I don't think Rust will ever be as big as C++ because there were fewer options back then.
These days Go/Zig/Nim/C#/Java/Python/JS and other languages are fast enough for most use cases.
And Rust learning curve doesn't help either. C++ was basically C with OOP on steroids. Rust is very different.
I say that because I wouldn't group Rust opposition with any of those languages you cited. It's different for mostly different reasons and magnitudes.
> Rust doesn't have this kind of industry wide push, even in OSes where it is being embraced like Windows and Android, note that it isn't being pushed as yet another way to write userspace applications, rather low level OS services.
This seems apropos in a world where C++ has been bleeding userspace buy-in for longer than I've been professionally programming.
I started learning Rust a few months ago in an attempt to teach an old dog new tricks, and while it's quite pleasant as far as it went, I can think of several classes of programs that I would be reluctant to use the language for. But I wouldn't dream of using C++ for those types of programs either.
There are rumors floating around that Microsoft is rolling their own rustc-codegen-gcc paired with their C2 codegen backend. Don't know what to make of those rumors, but it helped to reassure me to feel like the time I invested thus far hasn't been wasted.
Not sure about the new backend, but they are indeed quite invested.
"From Blue Screens to Orange Crabs: Microsoft's Rusty Revolution"
As someone that was there, a few things helped C++ adoption, and even then it wasn't without the C vs C++ flamewars that endure to these days.
- At the time, with a few minor differences, C++ was Typescript for C, thus very easy to adopt into existing projects
- Being born on the same birthplace as C and UNIX, meant all C compiler vendors saw as added value to have it as part of their offering, and it was natural that every UNIX SDK also had C++ support available alongside C.
- Apple, Metrowerks, IBM, Borland and Microsoft helped to push C++ adoption, by making it the official way to use application frameworks. MacApp (originally in Object Pascal), PowerPlant, CSet++, Turbo Vision/OWL/VCL, and MFC respectively.
This kept C++ as the language to go for performance in enterprise computing, while Delphi and VB got the "easy" development role, until Java and .NET took over all those frameworks.
Rust doesn't have this kind of industry wide push, even in OSes where it is being embraced like Windows and Android, note that it isn't being pushed as yet another way to write userspace applications, rather low level OS services.