C++ templates are an inscrutable nightmare, the reputation is deserved. Rust is a bit different.
Any software engineer that doesn't have a love/hate relationship with C++ templates is lying. On one hand they are extremely opaque and not user friendly, unnecessarily so. On the other hand, mastery of that dark art allows metaprogramming that you could only dream of in other systems languages -- the modern C++ template facility is extremely powerful. The number of C++ software engineers that achieve this level of metaprogramming mastery is quite small. In fairness, the C++ language has been intentionally evolving to make metaprogramming much easier than it used to be, and it has made massive strides in that direction.
Rust lacks the expressiveness of C++ template metaprogramming facilities in significant ways. However, it is plausible that it will gain them eventually. The question is if it is possible to support advanced metaprogramming without the train wreck that is C++. I think it is eminently possible to do better, the question is how long it will take other systems languages to have metaprogramming expressiveness similar to current incarnations of C++.
Any software engineer that doesn't have a love/hate relationship with C++ templates is lying. On one hand they are extremely opaque and not user friendly, unnecessarily so. On the other hand, mastery of that dark art allows metaprogramming that you could only dream of in other systems languages -- the modern C++ template facility is extremely powerful. The number of C++ software engineers that achieve this level of metaprogramming mastery is quite small. In fairness, the C++ language has been intentionally evolving to make metaprogramming much easier than it used to be, and it has made massive strides in that direction.
Rust lacks the expressiveness of C++ template metaprogramming facilities in significant ways. However, it is plausible that it will gain them eventually. The question is if it is possible to support advanced metaprogramming without the train wreck that is C++. I think it is eminently possible to do better, the question is how long it will take other systems languages to have metaprogramming expressiveness similar to current incarnations of C++.