Linus Torvalds Speaks on the the divide between Rust and C Linux developers an the future Linux. Will things like fragmentation among the open source communi...
  • PushButton@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    Zig is “c”, but modern and safe.

    The big selling points compared to Rust are:

    • A better syntax
    • No hidden control flow
    • No hidden memory allocation
    • Really great interop with C (it’s almost as if you just include the C code as you would in a C code base…)
    • Fast compile time
    • it’s more readable
    • it’s simpler to learn

    The syntax is really close to the C language; any C programmer can pick up Zig really fast.

    IMO Zig is a far better choice to go in the kernel than Rust.

    Linux has tried to include CPP in it, and it failed.

    So imagine if trying to fit in a C-like cousin failed, how far they are to fit an alien language like Rust…

    For more information: https://ziglang.org/learn/why_zig_rust_d_cpp/

    • teolan@lemmy.world
      01·
      2 months ago

      Zig is a very new and immature language. It won’t be kernel-ready for at l’East another 10 years.

      a better syntax

      That’s pretty suggestive. Rust syntax is pretty good. Postfix try is just better for example.

      Zig also uses special syntax for things like error and nullability instead of having them just be enums, making the language more complex and less flexible for no benefit.

      Syntax is also not everything. Rust has extremely good error messages. Going through Zig’s learning documentation, half the error messages are unreadable because I have to scroll to see the actual error and data because it’s on the same line as the absolute path as the file were the error comes from

      No hidden memory allocation

      That’s a library design question, not a language question. Rust for Linux uses its own data collections that don’t perform hidden memory allocations instead of the ones from the standard library.

      it’s more readable

      I don’t know, Rust is one of the most readablelangueage for me.

      Fast compile time

      Is it still the case once you have a very large project and make use of comptime?

      it’s simpler to learn

      Not true. Because it doesn’t have the guardrails that rust has, you must build a mental model of where the guardrails should be so you don’t make mistakes. Arguably this is something that C maintainers already know how to do, but it’s also not something they do flawlessly from just looking at the bugs that regularly need to be fixed.

      Being able to write code faster does not equate being able to write correct code faster.

      Really great interop with C

      Yes, because it’s basically C with some syntax sugar. Rust is a Generational change.