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Rust unsafe functions aren't a good example of colored functions because it doesn't exhibit the main issue brought up in the article, that one color can call th

by sheept 5mo ago

Rust unsafe functions aren't a good example of colored functions because it doesn't exhibit the main issue brought up in the article, that one color can call the other but not the other way around. In Rust, unsafe code can call safe code, and safe code can call unsafe code. Calling unsafe code in safe code requires an explicit unsafe block, but that's fairly normal and not a hack to get around function coloring. A better example could be Rust async, though unlike JavaScript, you have the option to block the thread on an async function in a sync function.

simonask 5mo ago
I don’t really see how declaring an unsafe block is materially different for the purposes of this discussion than, e.g., entering an async runtime. It is code you need to write, tradeoffs you need to weigh, invariants you need to keep.
- xigoi 5mo ago
  In Rust, if you have a function containing an unsafe block, you do not need to use another unsafe block to call the function. Therefore, unsafe is not “contagious” like JavaScript’s async.
  - jeroenhd 5mo ago
    > you do not need to use another unsafe block to call the function And in C#, you can just type `await` and call an async function from a sync function. Calling unsafe requires an unsafe block from safe functions. That's essentially the same thing as async/await in many languages (Rust does things differently, of course, but that's even worse in my opinion).
    - xigoi 5mo ago
      > And in C#, you can just type `await` and call an async function from a sync function. Yes, but not in JavaScript.
pornel 5mo ago
Rust's sync functions can block and await async functions. Which is another problem with the article: it doesn't clearly define what counts as having the "color". The problematic dead-end situation exists in JS, but languages with cross-thread communication can work around it.

by sheept 5mo ago

simonask 5mo ago

I don’t really see how declaring an unsafe block is materially different for the purposes of this discussion than, e.g., entering an async runtime. It is code you need to write, tradeoffs you need to weigh, invariants you need to keep.

xigoi 5mo ago
In Rust, if you have a function containing an unsafe block, you do not need to use another unsafe block to call the function. Therefore, unsafe is not “contagious” like JavaScript’s async.
- jeroenhd 5mo ago
  > you do not need to use another unsafe block to call the function And in C#, you can just type `await` and call an async function from a sync function. Calling unsafe requires an unsafe block from safe functions. That's essentially the same thing as async/await in many languages (Rust does things differently, of course, but that's even worse in my opinion).
  - xigoi 5mo ago
    > And in C#, you can just type `await` and call an async function from a sync function. Yes, but not in JavaScript.

pornel 5mo ago

Rust's sync functions can block and await async functions. Which is another problem with the article: it doesn't clearly define what counts as having the "color". The problematic dead-end situation exists in JS, but languages with cross-thread communication can work around it.