Verdict: Rust
Rust vs Go for embedded systems:
Rust, no contest.
Go requires a garbage collector and a runtime. Both disqualify it for bare-metal, hard real-time, and resource-constrained embedded targets.
Why Rust wins for embedded
no_std support: Rust programs can target environments with no operating system, no heap, and no standard library. no_std mode compiles to bare metal. Go's runtime requires an OS.
No garbage collector: Deterministic memory management at compile time means predictable latency. A 5ms GC pause is catastrophic in a hard real-time control loop. Rust has zero GC pauses because it has no GC.
Embassy async framework: Embassy is an async Rust framework for microcontrollers. It provides async/await for embedded without heap allocation, running on ARM Cortex-M, RISC-V, nRF, and STM32 chips.
Drop-in for C++: Rust's ABI can interface directly with C. For existing embedded projects in C/C++, Rust can replace modules incrementally without a full rewrite. The Linux kernel accepted this approach.
Memory safety without runtime cost: Rust catches use-after-free, buffer overflows, and data races at compile time. No runtime check overhead means you get safety without paying a performance or memory penalty.
Production examples (2026)
Linux kernel 6.1+Rust-for-Linux merged. Rust driver abstractions and kernel modules accepted. First non-C language in the kernel in 30 years. Growing in 6.2-6.14.
Microsoft WindowsRust adopted for safety-critical Windows components (networking stack, some kernel modules). Part of the Secure Future Initiative announced 2023.
Cloudflare edgeWASM runtime and some edge computation modules written in Rust. No_std-adjacent patterns for size-constrained deployment.
1PasswordCross-platform core library in Rust: same binary ships on iOS (ARM), Android (ARM), macOS (ARM/x86), Windows, Linux. Not strictly embedded, but demonstrates no_std-style portability.