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I was excited when I saw the features like retry and timestamps in log. Then I saw it was written in C. I actually thought it would be Rust or Go. I don't thin

I was excited when I saw the features like retry and timestamps in log. Then I saw it was written in C. I actually thought it would be Rust or Go. I don't think you should use C for a "next generation" thing.

duckerude 5y ago
If it works it works. Very few of my problems with shells can be blamed on C. (Maybe two in total?) The oldest commit is from 2013. Rust hadn't hit 1.0 yet, Go only barely.
- ilyash 5y ago
  Here is a bit of history which might shed some light on the decision. First and very partial implementation - JavaScript. It was a prototype which I knew I will be throwing away... and I did. Second attempt, also very partial - Lisp. I used SBCL. Skipping the details here but the result was as follows: got stuck with two different unrelated issues. I did not know would I be stuck with additional issues even if I somehow solve these two. Third attempt - found a language in which I will never be stuck unable to solve something. C. Also, looked around: bash, Python, Ruby - they are all C. At the time I thought I might be "borrowing" some code from. It didn't happen. I did look though. Edit: unexpectedly a huge chunk of work, which is garbage collection, was already done for me. C has garbage collection! It is a library - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boehm_garbage_collector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boehm_garbage_collector
jhoechtl 5y ago
I avoid the rather uesless "Why not?" comment as it will naturally spark answers like immutable data structures, sane type model etc. Whole and profitable empires have been built with C. C compilers are darn good in optimizing code. There is a large workforce proficient in C. I would bet anytime on C rather on Rust. If Firefox will die it's because some overly eager (but certainly smart) people thought a rewrite will solve business problems.
- Zababa 5y ago
  > If Firefox will die it's because some overly eager (but certainly smart) people thought a rewrite will solve business problems. Rust is probably the least terrible business decision to come out of Mozilla in those past 5 years. If Firefox dies it will be because of the executive's rent-seeking behavior.
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  > I would bet anytime on C rather on Rust. If Firefox will die it's because some overly eager (but certainly smart) people thought a rewrite will solve business problems. That would be ironic given that a massive rewrite is what tanked Netscape, and gave rise to Mozilla, and eventually Firefox.
- SubjectToChange 5y ago
  > Whole and profitable empires have been built with C. C compilers are darn good in optimizing code. There is a large workforce proficient in C. Then why is it that all of the major C compilers are written in C++?

duckerude 5y ago

If it works it works. Very few of my problems with shells can be blamed on C. (Maybe two in total?) The oldest commit is from 2013. Rust hadn't hit 1.0 yet, Go only barely.

ilyash 5y ago
Here is a bit of history which might shed some light on the decision. First and very partial implementation - JavaScript. It was a prototype which I knew I will be throwing away... and I did. Second attempt, also very partial - Lisp. I used SBCL. Skipping the details here but the result was as follows: got stuck with two different unrelated issues. I did not know would I be stuck with additional issues even if I somehow solve these two. Third attempt - found a language in which I will never be stuck unable to solve something. C. Also, looked around: bash, Python, Ruby - they are all C. At the time I thought I might be "borrowing" some code from. It didn't happen. I did look though. Edit: unexpectedly a huge chunk of work, which is garbage collection, was already done for me. C has garbage collection! It is a library - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boehm_garbage_collector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boehm_garbage_collector

jhoechtl 5y ago

I avoid the rather uesless "Why not?" comment as it will naturally spark answers like immutable data structures, sane type model etc. Whole and profitable empires have been built with C. C compilers are darn good in optimizing code. There is a large workforce proficient in C. I would bet anytime on C rather on Rust. If Firefox will die it's because some overly eager (but certainly smart) people thought a rewrite will solve business problems.

Zababa 5y ago
> If Firefox will die it's because some overly eager (but certainly smart) people thought a rewrite will solve business problems. Rust is probably the least terrible business decision to come out of Mozilla in those past 5 years. If Firefox dies it will be because of the executive's rent-seeking behavior.
jonathankoren 5y ago
> I would bet anytime on C rather on Rust. If Firefox will die it's because some overly eager (but certainly smart) people thought a rewrite will solve business problems. That would be ironic given that a massive rewrite is what tanked Netscape, and gave rise to Mozilla, and eventually Firefox.
SubjectToChange 5y ago
> Whole and profitable empires have been built with C. C compilers are darn good in optimizing code. There is a large workforce proficient in C. Then why is it that all of the major C compilers are written in C++?