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C++ is extremely widely used. Especially since C++11, the language has received a ton of attention for making things more ergonomic. As projects update compiler

C++ is extremely widely used. Especially since C++11, the language has received a ton of attention for making things more ergonomic. As projects update compilers, they are able to take advantage of these updates. C++ is anything but in maintenance mode. Rust fits in a similar niche, but it has a much smaller following. Several of it's main contributors just happen to be HN regulars, so it gets more attention than it otherwise would.

aaaaaaaaaab 8y ago
By the amount of downvotes I got you seem to be right. I was genuinely under the impression that C/C++ was being progressively phased out in favor of Rust, but looks like this is hardly the case. I guess I should probably peek outside the HN filter bubble more often...
- shakna 8y ago
  C++ has had major specification updates (some are smaller than others) in 2011, 2014, 2017, with a planned one in 2020. This pattern will be ongoing for the foreseeable future. These specification changes are usually implemented by compilers _before_ the final release date. Some features take longer, but you're usually only look at 6-12 months before being able to use 100% of cutting edge. If anything... C++ is ramping up.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  I like Rust, have dabled a couple of times in it, see a possible great future for it in the next couple of decades, given that it is being adopted by the likes of Google, Microsoft, Oracle among others. However I will keep writing C++ to go along my Java, .NET, nodejs production code, for the time being. Rust is still lacking in IDE support, mixed language debugging, OS SDKs I generally use, integration with binary libraries, not everyone on the teams is willing to add yet another language to the mix, NVIDIA GPUs are designed for C++, and newer features make it easier to write safer code, in spite of its C underpinnings.
- alacombe 8y ago
  Rust and C++ usage are pretty much inversely proportional to their editorial frequency on HN. Yes it looks phylosophically nice, but out of the language purist&geek, managers will not care if you are allowed or not to shoot you in the foot, they'll only care if you can deliver or not in due time.
- jcelerier 8y ago
  I have not heard of a single new project being done in Rust amongst all my friends and colleagues, but I see new C++ projects cropping every few weeks.
alacombe 8y ago
ooth, 99% of the C++ code out there is not using any of those "features".
- jefft255 8y ago
  It depends, some C++11 features are widely used, like smart pointers. I agree that most of the features are seldom used and add tons bloat to the language.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  A lot of C++ code bases are stuck in legacy C++03 or even earlier, for a variety of reasons. Most new code makes heavy use of standard library features such as iteratators and smart pointers.
zozbot123 8y ago
> C++ is extremely widely used. C++ is not memory safe - which is one reason why e.g. Java and C# are even more "extremely widely used" than C++. Rust is memory safe, and has C++ -like performance (and arguably better than C++, with e.g. its restriction of pointer aliasing and its high-level support for things like simple parallel programming).
- mikeloomis 8y ago
  Its very easy and rapidly becoming even easier to write modern c++ code that doesn't have dangling pointers/refs. The built in static analysis that Rust relies on to make its memory safety guarantees is no longer a real advantage. This type of criticism should have stayed in the 00's tbh because it really isn't true now. It's rust which will be playing catch-up to gain feature parity with c++ in the coming decade.

aaaaaaaaaab 8y ago

By the amount of downvotes I got you seem to be right. I was genuinely under the impression that C/C++ was being progressively phased out in favor of Rust, but looks like this is hardly the case. I guess I should probably peek outside the HN filter bubble more often...

shakna 8y ago
C++ has had major specification updates (some are smaller than others) in 2011, 2014, 2017, with a planned one in 2020. This pattern will be ongoing for the foreseeable future. These specification changes are usually implemented by compilers _before_ the final release date. Some features take longer, but you're usually only look at 6-12 months before being able to use 100% of cutting edge. If anything... C++ is ramping up.
pjmlp 8y ago
I like Rust, have dabled a couple of times in it, see a possible great future for it in the next couple of decades, given that it is being adopted by the likes of Google, Microsoft, Oracle among others. However I will keep writing C++ to go along my Java, .NET, nodejs production code, for the time being. Rust is still lacking in IDE support, mixed language debugging, OS SDKs I generally use, integration with binary libraries, not everyone on the teams is willing to add yet another language to the mix, NVIDIA GPUs are designed for C++, and newer features make it easier to write safer code, in spite of its C underpinnings.
alacombe 8y ago
Rust and C++ usage are pretty much inversely proportional to their editorial frequency on HN. Yes it looks phylosophically nice, but out of the language purist&geek, managers will not care if you are allowed or not to shoot you in the foot, they'll only care if you can deliver or not in due time.
jcelerier 8y ago
I have not heard of a single new project being done in Rust amongst all my friends and colleagues, but I see new C++ projects cropping every few weeks.

alacombe 8y ago

ooth, 99% of the C++ code out there is not using any of those "features".

jefft255 8y ago
It depends, some C++11 features are widely used, like smart pointers. I agree that most of the features are seldom used and add tons bloat to the language.
saagarjha 8y ago
A lot of C++ code bases are stuck in legacy C++03 or even earlier, for a variety of reasons. Most new code makes heavy use of standard library features such as iteratators and smart pointers.

zozbot123 8y ago

> C++ is extremely widely used. C++ is not memory safe - which is one reason why e.g. Java and C# are even more "extremely widely used" than C++. Rust is memory safe, and has C++ -like performance (and arguably better than C++, with e.g. its restriction of pointer aliasing and its high-level support for things like simple parallel programming).

mikeloomis 8y ago
Its very easy and rapidly becoming even easier to write modern c++ code that doesn't have dangling pointers/refs. The built in static analysis that Rust relies on to make its memory safety guarantees is no longer a real advantage. This type of criticism should have stayed in the 00's tbh because it really isn't true now. It's rust which will be playing catch-up to gain feature parity with c++ in the coming decade.