Rust is likely the language that most appealing to me in terms of popular systems languages. The Rust compiler is also relatively large and so I alsowanted to bolster my low-level knowledge with tools I could understand more completely and feasibly bootstrap. The confluence of reading an article about provable correctness with SPARK (which mentions Rust), a general fondness for the declarative nature of Rust’s ownership model, the recognition that smaller compilers tend to also result in less helpful feedback, and Rust popping up for a project at work has pushed me into taking a deeper plunge regardless of the size. In addition to providing ergonomic use of core functionality, Rust also offers a fair amount of other facilities that can improve productivity.
I may still have an interest in alternatives such as Zig, but Rust has popularity in its favor.
I do have some concerns around some of the recent supposed missteps over their intellectual property but for the time being I’ll optimistically trust those to work out (and be ready to pivot if they don’t).