Comment by staticassertion
17 hours ago
> Rust doesn't prevent programs from having logic errors.
Sure, but it prevents memory safety issues, which C doesn't. As for logic bugs, what does prevent them? That's a bigger question but I'd suggest it's:
1. The ability to model your problem in a way that can be "checked". This is usually done via type systems, and Rust has an arguably good type system for this.
2. Tests that allow you to model your problem in terms of assertions. Rust has decent testing tooling but it's not amazing, and I think this is actually a strike against Rust to a degree. That said, proptest, fuzzing, debug assertions, etc, are all present and available for Rust developers.
There are other options like using external modeling tools like TLA+ but those are decoupled from your language, all you can ever do is prove that your algorithm as specified is correct, not the code you wrote - type systems are a better tool to some degree in that way.
I think that if you were to ask an LLM to write very correct code then give two languages, one with a powerful, express type system and testing utilities, and one without those, then the LLM would be far more likely to produce buggy code in the system without those features.
Logic errors always stems from lack of understanding and inattention. The former is resolved by good communication and analytical skills. The other is just human nature, but we do have guardrails to help, like static analysis and tests. If used correctly.
There are static tools available for C as well. What you get from Rust mostly is that the check is part of the syntax of the language as well and escaping from it is very visible. You get safety, but you give up flexibility and speed.