software that runs within them. The job title actually covers a multitude of roles, from systems developer to software architect. It’s highly specialized work that requires a good technical background, a thorough understanding of software and hardware, and a strong grasp of mathematical reasoning and coding languages, like Rust.
The average salary for a Software Engineer in the UK is £43,886 per year.
Backend Engineer
A backend engineer is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the server-side of web applications. In other words, a backend engineer’s primary responsibility is to build the structure of a software application. They set the software team’s foundations of what they need to do to achieve the main goals. This means that one of the primary functions of a backend engineer in a software development team is to write business logic, server scripts, and APIs that will later be used by the other developers and members of the team.
The average salary for a Backend Engineer in the UK is £55,856 per year.
Blockchain Engineer
Blockchain engineers specialize in creating and implementing digital solutions for organizations by using a unique type of technology. Blockchain technology allows information to be distributed and shared publicly via the Internet without being copied. The information is not stored in a central location. Job responsibilities may include developing and implementing items like accelerators and assets, assisting with an organization’s infrastructure setups utilizing technologies, and ensuring applications are secure.
The average salary for a Blockchain Engineer in the UK is £55,232 per year.
If you’re looking for a new job where you can roll out your Rust skills, head on over to The House Of Talent now, where you’ll find some great opportunities!