Some of the first things you learn about in Rust are its ownership and mutability systems. For ownership, you learn about the difference between owned values and borrowed references, where for mutability you learn about immutability by default and how to make a binding mutable. When I learned about this, I took them to be two different permutations that can be applied to data independently of eachother, creating distinct combinations.

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Steve Klabnik recently invited the Rust community to talk about how we can best sell Rust to others; not by focusing on Rust’s safety wins (which can be an abstract benefit), but on the benefits of using Rust in a wider sense. So I’ve decided to chime in with what has sold (and keeps me sold!) on Rust. I want to start with a small tour through time to help you understand where I’m coming from though, before I start talking about Rust itself.

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