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RustFrom Rapid Scripts to Blazing Speed: Mastering Python and Rust Together

From JOHNWICK

You know that feeling, right? You’re in the zone, hammering out some Python code. It feels amazing. You can build a script, an API, or mess with a huge dataset in what feels like no time at all. Python is just… easy. It’s friendly, it makes sense, and there’s a library for basically anything you can dream up. But then you hit it. The wall. 🧱

Your script starts to drag its feet. It’s processing data so slowly you could go make a sandwich, come back, and it’s still chugging along. Or maybe you’re building something super critical, something that absolutely, positively cannot crash. And you get that little knot in your stomach, wondering, “Is Python really the best tool for this specific job?”

That’s usually when someone in the back of the room whispers, “You should try Rust.” And I get it, trust me. Just hearing the word “Rust” can sound… intense. It has this reputation for being tough, complicated, and a whole different universe from our cozy Python world.

But here’s the thing I’ve learned. This isn’t a “Python vs. Rust” deathmatch. Not at all. It’s actually a story about a killer partnership. They’re not rivals; they’re like two specialists on the same team. And honestly, in today’s world, knowing how to use both isn’t just some neat party trick-it’s a genuine superpower that’ll set you apart.

So, What’s the Big Deal with These Two? 🤔 Let’s break down the vibes of our two main characters here.

  • 🐍 Python: This is our cool, easy-going friend. It’s a high-level language, which basically means the code you write looks a lot more like English than, you know, machine-speak. But its real power? The community and the libraries. Need a web server? Django and Flask are ready to go. Diving into AI? Pandas, NumPy, TensorFlow… you’re covered. Python’s whole deal is making the developer’s life easier and getting ideas out the door. FAST. And with the newer Python 3.14 stuff from October 2025, they’re even trying to fix some of the speed issues with things like free-threading. Which is cool, but it doesn’t change the fundamental game.
  • 🦀 Rust: Okay, so Rust is the super-smart, a-bit-intense friend who always has your back. It’s a compiled language, meaning it gets turned into super-fast machine code before it even runs. Its killer feature is something called the Borrow Checker. Think of it as a brutally honest friend who reads your code and points out every single potential memory mistake before you can run it. It’s a pain at first, I won’t lie, but it saves you from a whole category of bugs that have given programmers nightmares for decades. Rust is all about speed, safety, and making sure your code doesn’t fall over when you need it most.

Why You Should Actually Care About Having Both 🛠️ So they’re different. Big deal, right? Well, yeah, it is. Because you should be using them for totally different things. Or even better, using them together. ✅ When to Grab Python: For the Speed of Your Ideas Python is your tool for getting things done yesterday.

  • Quick Prototypes: Got a wild idea at 2 AM? You can probably slap together a working version in Python before your first cup of coffee.
  • Data Science & ML: I mean, come on. The ecosystem here is just untouchable. All those fancy AI models are built on libraries like PyTorch and Scikit-learn. The funny thing is, the really heavy math is often done in C++ under the hood; Python is just the brilliant, easy-to-use remote control.
  • Websites & APIs: With Django or FastAPI, you can get a web service up and running in a single afternoon. It’s wild.
  • Automating the Boring Stuff: If you have a repetitive task, there’s no better tool than a simple Python script to do it for you.

The catch? Well, it’s not always the fastest kid on the block. That’s usually fine… until it’s a huge problem. ✅ When to Unleash Rust: For When It Absolutely, Positively Has to Work Rust is the hero you call when the stakes are high.

  • When Speed is Everything: Building a game engine, a system that trades stocks in milliseconds, or something that has to chew through terabytes of data? Rust was born for this stuff. I heard about one finance company that cut its transaction time by almost half just by rewriting a key part in Rust. That’s insane.
  • System-Level Stuff & Core Tools: Writing an operating system, parts of a web browser (shoutout to Firefox’s Servo project), or just core system tools? You need that low-level power and total reliability. In fact, people are now seriously talking about baking Rust right into CPython’s core to make Python itself safer and faster.
  • WebAssembly (Wasm): Rust is a total rockstar here. You can compile Rust code to run in a web browser, which is opening up all kinds of new possibilities for web apps.
  • Command-Line Tools (CLIs): Ever used a CLI that just felt… instant? There’s a good chance it was built with Rust. That snappy, no-delay feeling is its signature move.

Look, the Rust compiler will yell at you. A lot. It feels personal at first. But you quickly realize it’s just tough love, forcing you to write better, safer code.

The Secret Power-Up: You’re Already Using Rust! 🤫

This is the part that gets me really excited. You don’t have to choose. And the best part is, the Python world has already figured this out. The fastest and most innovative Python tools today are secretly powered by Rust.

Seriously! Rust has become Python’s performance-enhancing secret weapon.

  • ⭐ Ruff: This thing is a linter and code formatter that is so much faster than the old tools it’s not even funny. Why? It’s written in Rust.
  • ⭐ Polars: If you’ve ever gotten frustrated by how slow Pandas can be with huge files, you NEED to check out Polars. It’s a data manipulation library built in Rust, and it flies.
  • ⭐ uv: A brand new, super-fast Python package installer that’s also, you guessed it, built in Rust. It makes pip install feel ancient.
  • ⭐ Pydantic V2: The core of this super popular data validation tool was rewritten in Rust, and the performance boost was massive.

The strategy is becoming clear: write your main app in Python because it’s fast and fun. When you find a part that’s slow, a real bottleneck, you just rewrite that one little piece in Rust.

Tools like PyO3 and Maturin make this shockingly easy. Maturin especially is a lifesaver-it handles all the boring parts of building and packaging your Rust code so Python can use it.

Just to give you a rough idea. Let’s say you have this Python code that’s super slow. 

# slow_python_code.py
def process_data_slowly(data):
    # a super slow calculation, trust me
    total = 0
    for i in data:
        for j in data:
            total += i * j
    return total
This kind of nested loop is a classic performance killer. So you rewrite just that one function in Rust.
// lib.rs
use pyo3::prelude::*;
#[pyfunction]
fn process_data_fast(data: Vec<i64>) -> PyResult<i64> {
    // This part is gonna be compiled and will run at light speed!
    let mut total: i64 = 0;
    for i in &data {
        for j in &data {
            total += i * j;
        }
    }
    Ok(total)
}
#[pymodule]
fn fast_processor(_py: Python, m: &PyModule) -> PyResult<()> {
    // Make sure your module name here matches the project name!
    m.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(process_data_fast, m)?)?;
    Ok(())
}

Then, after a little magic with Maturin, you can use it in Python like it was there all along. 

# fast_python_code.py
from fast_processor import process_data_fast
my_large_dataset = list(range(1000))
# Boom! Calling the super-fast Rust version! 🚀
result = process_data_fast(my_large_dataset)
print(f"The result is: {result}")

You get the awesome developer experience of Python with the raw, unadulterated speed of Rust. Companies like Discord and Dropbox are already doing this to keep their systems snappy.

So, Who Wins? You Do. ✨

Arguing about “Python vs. Rust” is just old news. The smart developer today doesn’t have a favorite language; they have a toolkit.

My mantra is this: Python is for building fast. Rust is for building the parts that run fast and don’t break.

Don’t think of learning Rust as cheating on Python. Think of it as adding a turbocharger to your car. Build your ideas quickly in Python, and when you hit that inevitable speed bump, don’t waste hours trying to squeeze a little more performance out of it. Just reach for Rust and give that part the raw power it deserves.

Honestly, knowing how to make these two dance together will make you a far more dangerous-and valuable-developer.

So what do you think? Have you tried mixing a little Rust into your Python projects? Drop a comment below, I’d love to hear how it went! 👇

Read the full article here: https://medium.com/@monikasinghal713/from-rapid-scripts-to-blazing-speed-mastering-python-and-rust-together-8b5b5f5aae9a

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