RustConf 2023 - Using Rust and Battlesnake to never stop learning

Rust

Learn how a Ruby developer leveraged Rust and Battlesnake to optimize simulation performance, improve code efficiency, and develop a competitive snake by exploring best practices and overcoming challenges.

Key takeaways

The speaker, a Ruby web developer, chose Rust for their Battlesnake development, enjoying the experience and appreciating the compiler’s safety and speed.
The speaker’s first snake was simple, only considering the current board state, but with the introduction of Rust, they were able to create a more complex snake.
Clone calls were a major issue, taking up a significant amount of time, until the speaker used the compact representation, which was cheaper to clone.
Flamegraphs were used to identify slow functions, pointing out the need to speed up make_move and reverse_move.
By removing clone calls, the speaker was able to speed up their snake’s simulations.
The speaker then used the flamegraph knowledge to identify low-hanging fruit and make further improvements.
Rust helped the speaker understand data ownership and lifetimes better.
The speaker used MinMax, a specific tree search algorithm, which worked well, but then optimized it for a small memory footprint and fast simulation.
The speaker was able to use Rust to optimize for memory usage and speed, leading to significant improvements in simulation performance.
The final product was a fast and efficient snake, capable of simulating moves and making decisions quickly.
The speaker was able to analyze and improve their code using Rust, leading to better performance and a more competitive snake.

RustConf 2023 - Using Rust and Battlesnake to never stop learning

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