A Year of Rust in ClickHouse

a year ago

Rust integration into ClickHouse was initiated to leverage Rust's strengths without rewriting existing C++ code.
Initial Rust component was the BLAKE3 hash function, later replaced by a C++ implementation from LLVM.
Subsequent Rust additions included 'skim' for terminal improvements and PRQL as an alternative query language.
Delta Kernel integration marked practical use of Rust for Delta Lake support, replacing sketchy C++ code.
Challenges included supply chain security, complex C++/Rust interop, panic handling, and sanitizer integration.
Cross-compilation and library linking issues were addressed to maintain ClickHouse's portability.
Rust's composability with C++ conventions and dependency management required careful handling.
Despite challenges, Rust integration is deemed successful, encouraging contributions from Rust developers.

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