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> The thing that Ada and its peers lack that Rust has already tackled is finding a strong foothold in OSS. Which is irrelevant to the claim that no previous la
by dozzie 8y ago
> The thing that Ada and its peers lack that Rust has already tackled is finding a strong foothold in OSS.
Which is irrelevant to the claim that no previous language provided safe
environment for systems programming.
- swsieber 8y agoYou're missing the qualifier of "production ready". While I'd argue that Ada was indeed "production ready" language wise, I'd say that it's not with respect to libraries, of which, OSS contributes a whole bunch. For some people, a good library selection is essential to being "production ready".
- dozzie 8y agoWe must think about quite different things behind "systems programming" if you need libraries for it. For me system implements and provides interface, not uses it. Like in operating system. And then, Ada had a selection of libraries for a long time. You just conveniently forget about the paid ones, so you can call Ada "not production ready".
- swsieber 8y agoI wouldn't even say conveniently forgot, I'd say it didn't even cross my mind. It is perhaps also representative of why people don't consider Ada when picking out a language. That said, I agree that it'd be moving the goal posts to omit paid libraries. -- I do think we have slightly different ideas of "Systems Programming", or at least what production ready means for that type of language. I think it boils down to the fact that people do a lot more in "Systems Programming" languages than just OS or implementing and providing interfaces. Specifically, people do it for performance and control, which I don't necessarily excludes the use of libraries. I think the contention here is that people are thinking of production ready for these types of languages in terms of general use, not just the niche you describe. In retrospect, I do think it was a poor way to word it. I guess I'd probably amend the original comment to say something like "Rust is the first production ready systems programming language that can comfortably (after a learning curve) be used at higher levels".
- kibwen 8y agoSure, but that's irrelevant to my comment, which is answering the original question "Why is Rust so popular on HN?" in the specific context of Ada.
- dozzie 8y agoIt's not irrelevant. Ada provided safe, production ready language for systems programming long before Rust, so this part of explaination is simply false.
- wtetzner 8y agoI wouldn't say it's simply false, just that it requires a bit more explanation. Ada is a safe systems language, but is more restricted in what can safely be expressed.