Pure Virtual C++ 2026 streams Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT, a free, one-day virtual conference for the whole C++ community, live on YouTube (Microsoft Reactor) and Twitch, with on-demand recordings on the Visual Studio YouTube channel afterward. Register now →
This is the third and final post in our Meet the Speakers series. We’ve covered building and running faster and the AI-native developer workflow. We close with a theme about where the language is headed and how it lives alongside its neighbors: modernizing C++.
Why this theme matters
Modernizing C++ isn’t only about adopting new standard features, it’s also about C++’s place in a world where hybrid codebases are increasingly the norm. Nowhere is that clearer than at the C++/Rust boundary, where two systems languages have to coexist without giving up any performance. If your codebase is heading toward a mixed future, or is already there, this is the map you need.
Victor Ciura: Mind The Gap: C++/Rust Interop
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Victor is the technical lead of the Rust program at Microsoft, building the compiler toolchain and SDK behind Microsoft’s broader oxidation efforts and the open-source community. He spent the last 25 years doing systems programming in C++ across teams including the Microsoft C++ team, Advanced Installer, and Clang Power Tools, which makes him uniquely placed to talk about both sides of this boundary. Follow Victor: X @ciura_victor · Mastodon @ciura_victor · Bluesky @ciuravictor.bsky.social |
What the session is about. Hybrid C++/Rust codebases are quickly becoming a reality, and they’re here to stay. As both Rust and C++ codebases keep growing, on top of the mountain of existing C++, seamless interop between the two becomes essential. Victor surveys the real challenges: ABI compatibility, platform and toolchain guarantees, dropping down to C and FFI, and the many tools that generate glue code between the languages. The hard truth is that general-purpose interop without loss of performance hasn’t been fully solved yet; “just making it work” isn’t enough when both performance and ergonomics are on the line. This talk highlights the challenges, the solutions explored so far, and the promising avenues at the frontier.
What you’ll learn
- Why hybrid C++/Rust codebases are becoming common, and why interop is the key to their success.
- The spectrum of existing approaches, from ABI compatibility and FFI to glue-code generators, and the tradeoffs between performant and ergonomic.
- Where the frontier of C++/Rust interoperability is heading.
Why C++ developers should attend. Whether you’re curious about Rust or already staring down a mixed codebase, this is a clear-eyed, experience-backed guide from someone leading the work at Microsoft. You’ll leave understanding the real constraints and the directions worth watching.
Learn ahead
- Recommended starting point: Foreign Function Interface : The Rustonomicon (official)
- Also worth exploring:
Register today
Mind The Gap: C++/Rust Interop is a featured session at Pure Virtual C++ 2026. Register for free →
That wraps our Meet the Speakers series: thank you for reading! Tune in on Monday to watch our full line-up of on-demand sessions, and join us live on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT for the main event. If you can’t make it, every session will be available on-demand on the Visual Studio YouTube channel afterward.
See you there!
