Rust is a programming language designed for systems programming, emphasizing safety, concurrency, and performance. It was developed by Mozilla and released in 2010. Rust is notable for its ability to prevent crashes and data races, which can often occur in other programming languages. It also features a modern syntax and strong type system, making it easier to write and maintain code. Rust is often used for developing operating systems, web browsers, game engines, and other low-level applications.