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So I was one of the 3 hackers who wrote the LSM that predated Rocks at FB, and as a result I distinctly remember when Rocks overtook it in features by trading o

So I was one of the 3 hackers who wrote the LSM that predated Rocks at FB, and as a result I distinctly remember when Rocks overtook it in features by trading off performance, and again when it met and exceeded the performance while keeping the greater capability. RocksDB kicks ass and has for a long time, I’d recommend it to anyone in the market for that sort of thing. FAISS is also great, and has been for years. I don’t doubt that someone has done a meaningful rev on it. But as someone who likes Rust and wants to like it more: don’t lead with that. The software speaks for itself. Or should.

bluejekyll 4y ago
> But as someone who likes Rust and wants to like it more: don’t lead with that. The original title appears to be “Inside the Pinecone”, but seeing as they submitted it themselves I’m guessing they wanted the uptick on the Rust. The article itself doesn’t discuss their transition to Rust until the end. So I wouldn’t say they led with it originally, but perhaps didn’t get traction on the original title.
- gk1 4y ago
  > seeing as they submitted it themselves I'm grateful to muizelaar but I don't know who that is, so we can't take credit for this one.
  - bluejekyll 4y ago
    Oh, sorry. I misattributed that. I saw the domain origin and confused that for the submitter. In that case, the submission actually is against the rules of HN, as I understand them (use the original title rule).
- benreesman 4y ago
  I guess I’m rooting for Rust in the long game sense, which is a different set of imperatives than the hang the hashtag on peripheral stuff sense. I use a lot of great software written in Rust, it’s demonstrably a good vehicle for great software. But too many of its fans are advocates, this can start to seem like an agenda. Don’t take engineering advice from people with an agenda.
  - mxkopy 4y ago
    Thank you for pointing this out. Lately I've been getting a culty feeling around Rust which has been turning me off to learning it.
    - fkarg 4y ago
      but it's the same with every hype: there's something at its core and might be worth checking out
      - benreesman 4y ago
        Oh I think a hype like this comes along once or twice in a career. Java was every bit as revolutionary in its day and had Sun Microsystems (they were a Big Deal) pouring every spare dollar into fluff pieces about it and it still never achieved a true Jehovah’s Witness vibe.
        mwcampbell 4y ago
        Well, Java had at least one aspect of a religion: a purity test. Remember "100% Pure Java" from the late 90s?
        tialaramex 4y ago
        100% Pure Java is because Java is actually about four things. One of those things is a Virtual Machine, which means you don't give a shit that the implementer has never seen an ARM CPU, because you've got the Java VM, and so their code works fine on your ARM CPU. But if their "Java" software is actually 10% i686 Machine Code then that won't run on your ARM CPU, you will need to undertake an expensive port or move to Intel. So hence 100% Pure Java == Write Once / Run Anywhere actually delivered. You can argue that Rust is more than one thing, but certainly not to same extent. Rust's culture is crucial to its "A language empowering everyone..." slogan, but it's not really separate from the programming language, in the way that the Java Virtual Machine doesn't need the Java programming language or the Java security model (now obsolete) or the Java browser plugin (remember that?) and so on.

bluejekyll 4y ago

> But as someone who likes Rust and wants to like it more: don’t lead with that. The original title appears to be “Inside the Pinecone”, but seeing as they submitted it themselves I’m guessing they wanted the uptick on the Rust. The article itself doesn’t discuss their transition to Rust until the end. So I wouldn’t say they led with it originally, but perhaps didn’t get traction on the original title.

gk1 4y ago
> seeing as they submitted it themselves I'm grateful to muizelaar but I don't know who that is, so we can't take credit for this one.
- bluejekyll 4y ago
  Oh, sorry. I misattributed that. I saw the domain origin and confused that for the submitter. In that case, the submission actually is against the rules of HN, as I understand them (use the original title rule).
benreesman 4y ago
I guess I’m rooting for Rust in the long game sense, which is a different set of imperatives than the hang the hashtag on peripheral stuff sense. I use a lot of great software written in Rust, it’s demonstrably a good vehicle for great software. But too many of its fans are advocates, this can start to seem like an agenda. Don’t take engineering advice from people with an agenda.
- mxkopy 4y ago
  Thank you for pointing this out. Lately I've been getting a culty feeling around Rust which has been turning me off to learning it.
  - fkarg 4y ago
    but it's the same with every hype: there's something at its core and might be worth checking out
    - benreesman 4y ago
      Oh I think a hype like this comes along once or twice in a career. Java was every bit as revolutionary in its day and had Sun Microsystems (they were a Big Deal) pouring every spare dollar into fluff pieces about it and it still never achieved a true Jehovah’s Witness vibe.
      - mwcampbell 4y ago
        Well, Java had at least one aspect of a religion: a purity test. Remember "100% Pure Java" from the late 90s?
        tialaramex 4y ago
        100% Pure Java is because Java is actually about four things. One of those things is a Virtual Machine, which means you don't give a shit that the implementer has never seen an ARM CPU, because you've got the Java VM, and so their code works fine on your ARM CPU. But if their "Java" software is actually 10% i686 Machine Code then that won't run on your ARM CPU, you will need to undertake an expensive port or move to Intel. So hence 100% Pure Java == Write Once / Run Anywhere actually delivered. You can argue that Rust is more than one thing, but certainly not to same extent. Rust's culture is crucial to its "A language empowering everyone..." slogan, but it's not really separate from the programming language, in the way that the Java Virtual Machine doesn't need the Java programming language or the Java security model (now obsolete) or the Java browser plugin (remember that?) and so on.