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I think you are too dismissive of the importance of simplicity. Programming is hard. That Rust takes away certain problems doesn’t change that. A lot of coding

I think you are too dismissive of the importance of simplicity. Programming is hard. That Rust takes away certain problems doesn’t change that. A lot of coding is just reading and understanding some code. If you have problems understanding some code then I hat is also code you are. Or likely to not catch bugs in. A compiler cannot be a substitute for your brian. The ability to read code and think clearly about it is a massively important feature because humans at the end of the day are the ones who have to understand code and fix it. It depends on the person. Programmers are different. Rust works great for some. To me it looks too much like C++ which is something I want to put behind. I know it is a different language but it has a lot of that same focus as C++ that leads to slow compilers and complex looking code. If I was younger I might have put in the effort, but I am not willing to make the same wrong bet I did with C++. I sunk so much time into perfecting C++ skills and realizing afterwards when using other languages that it was a huge waste.

avgcorrection 4y ago
Readable code is important? Then keep in mind the context: low-level programming and writing Safe Rust or writing in some not-quite-memory-safe language because one would rather be bitten by undefined behavior now and again rather than have to learn the borrow checker. Knowing for sure that the code you write is at least memory safe is a certain kind of readability win and I don’t see how anyone can claim that it’s not.
gurjeet 4y ago
> ... I am not willing to make the same wrong bet I did with C++. I sunk so much time into perfecting C++ skills ... What are your top complaints about C++? What parts/patterns are wasteful, and must be avoided? I have encountered C++ a couple of times in my career. And both those times I was barely able to survive in the short periods of time I spent in those jobs. I'm pretty good at C, but for the life of me, I just can't deal with the hidden behaviours of C++. So far, I have seen only one example of well-written, understandable C++ code: LLVM. I dabbled in learning LLVM for a side project, and the tutorials on writing compiler passes, and the LLVM's own code, seems to use only the rudimentary features of C++ (primarily, single-inheritance). And this absence of complex C++ features made me feel comfortable looking at, reading, and understanding the LLVM code. I am of the firm belief now that good code can be written in any bad language, and bad code can be written in any good language. Perhaps those couple of times that I encountered difficult C++ codebases, they were just instances of bad code, and should not be used as an indictment of the C++ language. Good code => readable, understandable, maintainable, extensible, rewritable. Bad code => !Good code.
- SubjectToChange 4y ago
  > LLVM's own code, seems to use only the rudimentary features of C++ (primarily, single-inheritance). And this absence of complex C++ features made me feel comfortable looking at, reading, and understanding the LLVM code. Uh, what parts of LLVM were you reading? Because LLVM uses pretty much every C++14 feature allowed by their coding standard. The fact that you felt like no complex machinery was being used is actually a testament of the powers of abstraction in C++.

avgcorrection 4y ago

Readable code is important? Then keep in mind the context: low-level programming and writing Safe Rust or writing in some not-quite-memory-safe language because one would rather be bitten by undefined behavior now and again rather than have to learn the borrow checker. Knowing for sure that the code you write is at least memory safe is a certain kind of readability win and I don’t see how anyone can claim that it’s not.

gurjeet 4y ago

> ... I am not willing to make the same wrong bet I did with C++. I sunk so much time into perfecting C++ skills ... What are your top complaints about C++? What parts/patterns are wasteful, and must be avoided? I have encountered C++ a couple of times in my career. And both those times I was barely able to survive in the short periods of time I spent in those jobs. I'm pretty good at C, but for the life of me, I just can't deal with the hidden behaviours of C++. So far, I have seen only one example of well-written, understandable C++ code: LLVM. I dabbled in learning LLVM for a side project, and the tutorials on writing compiler passes, and the LLVM's own code, seems to use only the rudimentary features of C++ (primarily, single-inheritance). And this absence of complex C++ features made me feel comfortable looking at, reading, and understanding the LLVM code. I am of the firm belief now that good code can be written in any bad language, and bad code can be written in any good language. Perhaps those couple of times that I encountered difficult C++ codebases, they were just instances of bad code, and should not be used as an indictment of the C++ language. Good code => readable, understandable, maintainable, extensible, rewritable. Bad code => !Good code.

SubjectToChange 4y ago
> LLVM's own code, seems to use only the rudimentary features of C++ (primarily, single-inheritance). And this absence of complex C++ features made me feel comfortable looking at, reading, and understanding the LLVM code. Uh, what parts of LLVM were you reading? Because LLVM uses pretty much every C++14 feature allowed by their coding standard. The fact that you felt like no complex machinery was being used is actually a testament of the powers of abstraction in C++.