3 ms·

Good time to pivot towards embedded and systems level programming

natly 4y ago
Probably a decade or two premature but can't hurt to hedge the bets (there's definitely opportunity to make software that makes fpga and asic compilation from higher level languages easier though - only reason it's not happening is the high talent required and low amount of people at that intersection, there's no way verilog/vhdl is the global minima).
cercatrova 4y ago
I'm going to sound like one of those fanboys but Rust really is a breath of fresh air. Lots of people now are starting to make actually fast and performant applications due to the ergonomics of the language being more high level than something like C or C++. It's actually my favorite ML type language, I've use OCaml to a large extent before but with Rust, the DX is still pretty nice, even if you have to contend with the borrow checker.
- lupire 4y ago
  How is rust higher level than C++? It has powerful memory safety features, but that's not what I'd call "high level".
  - Koshkin 4y ago
    Indeed, my impression has been that C++ is as high-level as you want it to be.
    - codedokode 4y ago
      My impression of C++ is that you have to write multiple constructors before you can implement any logic.
      - hoseja 4y ago
        That's ... not even wrong. Or severely misguided. It's like saying "My impression of cooking is that you have to make several hotdogs before you can start frying things."
  - Jensson 4y ago
    The level of a language depends on what idiomatic code looks like. Idiomatic C is lower level than idiomatic C++ which is lower level than idiomatic Rust. Just because you can write things at a lower level doesn't mean that people do so, or even are allowed to do so. Most places where you write C++ you aren't allowed to write it like C, and similarly most places where you write Rust doesn't allow you to write large unsafe blocks.
  - newobj 4y ago
    Pattern matching is arguably one higher level feature/capability.
- teleforce 4y ago
  I think D will be much better suited for embedded system because you can even seamlessly import C functions into D program [1],[2]. Since C is the de facto language for embedded system this new capability is a game changer. Added to the fact that D language designers try to make programming D similar to programming Python and D is by default has GC, it'll make it easier for those coming from application software developer background to program embedded system with D. [1]Add ability to import modules to ImportC: https://dlang.org/changelog/2.099.0.html#__import https://dlang.org/changelog/2.099.0.html#__import [2]Great Programming with ImportC: https://youtu.be/c3kJoFCzA-0 https://youtu.be/c3kJoFCzA-0

Probably a decade or two premature but can't hurt to hedge the bets (there's definitely opportunity to make software that makes fpga and asic compilation from higher level languages easier though - only reason it's not happening is the high talent required and low amount of people at that intersection, there's no way verilog/vhdl is the global minima).

cercatrova 4y ago

I'm going to sound like one of those fanboys but Rust really is a breath of fresh air. Lots of people now are starting to make actually fast and performant applications due to the ergonomics of the language being more high level than something like C or C++. It's actually my favorite ML type language, I've use OCaml to a large extent before but with Rust, the DX is still pretty nice, even if you have to contend with the borrow checker.

lupire 4y ago
How is rust higher level than C++? It has powerful memory safety features, but that's not what I'd call "high level".
- Koshkin 4y ago
  Indeed, my impression has been that C++ is as high-level as you want it to be.
  - codedokode 4y ago
    My impression of C++ is that you have to write multiple constructors before you can implement any logic.
    - hoseja 4y ago
      That's ... not even wrong. Or severely misguided. It's like saying "My impression of cooking is that you have to make several hotdogs before you can start frying things."
- Jensson 4y ago
  The level of a language depends on what idiomatic code looks like. Idiomatic C is lower level than idiomatic C++ which is lower level than idiomatic Rust. Just because you can write things at a lower level doesn't mean that people do so, or even are allowed to do so. Most places where you write C++ you aren't allowed to write it like C, and similarly most places where you write Rust doesn't allow you to write large unsafe blocks.
- newobj 4y ago
  Pattern matching is arguably one higher level feature/capability.
teleforce 4y ago
I think D will be much better suited for embedded system because you can even seamlessly import C functions into D program [1],[2]. Since C is the de facto language for embedded system this new capability is a game changer. Added to the fact that D language designers try to make programming D similar to programming Python and D is by default has GC, it'll make it easier for those coming from application software developer background to program embedded system with D. [1]Add ability to import modules to ImportC: https://dlang.org/changelog/2.099.0.html#__import https://dlang.org/changelog/2.099.0.html#__import [2]Great Programming with ImportC: https://youtu.be/c3kJoFCzA-0 https://youtu.be/c3kJoFCzA-0