I have had very good results using Claude to write Rust. My prompting is often something like

'I have a database table Foo, here is the DDL: <sql>, create CRUD end points at /v0/foo; and use the same coding conventions used for Bar.'

I find it copies existing code style pretty well.

I find that Claude writes boilerplate SQL very well, and is effectively an 'ORM' for me - I just get plain SQL for CRUD.

Complex queries I write myself anyway, so Claude fills the 'ORM' gap for me, leaving an easily understood project.

Writing is just half the job. Now try migrations, or even something as fundamental as ”find references” on a column name. No, grep is not sufficient, most tables have fields called ”id” or ”name”.

I have been writing software for about 20 years (following on from OChem PhD and research for a few years). I am 'senior' and get paid plenty in Oz...

I have aphantasia - I can't visualise/picture things in my mind, so I use pen and paper or whiteboards A LOT!

I create various ERDs, mind maps, sequence diagrams etc. I use a ReMarkable which makes it a bit easier to move stuff around and makes it more effective.

I get that some people might think it is 'pure romanticism', but pen and paper has been crucial for my success.

Most humans cannot visualize too many things in their minds at one time. I think the limit is low on average. We all therefore benefit from pen and paper. But I recognize that some more than others.

Same boat - 20 years experience, in Oz, with aphantasia... I've only realise in the past month that I do poorly on Live Coding interviews because since the interview is on the clock I immediately start coding so I have something to show, but since I can't picture anything in my minds eye I'm literally coding blind - rereading the question over and over hoping the solution will come! So after realising this I've started using an A2 notebook to draw out the problem, work my way through the problem on paper, and finally map out a solution (still on paper)

... then like magic, the code comes naturally (I'm guessing that's how normal people think when programming)!

> However the novelty of what can be solved is very surprising.

I've read that the 'surprise' factor is much reduced when you actually see just how much data these things are trained on - far more than a human mind can possibly hold and (almost) endlessly varied. I.e. there is 'probably' something in the training set close to what 'surprised' you.

"The purpose of economics is to make astrology look respectable!"

I program Rust using the Axum framework and Sqlx.

Github copilot is so good at writing CRUD db queries that it feels as easy as an ORM, but without the baggage, complexity, and the n+1 performance issues.

I got a PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1994. I was a researcher for a few years and converted to software in 2000.

The degree turned out to have a lot of transferable skills - especially in researching and solving problems.

Just 25 years later I am a Principal Engineer in the Oz Telco industry writing Rust!

I don't regret the degree for a moment - although when I went through the degree was free, even at a top tier Australian university.

I’m not sure this pathway exists now at least in the US.

Check out the fingers on the AI generated images!

My journey has been from JVM (Java, Scala, Kotlin) -> Go -> Rust, writing web backends, APIs, integrations etc.

I don't write 'clever' code, just sticking stuff into Postgres/PostGIS/Neo4J/Clickhouse, some basic business logic and math, returning JSON etc.

I have found Rust to be super-productive and a joy to use compared with Go. I don't use the complex parts of Rust; no messing with lifetimes, a little cloning and using Arc<> to share things across threads/tasks.

GitHub Copilot in Jetbrains RustRover is very effective at generating accurate Rust CRUD code, handler methods etc. I don't bother with an ORM because it is so fast to write the SQL queries. Having said that, Copilot sucks at anything even slightly complicated and you take a risk asking it to generate code you can't validate quickly.

The whole of Rust might be a beast, but I have had a very productive couple of years just using the 'boring' bits and it took a week or two for me to be more productive than in Go writing bog-standard web backend code.

> it took a week or two for me to be more productive than in Go writing bog-standard web backend code.

am i understanding that correctly? you started learning/writing rust and it took 2 weeks to be MORE productive? if so, i'm just in awe at your ability to pick it up so fast.

I'm an jr dev so it's understandable that it's going to take me a lot longer but damn, i've been at it for over a half a year and I wouldn't say I'm anywhere near more comfortable/productive than my previous languages. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. much respect.