JetBrains bets on Rust Link to heading

Just a few days ago, JetBrains — the company behind popular IntelliJ family of integrated development environment (IDE) — launched early access program (EAP) of RustRover, a dedicated IDE for Rust development!

RustRover IDE

I think this is a big step forward for the Rust community. JetBrains is the leader in IDE market, and if JetBrains is committed to launching an IDE dedicated for Rust development, this must mean that JetBrains has seen a great potential in the Rust development market.

Let’s consider all the languages that have a dedicated IDE from JetBrains:

  • Java/Kotlin (IntelliJ)
  • C/C++ (CLion)
  • C#/.NET (Rider)
  • Go (GoLand)
  • Javascript (WebStorm)
  • Php (PhpStorm)
  • Python (PyCharm)
  • Ruby (RubyMine)
  • Rust (RustRover)

All of these languages (except Rust for now) are mainstream languages that are actively in use in industry with constant demand for developers. Given that JetBrain’s main source of income comes from enterprise, rather than individual developers, JetBrains is betting on Rust to take off in industry.

This is not a surprise. Microsoft is re-writing some of their Windows libraries in Rust. Google is also writing low-level Android code in Rust. We can clearly see that demand for the Rust developers is growing quickly, and JetBrains probably knows this better than we do.

I don’t want to claim that JetBrains has been always accurate with its bets. There are some IDEs that JetBrains had to pull off. For example, AppCode is an IDE for Apple ecosystem, but JetBrains had to pull it off. This does not mean there wasn’t any demand for iOS and macOS developers, but probably that not many developers are willing to pay for AppCode when they have a great free alternative, such as XCode.

JetBrains’ launch of RustRover is a sign of Rust’s growing popularity and potential in the industry. Rust is a fast, safe, and modern language that has attracted many big companies and developers. With RustRover, Rust developers can enjoy a powerful and dedicated IDE that supports their needs and enhances their productivity. RustRover is a welcome addition to the Rust ecosystem and a milestone for the Rust community.