Rust 1.88 vs. Go 1.23 vs. Zig 0.12 for High-Performance Network Proxies High-performance network proxies demand low latency, high throughput, minimal memory overhead, and reliable concurrency handling. Three modern systems programming languages—Rust 1.88, Go 1.23, and Zig 0.12—each take distinct approaches to meeting these requirements. This article breaks down their strengths, weaknesses, and suitability for proxy workloads. Key Requirements for Proxy Workloads Before comparing languages, we define the core metrics for proxy evaluation: Latency : Time to forward a single request, including parsing, routing, and upstream communication. Throughput : Maximum requests per second (RPS) under sustained load. Memory Efficiency : Footprint per active connection, and overhead under scale. Concurrency Model : How the language handles thousands of simultaneous connections. Developer Experience : Compile times, tooling, ecosystem libraries for networking, and debugging support.…