ByteStash-Dev VS xbytes-rs

A bit of a back story. Before Rust, I was working on Byte Stash, a decentralized file system. The plan was to write a Proof of concept in JavaScript, then write the actual program in an ahead-of-time compiled language. The thing is I didn't know what language to use. Of course, C/C++ was the first option that came to mind, but the second thing that came to mind was the possible pitfalls that one could encounter while using it. So, I decided to search for another option.

Back to why I learnt Rust, byte stash. I put the project aside. Hold on, hear me out. After building the proof of concept in Javascript, my search for the ahead-of-time compiled language for the main project began, then I found Rust. In the time I took to learn rust, and finish up on the proof of concept, I burnt out and took a break from writing code. So I decided to put it aside till I had other people pitch in. Instead, I started rewriting my JS libraries in Rust. Xbyte is one of them. Xbyte was a tool I made to convert bytes into human-readable sizes and vice versa. For instance, 4747 → ('4.75 KB'). When I built this in Javascript, it was relatively easy. But in Rust, it was another ball game. I didn’t need a 64-bit integer, or a 128-bit integer so I invented my 91-bit integer. I spent a lot of time on it, reading what was in the standard library and adapting it to my 91-bit integer. I did abandon it later though and go with the 128-bit integer. But I learnt a lot while working on it. When you are not used to working with core primitives, and you get to touch the holy grail, you feel like you have to advocate for the holy grail. I hadn’t spent much time optimizing for performance previously, but when I started writing Rust, I got to think about optimization, the feeling was exhilarating, a bit frustrating, but definitely exciting. For instance, in javascript, everything is on the heap, you don’t think about it. But with Rust, you are conscious of what you are doing. That’s what I love about Rust. Even if you don’t go to MIT to learn about how computers work, you can’t help but think about some of these things. Not because if you don’t things would go bad, but because these concepts are baked into the type system.