[HN Gopher] White House urges devs to switch to memory-safe prog...
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       White House urges devs to switch to memory-safe programming
       languages
        
       Author : el_duderino
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2024-02-26 21:36 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bleepingcomputer.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bleepingcomputer.com)
        
       | JohnFen wrote:
       | I hope we get an alternative than Rust, though. I understand that
       | lots of people like the language, but I personally find it very
       | unpleasant to use.
        
         | NewJazz wrote:
         | What about it?
         | 
         | What about other languages would you rather see?
        
           | JohnFen wrote:
           | I just find Rust to be very clumsy and high-friction. This
           | isn't a technical criticism, merely a matter of personal
           | taste. But I dislike Rust enough that I've decided that I
           | won't take a job that requires me to use it.
           | 
           | Rather than risk getting into an online argument about Rust,
           | though, I'd prefer to focus on the idea that we should have
           | more than one "memory-safe" language.
        
         | fancyfredbot wrote:
         | There are an awful lot of memory safe languages. For example
         | Python, Java, JavaScript, and the safe subset of C#. Rust just
         | happens to achieve memory safety with a relatively low runtime
         | overhead.
        
           | JohnFen wrote:
           | That's a good point. I was thinking of compiled languages and
           | so wasn't thinking about those.
        
             | IshKebab wrote:
             | There are memory safe compiled languages too, e.g. Go or
             | Dart. I think Java and maybe C# can be AoT compiled too
             | these days.
        
         | sBqQu3U0wH wrote:
         | I have a similar opinion. What puts me off about the language
         | is it's horrendously ugly syntax and toxic, cult-like community
         | (maybe these types are a minority, but they are awfully loud).
        
         | alex_lav wrote:
         | Bold take to discuss this on the internet. I agree entirely,
         | but my gripes are generally met with the software dev's version
         | of "git gud".
        
         | wilg wrote:
         | Swift!
        
         | jamesrr39 wrote:
         | Not sure why either why the article just gives Rust as an
         | example. Whilst there are some performance demanding use cases
         | where Rust/C/C++ are really the appropriate choices, >99% of
         | applications that have been written and are out there are not
         | really worried about shaving the nanoseconds off or GC-pauses
         | and are working just fine and memory-safe on
         | Java/C#/Go/Python/Javascript/Ruby/PHP etc...
        
       | mikece wrote:
       | I'm not sure I want to take the advice of an entity that is $33
       | billion in debt on how I should run my business.
        
         | AdamJacobMuller wrote:
         | The debt amount is so surreal that you mixed up the units (it's
         | 33 trillion not 33 billion) and also you missed an entire
         | trillion dollars (it's 34 trillion not 33 trillion) or maybe it
         | just went up by a trillion since you wrote that message.
        
           | mikece wrote:
           | You're right... I meant trillions. Geez -- the numbers are
           | almost make-believe at this point.
        
         | noahtallen wrote:
         | It's _very_ different from normal entities being in debt, and
         | likely not the same decision makers involved as those
         | discussing software practices.
        
         | whateveracct wrote:
         | You realize the US is also continuously making good on its
         | debts, right? While the gross number grows, it isn't the _same_
         | debt outstanding.
        
       | alex_lav wrote:
       | Note that Rust isn't brought up in the video being discussed, and
       | I've not actually found the source being referenced when the
       | article says
       | 
       | > The White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD)
       | urged tech companies today to switch to memory-safe programming
       | languages, such as Rust,
       | 
       | Happy to have missed it, but this seems to be a Rust fan
       | injecting bias?
       | 
       | The report being referenced in Dec 2023 recommends these
       | languages:
       | 
       | > Recommended memory safe programming languages mentioned in the
       | CSI include C#, Go, Java, Python, Rust, and Swift. Software
       | manufacturers should evaluate multiple memory safe programming
       | languages before integrating them into their workflows.
        
         | chc4 wrote:
         | https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Final-...
         | uses Rust as an example of a memory safe language that meets
         | low-overhead requirements, such as for aerospace.
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-26 23:02 UTC)