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Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

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Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#1

Post by mikethe »

Greetings,

I recently came accross this thread from a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34501352

I am interested, in particular, by the comment by vidarh, that starts with:

"You've been given the answer already: Simplicity. You keep ignoring it."

I find myself highly interested in what this person would have to say about rust. Is it better than, for example, oberon, or it's descendents?

I have heard that Rust is a big language. By that definition, a simpler one must be better, right? And yet rust is a big thing, and .. oberon is ..dusty?

I will keep on searching, and maybe attempt to contact him/her/(other?) directly.

Re: Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#4

Post by mikethe »

andsoitis wrote: post #3

If you're curious about Wirth languages (Oberon is an example), then Ada is the one to explore. Standardized. Very mature. Proven track record. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language)

..thank you..

I am very curious at the moment about why my post shows up a lighter shade of gray than others. I have done some searching, and apparently this can have something to do with people down-voting something, maybe if it seems to contain disparaging comments. I described oberon as "dusty", could that be it? It wasn't meant to be disparaging. You see rust all over the place. If I hadn't been exploring the text editor vis referred to by suckless, I wouldn't have even known oberon existed.

I am -not- trying to criticize oberon. I am not trying to claim that rust is better. I am just looking for a comparison of the two, from the point of view of the particular poster I referenced. I would have responded to his comment directly if I could.

Thank you very much for your tip about ada. I'll check it out!

Re: Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#5

Post by andsoitis »

mikethe wrote: post #4
andsoitis wrote: post #3

If you're curious about Wirth languages (Oberon is an example), then Ada is the one to explore. Standardized. Very mature. Proven track record. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language)

..thank you.. I am very curious at the moment about why my post shows up a lighter shade of gray than others. I have done some searching, and apparently this can have something to do with people down-voting something, maybe if it seems to contain disparaging comments. I described oberon as "dusty", could that be it? It wasn't meant to be disparaging. You see rust all over the place. If I hadn't been exploring the tex…

If you DO want to try out Oberon, here are some starting points:

- https://github.com/rochus-keller/Oberon

- https://free.oberon.org/en/ (discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38240333)

Re: Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#6

Post by Jtsummers »

andsoitis wrote: post #3

If you're curious about Wirth languages (Oberon is an example), then Ada is the one to explore. Standardized. Very mature. Proven track record. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language)

Ada is Wirthian, but not a Wirth language. It's worth making the distinction because while its syntax and many of its semantics can be seen as coming from Algol and Wirth's line of languages in particular, he did not design it himself.

Re: Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#7

Post by mikethe »

andsoitis wrote: post #5
mikethe wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

..thank you.. I am very curious at the moment about why my post shows up a lighter shade of gray than others. I have done some searching, and apparently this can have something to do with people down-voting something, maybe if it seems to contain disparaging comments. I described oberon as "dusty", could that be it? It wasn't meant to be disparaging. You see rust all over the place. If I hadn't been exploring the tex…

If you DO want to try out Oberon, here are some starting points: - https://github.com/rochus-keller/Oberon - https://free.oberon.org/en/ (discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38240333 )

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#8

Post by fuzzfactor »

mikethe wrote: post #4
andsoitis wrote: post #3

If you're curious about Wirth languages (Oberon is an example), then Ada is the one to explore. Standardized. Very mature. Proven track record. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language)

..thank you.. I am very curious at the moment about why my post shows up a lighter shade of gray than others. I have done some searching, and apparently this can have something to do with people down-voting something, maybe if it seems to contain disparaging comments. I described oberon as "dusty", could that be it? It wasn't meant to be disparaging. You see rust all over the place. If I hadn't been exploring the tex…

The submission text is always grey.

Your comments will not appear grey unless downvoted more so than upvoted, and that grey will be seen by others but not be seen by you while you are still logged in.

Your account name is new and so appears in green which some users will scrutinize until they are confident it is not a bad actor.

Re: Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#9

Post by mikethe »

fuzzfactor wrote: post #8
mikethe wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

..thank you.. I am very curious at the moment about why my post shows up a lighter shade of gray than others. I have done some searching, and apparently this can have something to do with people down-voting something, maybe if it seems to contain disparaging comments. I described oberon as "dusty", could that be it? It wasn't meant to be disparaging. You see rust all over the place. If I hadn't been exploring the tex…

The submission text is always grey. Your comments will not appear grey unless downvoted more so than upvoted, and that grey will be seen by others but not be seen by you while you are still logged in. Your account name is new and so appears in green which some users will scrutinize until they are confident it is not a bad actor.

Super helpful! Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: Oberon et al., vs. Rust

#10

Post by leecommamichael »

When I see these subjects, I can't help but talk about the Odin Programming Language. It's been such a joy working nearly exclusively in Odin this year. The creator of Odin might have something interesting to say on this topic. vidarh said "Wirth was perhaps too ascetic in his insistence on keeping the compilers minimal, but you can fine less extreme versions carried on in extensions done in the PhD dissertations of students in his group." I'm not versed in the extensions, but I wouldn't be surprised if Odin looked a lot like them. It's a very practical language, and feels like a proper 21st century C language with Wirth's design ethos.
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