2 ms·
Using a compiler partially written in c++ is very different from writting and mantaining a kernel (or whatever) in c++.
by int0x80 9y ago
Using a compiler partially written in c++ is very different from writting and mantaining a kernel (or whatever) in c++.
- pjmlp 9y agoOther OSes, not impregnated with UNIX culture, have a different view on C++'s use on kernel space. OS X and its descendents is the only exception. Which goes back to NeXTSTEP using Objective-C and offering UNIX compatibility only as a path to bring software into the system, battling against SGI and Sun market space.
- mrpippy 9y agoEven OS X's C++ usage is kind of a historical oddity. OPENSTEP drivers were written in ObjC for an API called DriverKit, but OS X/Darwin/xnu replaced that with the C++ IOKit. The rest of the kernel is still C. I wrote a comment a few years ago explaining why I think that decision was made: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10006411 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10006411
- pjmlp 9y agoThanks for the hint.
- nickpsecurity 9y agoMaybe. The L4 people did write one of theirs in C++. L4-style kernrls are among the fastest in existence. Some even fit in the L1 cache of the CPU. http://www.l4ka.org/projects/pistachio/pistachio-whitepaper.pdf http://www.l4ka.org/projects/pistachio/pistachio-whitepaper.... I can see your point if you're saying compiler use lets them avoid a language they just dont want to use. Which they couldnt if using it for an OS.