A different take on the matter: I write code mainly artistically, and I found that C is one of the best languages available to code as a form of art. It allows to be both brutal and honest, or abstract and deceiving. Not many languages are so semantically powerful.
50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
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Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#42His final conclusion is that C has to go, just like COBOL, Fortran, and PL/I. I wonder how long it will take before C will be gone totally when you realize how much COBOL and Fortran are still around. Not so long ago, I came along a module for Python 'SciPy.interpolate' that happens to be programmed in Fortran.
In a way, it's already happening. Many big tech companies are now defaulting to other languages than C and are actively discouraging the use of C or C++ for new code. They still have a big vested interest in maintaining existing code of course. That's not going to disappear overnight obviously.
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#43His final conclusion is that C has to go, just like COBOL, Fortran, and PL/I. I wonder how long it will take before C will be gone totally when you realize how much COBOL and Fortran are still around. Not so long ago, I came along a module for Python 'SciPy.interpolate' that happens to be programmed in Fortran.
It won't go away, but just like it happens with COBOL, Fortran, and PL/I, you won't see anyone dreaming of coding C until the end of their working days. Or maybe they will, given how much consultants in those languages happen to be paid, as no one else wants to touch them.
> you won't see anyone dreaming of coding C until the end of their working days.
I do dream about that. Just being able to tag along while some programmers learn their Xth framework as a language.
Maybe someday I might concede and move on from C89 to C99.
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#44His final conclusion is that C has to go, just like COBOL, Fortran, and PL/I. I wonder how long it will take before C will be gone totally when you realize how much COBOL and Fortran are still around. Not so long ago, I came along a module for Python 'SciPy.interpolate' that happens to be programmed in Fortran.
Can C really completely go away as long as there's embedded programming? Are there any other alternatives for that domain?
Rust is rapidly picking up steam in the embedded sphere :-)
Unfortunately it's an industry with a lot of stubborn old people so I don't see any major changes happening until they've retired but I'm willing to bet that async is going to revolutionize embedded development. Being able to await interrupts and doing efficient cooperative scheduling while writing straight forward code is a massive QoL improvement which is what embassy is enabling: https://embassy.dev/
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#45> The combination of BASED and REFER leaves the compiler to do the error prone pointer arithmetic while having the same innate efficiency as the clumsy equivalent in C. Add to this that PL/1 (like most contemporary languages) included bounds checking and the result is significantly superior to C. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/09/the_multics_o... "Multics B2 Security Evaluation" https://multicians.org/b2…
"Speaking as someone who has delved into the intricacies of PL/I, I am sure that only Real Men could have written such a machine-hogging, cycle-grabbing, all-encompassing monster. Allocate an array and free the middle third? Sure! Why not? Multiply a character string times a bit string and assign the result to a float decimal? Go ahead! Free a controlled variable procedure parameter and reallocate it before passing it back? Overlay three different types of variable on the same memory location? Anything you say! Write a recursive macro? Well, no, but Real Men use rescan. How could a language so obviously designed and written by Real Men not be intended for Real Man use?"
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#46> The combination of BASED and REFER leaves the compiler to do the error prone pointer arithmetic while having the same innate efficiency as the clumsy equivalent in C. Add to this that PL/1 (like most contemporary languages) included bounds checking and the result is significantly superior to C. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/09/the_multics_o... "Multics B2 Security Evaluation" https://multicians.org/b2…
"Speaking as someone who has delved into the intricacies of PL/I, I am sure that only Real Men could have written such a machine-hogging, cycle-grabbing, all-encompassing monster. Allocate an array and free the middle third? Sure! Why not? Multiply a character string times a bit string and assign the result to a float decimal? Go ahead! Free a controlled variable procedure parameter and reallocate it before passing i…
Well, at least the Morris worm wouldn't have happened with PL/I.
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#47A different take on the matter: I write code mainly artistically, and I found that C is one of the best languages available to code as a form of art. It allows to be both brutal and honest, or abstract and deceiving. Not many languages are so semantically powerful.
Can you expand on that?
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#48A different take on the matter: I write code mainly artistically, and I found that C is one of the best languages available to code as a form of art. It allows to be both brutal and honest, or abstract and deceiving. Not many languages are so semantically powerful.
C++ should be even better in those categories.
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#49His final conclusion is that C has to go, just like COBOL, Fortran, and PL/I. I wonder how long it will take before C will be gone totally when you realize how much COBOL and Fortran are still around. Not so long ago, I came along a module for Python 'SciPy.interpolate' that happens to be programmed in Fortran.
Can C really completely go away as long as there's embedded programming? Are there any other alternatives for that domain?
Yes, compilers for C++, BASIC, Pascal, Ada are around, mostly commercial and people pay to keep those companies in business, for powerfull microcontrollers where real time GC is an option, there are Oberon, .NET and Java as well.
There are surelly other factors that weight in using C, but not for lack of options (in many cases).
Re: 50 years of C, the good, the bad and the ugly [video]
#50A different take on the matter: I write code mainly artistically, and I found that C is one of the best languages available to code as a form of art. It allows to be both brutal and honest, or abstract and deceiving. Not many languages are so semantically powerful.
Can you share some examples of your "art"? I'm trying to wrap my brain around the concept of writing code for any reason other than work or trying to build something.