Rust is a new programming language that provides memory safety and data-race freedom while offering efficiency and low-level control comparable to that of C and C++. Rust allows for safe systems programming, including concurrent threads with shared data.

I will describe the core concepts of the Rust language (ownership, borrowing, and lifetimes), as well as the tools beyond the compiler for open-source software component distribution (cargo, crates.io).

These pieces, along with the continued work of Rust's volunteer community, have led so-called "script programmers" to discover systems programming in a hands-on fashion, expanding both their own skill set, and also the Rust ecosystem as a whole.