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> There's no perfect language. > I'm sure someone is already rewriting the Linux kernel and all of the Unix-y tools in Rust or Go or whatever. I won't hold my
by Dewie3 11y ago
> There's no perfect language.
> I'm sure someone is already rewriting the Linux kernel and all of the Unix-y tools in Rust or Go or whatever. I won't hold my breath.
You're right, man. Nothing is perfect and we can't start with a blank slate so we might as well give up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_fallacy#Perfect_solution_fallacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_fallacy#Perfect_solutio...
- gregjor 11y agoThanks for the link, and here's one for you: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/condescension http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/condescension I neither believe nor wrote that if we can't start with a blank slate we might as well give up. Since I specialize in working with legacy code that's actually pretty much the opposite of what I do. What I meant by "I won't hold my breath" is that C has an enormous lead in maturity, programmers, and installed software base. Displacing it because a writer at TechCrunch thinks C sucks and Rust is better is a different kind of fallacy. I'd be happy to see a safer language that didn't sacrifice expressive power, performance, and memory footprint. Many, many candidates have been floated since C made its debut, so either they have all been found wanting, or the obstacles to moving beyond C are bigger than just inventing a safer language. That was my point.
- Dewie3 11y agoI'll agree that the sentiment "death to C" is hyperbolic and unrealistic. A very, very long term phasing out is more realistic. :)