May 19
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Bob Belderbos (belderbos.dev, Spain) and Jim Hodapp (Refactor Coaching, Chicago) sit down to talk about why Rust has become their go-to language in the age of AI coding agents, and why the compiler's strictness is a feature, not a bug, when an LLM is writing your code. We cover: - How Python and Rust complement each other in a modern toolbox - Why Rust's compiler acts as a guardrail for non-deterministic AI agents - What Pythonistas discover when they hit the borrow checker for the first time (and why it makes them better programmers) - Memory management as a mindset shift, not just a chore - Go vs Rust and when each one earns its place - Cargo, Clippy, uv, and why good tooling shapes a language's adoption - The Mythos zero-day and what it says about software safety in 2026 - Craftsmanship vs vibe coding and the growing divide in how we build Read the companion blog post: "The Rust Compiler as an AI Coding Agent Guardrail" https://belderbos.dev/blog/rust-compiler-ai-agent-guardrail Want to learn Rust as a Pythonista? - 6-week cohort: https://scriptertorust.com - Free intro warm-up exercises: https://rustplatform.com Chapters: 00:00 Python and Rust. Why those two? First some intros 05:30 Is Rust a more reliable choice for LLM coding than Python / scripting languages 12:32 Rust uses specific code that's different than humans would 13:36 When using Rust, I'm way more aware about the data flow 19:14 Having both languages in your toolbox is a strength 20:46 I would still say Rust has an edge over Go, because latter has a garbage collector 25:16 In the age of AI coding agents, Rust is a worthy language to learn 31:36 The divide between craftsmanship and builders nowadays Connect: - Bob: https://belderbos.dev - Jim: https://www.refactorcoach.com