undefined | Better HN

0 pointsncmncm7y ago0 comments

The whole point of C++ is that it enables writing more powerful libraries, capturing semantics in libraries that can then just be used. C++ is still quite a lot more powerful for this purpose than Rust. Rust will get better at it, over time, but it has a long way to go and C++ is not siiting still.

Rust is still a niche language, and if its rates of adoption and improvement do not keep up, it will remain a niche language, and fade away like Ada.

I cannot imagine a serious programmer switching from C++ to Go. If you can, you have a much livelier imaginary life than I do.

0 comments

8 comments · 4 top-level

ajxs7y ago· 2 in thread

The Ada partisans are all out in force here in this thread to defend Ada, all four of us. haha... For what it's worth, niche as Ada may be, it's an _important_ niche. It remains widespread in safety-critical applications, and isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It's really good to see Rust taking lessons from Ada/SPARK in the area of formal proofing! If any language is going to threaten C++, it looks like Rust. I don't expect an Ada resurgence to happen, unfortunately.

> I cannot imagine a serious programmer switching from C++ to Go. If you can, you have a much livelier imaginary life than I do.

This got a laugh out of me.

pjmlp7y ago

A large majority of Ada partisans found their corner in Java, C# and C++'s type system improvements over C, and made the best we could from the sour grapes of C's copy-paste compatibility.

ajxs7y ago

Calling myself an Ada partisan is a bit of a stretch. I've recently begun using it for embedded development, which is a domain almost completely dominated by C. That's the angle I'm coming in from.

1 more reply

nicoburns7y ago· 1 in thread

> Rust is still a niche language

Only just barely at this point. It has significant projects from a lot of the largest companies (Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc). Firefox is using it, Dropbox is using it, Red Hat is using it.

ncmncmOP7y ago

In five years it might be just barely a niche language. In ten, if it catches on, it won't be.

If it does, its users will have come over from Java, C#, and C.

rootlocus7y ago· 1 in thread

Is this the "no serious programmer" fallacy?

Y_Y7y ago

No true hn commenter would make such a mistake.

machinecoffee7y ago

From what I can see, the whole point of C++ is to wrap existing C libraries and call them OO :-)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse