Rust is a modern systems programming language known for its speed, memory safety, and thread safety. It combines the performance of low-level languages like C++ with the ease of high-level languages like Python. Created by Graydon Hoare at Mozilla, Rust addresses C++’s shortcomings, making it ideal for projects like Firefox Quantum. Rust’s package manager, Cargo, simplifies project management, while features like immutability, shadowing, and strict compile-time checks ensure safe and efficient code development.