Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
1–10 of 184 posts
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#2The whole point of Rust is to not have a garbage collector while not worrying about memory leaks, though.
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#3The whole point of Rust is to not have a garbage collector while not worrying about memory leaks, though.
The mechanisms that Rust provide for memory management are various. Having a GC as a library for usecases with shared ownership / handles-to-resources is not out of question. The problem is that they have been hard to integrate with the language.
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#4If only there was a C++-like language with garbage collection (Java, C#, etc)
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#5Before making criticisms that Garbage Collection "defeats the point" of Rust, it's important to consider that Rust has many other strengths:
- Rust has no overhead from a "framework"
- Rust programs start up quickly
- The rust ecosystem makes it very easy to compile a command-line tool without lots of fluff
- The strict nature of the language helps guide the programmer to write bug-free code.
In short: There's a lot of good reasons to choose Rust that have little to do with the presence or absence of a garbage collector.
I think having a working garbage collection at the application layer is very useful; even if it, at a minimum, makes Rust easier to learn. I do worry about 3rd party libraries using garbage collectors, because they (garbage collectors) tend to impose a lot of requirements, which is why a garbage collector usually is tightly integrated into the language.
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#6Before making criticisms that Garbage Collection "defeats the point" of Rust, it's important to consider that Rust has many other strengths: - Rust has no overhead from a "framework" - Rust programs start up quickly - The rust ecosystem makes it very easy to compile a command-line tool without lots of fluff - The strict nature of the language helps guide the programmer to write bug-free code. In short: There's a lot…
You've just listed "Compiled language" features. Only the 4th point has any specificity to Rust, and even then, is vague in a way that could be misinterpreted.
Rust's predominant feature, the one that brings most of its safety and runtime guarantees, is borrow checking. There are things I love about Rust besides that, but the safety from borrow checking (and everything the borrow checker makes me do) is why I like programming in rust. Now, when I program elsewhere, I'm constantly checking ownership "in my head", which I think is a good thing.
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#7The whole point of Rust is to not have a garbage collector while not worrying about memory leaks, though.
The mechanisms that Rust provide for memory management are various. Having a GC as a library for usecases with shared ownership / handles-to-resources is not out of question. The problem is that they have been hard to integrate with the language.
While you're of course correct, there's just something that feels off. I'd love if we kept niche, focused-purpose languages once in a while, instead of having every language do everything. If you prioritize everything you prioritize nothing.
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
The mechanisms that Rust provide for memory management are various. Having a GC as a library for usecases with shared ownership / handles-to-resources is not out of question. The problem is that they have been hard to integrate with the language.
While you're of course correct, there's just something that feels off. I'd love if we kept niche, focused-purpose languages once in a while, instead of having every language do everything. If you prioritize everything you prioritize nothing.
I agree specifically with regards to GC; I think that focusing on being an excellent language for low-level programming (linkable language-agnostic libraries, embedded systems, performance-sensitive systems, high-assurance systems etc.) should continue being the focus.
However, this is 3rd party research. Let all flowers bloom!
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
The mechanisms that Rust provide for memory management are various. Having a GC as a library for usecases with shared ownership / handles-to-resources is not out of question. The problem is that they have been hard to integrate with the language.
While you're of course correct, there's just something that feels off. I'd love if we kept niche, focused-purpose languages once in a while, instead of having every language do everything. If you prioritize everything you prioritize nothing.
> If you prioritize everything you prioritize nothing
Well...
If you prioritize everything you prioritize generalism.
(the "nothing" part comes from our natural limitation to pay enough multidisciplinary attention to details but that psychological impression is being nuked with AI as we speak and the efforts to get to AGI are an attempt to make synthetic "intelligence" be able to gain dominion over this spirit before us)
Re: Garbage collection for Rust: The finalizer frontier
#10Before making criticisms that Garbage Collection "defeats the point" of Rust, it's important to consider that Rust has many other strengths: - Rust has no overhead from a "framework" - Rust programs start up quickly - The rust ecosystem makes it very easy to compile a command-line tool without lots of fluff - The strict nature of the language helps guide the programmer to write bug-free code. In short: There's a lot…
You've just listed "Compiled language" features. Only the 4th point has any specificity to Rust, and even then, is vague in a way that could be misinterpreted. Rust's predominant feature, the one that brings most of its safety and runtime guarantees, is borrow checking. There are things I love about Rust besides that, but the safety from borrow checking (and everything the borrow checker makes me do) is why I like pr…
- Rust is a nice language to use