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Title is "Microsoft to replace all C/C++ with Rust" Meanwhile the content of the post is merely that an engineer who works for a team within Microsoft's AI div

by wavemode 10mo ago

Title is "Microsoft to replace all C/C++ with Rust" Meanwhile the content of the post is merely that an engineer who works for a team within Microsoft's AI division wrote on LinkedIn "my goal is to eliminate every line of C and C++ from Microsoft". (He believes that he can get AI agents to accomplish this.) Not quite the same as an official plan announced by the CTO or something. Bit misleading title.

scrubs 10mo ago
This guy is daydreaming to be done by 2030. May as well throw in super conductors at room temp and 1 atm pressure too.
- pjmlp 10mo ago
  Given that research projects like Drawbridge end up in products like WSL 1.0, and SQL Server on Linux, many of his dreams come true.
- Someone 10mo ago
  I don’t think he is daydreaming; he is selling a job opening. If he said “by 2050” or “by 2100”, I bet he would get fewer applicants. I also think the applicants he would get would be of lower quality.
pjmlp 10mo ago
That guy is relatively high on Microsoft, anyone that is using WSL, has to thank his Microsoft Research department for OS research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/galenh/projects/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/galenh/proje...
- wavemode 10mo ago
  My point is not about the person or their accomplishments. My point is that "Microsoft to replace all C/C++ code with Rust" is a misleading title when it's actually just a stated goal of someone working on an aspirational research project.
  - pjmlp 10mo ago
    Well, it is kind of in line with company official communication anyway, so this goal is currently a business target, > Decades of vulnerabilities have proven how difficult it is to prevent memory-corrupting bugs when using C/C++. While garbage-collected languages like C# or Java have proven more resilient to these issues, there are scenarios where they cannot be used. For such cases, we’re betting on Rust as the alternative to C/C++. Rust is a modern language designed to compete with the performance C/C++, but with memory safety and thread safety guarantees built into the language. While we are not able to rewrite everything in Rust overnight, we’ve already adopted Rust in some of the most critical components of Azure’s infrastructure. We expect our adoption of Rust to expand substantially over time. -- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-azure-security-evolution-embrace-secure-multitenancy-confidential-compute-and-rust/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-azure-secur... > And, in alignment with the Secure Future Initiative, we are adopting safer programming languages, gradually moving functionality from C++ implementation to Rust. -- https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2024/11/19/windows-security-and-resiliency-protecting-your-business/ https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2024/11/19/windo... > We will accelerate and automate threat modeling, deploy CodeQL for code analysis to 100 percent of commercial products, and continue to expand Microsoft’s use of memory safe languages (such as C#, Python, Java, and Rust), building security in at the language level and eliminating whole classes of traditional software vulnerability. -- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/11/02/announcing-microsoft-secure-future-initiative-to-advance-security-engineering/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/11/02/ann... So naturally, there are many people that besides AI KPIs, now have to match their SFI KPIs at Redmond, including Mark Russinovich. "Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Azure CTO tells Rust Nation UK 2025 why Azure is moving to Rust from C++" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmUprpjCWjM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmUprpjCWjM "Microsoft is Getting Rusty: A Review of Successes and Challenges - Mark Russinovich" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VgptLwP588 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VgptLwP588 Naturally aiming at 2030 for the amount of existing C++ code is crazy, and there are groups within Microsoft, especially DirectX and Windows that most likely won't let go of their toys.
    - wavemode 10mo ago
      I can't tell what your point is at this point, I'm going to be honest. Everything you're linking to, I'm aware of. But you've still presented no evidence for the claim that Microsoft is "to replace all C/C++ code with Rust". If the title was "Microsoft to expand use of Rust" then OK. If it was "Microsoft to develop all new projects in Rust rather than C++", that would be an unsubstantiated claim when you're talking about the company as a whole rather than just Azure or some other segment, but it would at least be a bit closer to the truth than the current HN title.

scrubs 10mo ago

This guy is daydreaming to be done by 2030. May as well throw in super conductors at room temp and 1 atm pressure too.

pjmlp 10mo ago
Given that research projects like Drawbridge end up in products like WSL 1.0, and SQL Server on Linux, many of his dreams come true.
Someone 10mo ago
I don’t think he is daydreaming; he is selling a job opening. If he said “by 2050” or “by 2100”, I bet he would get fewer applicants. I also think the applicants he would get would be of lower quality.

pjmlp 10mo ago

That guy is relatively high on Microsoft, anyone that is using WSL, has to thank his Microsoft Research department for OS research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/galenh/projects/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/galenh/proje...

wavemode 10mo ago
My point is not about the person or their accomplishments. My point is that "Microsoft to replace all C/C++ code with Rust" is a misleading title when it's actually just a stated goal of someone working on an aspirational research project.
- pjmlp 10mo ago
  Well, it is kind of in line with company official communication anyway, so this goal is currently a business target, > Decades of vulnerabilities have proven how difficult it is to prevent memory-corrupting bugs when using C/C++. While garbage-collected languages like C# or Java have proven more resilient to these issues, there are scenarios where they cannot be used. For such cases, we’re betting on Rust as the alternative to C/C++. Rust is a modern language designed to compete with the performance C/C++, but with memory safety and thread safety guarantees built into the language. While we are not able to rewrite everything in Rust overnight, we’ve already adopted Rust in some of the most critical components of Azure’s infrastructure. We expect our adoption of Rust to expand substantially over time. -- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-azure-security-evolution-embrace-secure-multitenancy-confidential-compute-and-rust/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-azure-secur... > And, in alignment with the Secure Future Initiative, we are adopting safer programming languages, gradually moving functionality from C++ implementation to Rust. -- https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2024/11/19/windows-security-and-resiliency-protecting-your-business/ https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2024/11/19/windo... > We will accelerate and automate threat modeling, deploy CodeQL for code analysis to 100 percent of commercial products, and continue to expand Microsoft’s use of memory safe languages (such as C#, Python, Java, and Rust), building security in at the language level and eliminating whole classes of traditional software vulnerability. -- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/11/02/announcing-microsoft-secure-future-initiative-to-advance-security-engineering/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/11/02/ann... So naturally, there are many people that besides AI KPIs, now have to match their SFI KPIs at Redmond, including Mark Russinovich. "Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Azure CTO tells Rust Nation UK 2025 why Azure is moving to Rust from C++" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmUprpjCWjM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmUprpjCWjM "Microsoft is Getting Rusty: A Review of Successes and Challenges - Mark Russinovich" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VgptLwP588 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VgptLwP588 Naturally aiming at 2030 for the amount of existing C++ code is crazy, and there are groups within Microsoft, especially DirectX and Windows that most likely won't let go of their toys.
  - wavemode 10mo ago
    I can't tell what your point is at this point, I'm going to be honest. Everything you're linking to, I'm aware of. But you've still presented no evidence for the claim that Microsoft is "to replace all C/C++ code with Rust". If the title was "Microsoft to expand use of Rust" then OK. If it was "Microsoft to develop all new projects in Rust rather than C++", that would be an unsubstantiated claim when you're talking about the company as a whole rather than just Azure or some other segment, but it would at least be a bit closer to the truth than the current HN title.