I agree but I tool functional programming course in college. It was hard! Someone who may not have invested enough in leaning basics of FP, I can totally see why Rust feels like a hard language. During the prototyping phase, I also avoid lifetimes and other esoteric features and often use unhealthy amount of Arc and Rc.

Nothing beats Cargo and company and loves compiler messages. Have used NIM as python replacement, and while language is great and nim batteries are decent, the ecosystem is not there. But who would use nim as python replacement!?