Re:Getting Past C
by Nacraile on Wednesday January 04, 2017 @12:00PM
(#13319905)
> Here's a neat idea: wouldn't it be cool and save a lot of time if the compiler did this for you automatically, from the start?
Yes, but when the project started the only existing compiler that met all requirements was C (also C++, although that was not chosen, by reasoning I disagree with). We are in a domain where we derive material benefits from the low-level control C gives us (we have a bunch of highly specialized memory management and I/O), and are not willing to accept GC pauses. There's a common sentiment that we would have used Rust if it had existed when we started, but it didn't so we didn't and so it goes.
Yes, but when the project started the only existing compiler that met all requirements was C (also C++, although that was not chosen, by reasoning I disagree with). We are in a domain where we derive material benefits from the low-level control C gives us (we have a bunch of highly specialized memory management and I/O), and are not willing to accept GC pauses. There's a common sentiment that we would have used Rust if it had existed when we started, but it didn't so we didn't and so it goes.