Thirteen Years with Rust and the Birth of Rue

Marking thirteen years since first engaging with Rust, the author reflects on a consistent preference for the language, despite acknowledging its imperfections. This sentiment of contentment mirrors a personal theme of happiness experienced throughout 2025.

The idea of creating a new programming language has long been a passion, stemming from earlier involvements with Ruby and Rust. However, personal time constraints, particularly with an upcoming 40th birthday, had previously relegated this ambition to a lower priority.

A significant shift in 2025 was the author's transition from AI skepticism to extensively using large language models (LLMs) like Claude for coding. While remaining cautious about LLM applications beyond programming, their utility as a software development tool has proven genuinely effective for personal use.

This newfound efficiency with AI reignited the language creation ambition, leading to the initiation of a personal language project named 'Rue'. The name 'Rue' was chosen for several reasons:

• Its 'Ru' prefix aligns with previous involvements in Ruby and Rust.
• It carries a negative connotation ("to rue the day"), similar to potential interpretations of 'Rust'.
• It has a nature connotation (the herb 'Rue'), akin to 'Rust's' association with fungi.
• It is short and memorable.

For years, the feasibility of developing a programming language without substantial financial backing and a dedicated team has been a question. The author posits that LLMs could fundamentally alter this dynamic, allowing for significant progress without the extensive investment traditionally associated with language development, as exemplified by projects like Mozilla's.

Initial attempts at developing Rue encountered setbacks and were temporarily shelved due to a busy period. However, a recent restart has yielded more promising results, prompting the decision to publicly announce the project's existence.

The project is explicitly defined as a personal hobby, with no current aspirations for community building, external contributors, or commercial success. The author retains the right to cease development if it no longer remains enjoyable, emphasizing its purely personal nature.

Interested parties can explore Rue at https://rue-lang.dev/, which includes a blog and an RSS feed for potential updates.

Acknowledging its nascent stage, Rue is described as a rudimentary work-in-progress, with known bugs in code generation and a lack of fundamental features.

The author concludes with a note of gratitude for a positive 2025 and expresses hope for continued engagement with Rust and potentially Rue in the coming decade.