On Rust and frontend development
4 min read

Rust’s Growing Influence in the JavaScript/CSS Ecosystem

Rust, a systems programming language known for its performance and safety, is increasingly being integrated into the JavaScript and CSS ecosystems.

This integration brings the robustness and efficiency of Rust to the frontend development world, offering significant improvements in performance.

There’s a reason NextJS is using Rust for its compiler and Turbopack.

There’s a reason why Rust is used for complex poker solvers like Game Theory Optimal (GTO).

1. So Why Rust?

Rust’s appeal lies in its ability to provide memory safety without a garbage collector, its concurrency model, and its performance, often comparable to C and C++. These features make Rust an excellent choice for performance-critical applications and tools. For the JavaScript and CSS ecosystems, Rust’s integration promises faster build times, more efficient code, and improved security.

2. Rust-Powered JavaScript Tools

  • SWC (Speedy Web Compiler): SWC is a JavaScript/TypeScript compiler written in Rust. It’s designed to be a faster alternative to Babel, offering significant speed improvements for JavaScript and TypeScript compilation.

  • Parcel: Parcel is a fast, zero-configuration web application bundler. Parcel 2 integrates SWC for JavaScript and TypeScript transpilation, benefiting from Rust’s performance advantages.

  • Rome: Rome is an ambitious project aiming to unify the JavaScript tooling ecosystem (linting, formatting, bundling) under a single tool. Rust’s integration into Rome is planned to leverage its performance and reliability.

3. CSS Tools and Libraries

Rust’s influence is also growing in the CSS tooling space:

  • Lightning CSS: Lightning CSS is a fast, Rust-based CSS parser and minifier. It aims to provide a more efficient alternative to existing JavaScript-based CSS tools, significantly reducing build times.

  • Dioxus: While primarily a Rust framework for building UI components, Dioxus offers a seamless way to write frontend applications in Rust, which can then interoperate with CSS for styling. This provides a powerful option for developers looking to leverage Rust throughout their stack.

4. WebAssembly (Wasm)

WebAssembly plays a crucial role in Rust’s integration into the JavaScript ecosystem. Rust’s support for Wasm allows developers to write performance-critical parts of their applications in Rust and run them alongside JavaScript in the browser. This hybrid approach leverages Rust’s performance while maintaining the flexibility of JavaScript. Key projects in this space include:

  • yew: A framework for building client-side web applications in Rust, compiling to Wasm. It allows developers to write complex applications with the performance and safety of Rust, seamlessly integrating with JavaScript.

  • wasm-bindgen: A library and tool that facilitates high-level interactions between Rust and JavaScript. It helps in binding Rust and JavaScript together, making it easier to call Rust code from JavaScript and vice versa.

5. The Future of Rust in Frontend Development

The integration of Rust into the JavaScript and CSS ecosystems is still in its early stages but is rapidly gaining traction. The benefits of using Rust—improved performance, safety, and concurrency—are compelling for the frontend development community. As more tools and frameworks adopt Rust, developers can expect even faster and more reliable build processes, ultimately leading to better-performing web applications.

Conclusion

Rust’s integration into the JavaScript and CSS ecosystems marks a significant shift towards more performant and secure web development practices. By leveraging Rust’s strengths, tools like SWC, Lightning CSS, and frameworks like yew are setting new standards for speed and efficiency. As this trend continues, Rust is poised to become a cornerstone of modern frontend development, offering developers the best of both worlds: the power of Rust and the flexibility of JavaScript.

Are you using any Rust-powered tools in your JavaScript or CSS workflows?