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Ask HN: What system programming language do you use and why?

• lmm 13y ago
  None, because I'm not writing an OS, and my time is worth more than the computer's.
  • shitduck 13y ago
    this
• thwest 13y ago
  We use both C and C++. C for our kernel module, and 8051 code. C++ is preferred for network messages (zeromq + protobuf), configuration (from ui or file), and mostly for the heavy math that produces our output. We use value semantics almost exclusively, and heavy on the generic implementations of our math because we support 1-bit, u8, u16, float and double precision outputs. Yet we still can provide template specializations to utilize low level processor intrinsics for SIMD optimization.
• walshemj 13y ago
  Well it depends the various OS' tend to different languages for systems programming. PR1MOS used FORTRAN and PL1/G as a system programming language PICs will use PIC machine code? Which systems are you interested in? You do understand what is meant by "systems" programming as opposed to general programming using a particular system? And all systems programing will usually have some Assembler usage. Ps for the younger readers PR1MOS is descended from the ur hackers OS ITS
  • MichaelAza 13y ago
    I'm trying to be OS agnostic here but we can assume some kind of Unix/Linux system.
    • walshemj 13y ago
      why? Linux isn't the only OS in the word you know - and in that case its C or Assembler or possibly C written in C++
      • MichaelAza 13y ago
        Well, Unix and Windows systems are the most widely used OSes and Windows is, currently, of less interest to me. If It's C hands down in Unix systems, what are the use cases for D/Rust/Go?
        • walshemj 13y ago
          I seem to recall that go is meant for massively parallel systems - which reminds me must have a play with it.
      • zmonkeyz 13y ago
        Yep. Junior z/OS sysprog here. A little Assembler and some C.
• FurrBall 13y ago
  I use C++. For user applications, not "systems". -Momentum. I am already familiar with it. -RAII and smart pointers -Generics -Best supported for cross-platform mobile phone use.
• memracom 13y ago
  Python. A lot of the things that need to be done in a systems programming language, outside of kernel modules and device drivers, can be done easier in Python. And the part that needs a raw barebones language can be done in C and integrated using Python's ctypes library. As for distributed software, the UNIX process model still works and multiple Python processes can thumb their noses at the GIL and get real work done just by leveraging signals, pipes, fork, etc. And perhaps some ZeroMQ as well because some new things are really good. GOroutines are just yet another implementation of the actor model that Erlang popularized, and Erlang used the UNIX process model as its core, although they did extend it and switch to using green threads which are more lightweight than even Linux native threads.
• helloworldnj 13y ago
  C# for backend mainly c++ for fast response / near realtime needs js on the front and java mixes in somewhere lol
• tokenrove 13y ago
  I like ATS a lot (http://www.ats-lang.org/ http://www.ats-lang.org/). It's unfortunate it doesn't have much of a community.
  • dmytrish 13y ago
    I heard that programming in ATS is as hard as hell and when Haskell is hard to learn but joy to use, ATS is just hard to use. Can somebody who actually programs/programmed in ATS elaborate on this?
    • tokenrove 13y ago
      The type system is tough to get a grip on. I would say it's a challenging language to get started in, but it has a combination of features that nothing else really has, so it's arguably worth it. I understand ATS2 improves things but I have only programmed in ATS1 so far.
• ishbits 13y ago
  Depends what you are doing but Python or Perl can make great systems programming languages. Of course if you are doing Linux kernel hacking, you'll need C. Go and D are probably also modern examples of what could be used for systems programming as well.