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Rust Creator Graydon Hoare Says Current Software Development Practices Terrify Him (twitter.com)

An anonymous reader writes: On Monday Graydon Hoare, the original creator of the Rust programming language, posted some memories on Twitter. "25 years ago I got a job at a computer bookstore. We were allowed to borrow and read the books; so I read through all the language books, especially those with animals on the covers. 10 years ago I had a little language of my own printing hello world." And Monday he was posting a picture of O'Reilly Media's first edition of their new 622-page book Programming Rust: Fast, Safe Systems Development. Then he elaborated to his followers about what happened in between.

"I made a prototype, then my employer threw millions of dollars at it and hired dozens of researchers and programmers (and tireless interns, hi!) and a giant community of thousands of volunteers showed up and _then_ the book arrived. (After Jim and Jason wrote it and like a dozen people reviewed it and a dozen others edited it and an army of managers coordinated it and PLEASE DESIST IN THINKING THINGS ARE MADE BY SINGLE PEOPLE IT IS A VERY UNHEALTHY MYTH)." He writes that the nostaglic series of tweets was inspired because "I was just like a little tickled at the circle-of-life feeling of it all, reminiscing about sitting in a bookstore wondering if I'd ever get to work on cool stuff like this."

One Twitter user then asked him if Rust was about dragging C++ hackers halfway to ML, to which Hoare replied "Not dragging, more like throwing C/C++ folks (including myself) a life raft wrt. safety... Basically I've an anxious, pessimist personality; most systems I try to build are a reflection of how terrifying software-as-it-is-made feels to me. I'm seeking peace and security amid a nightmare of chaos. I want to help programmers sleep well, worry less."

4 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Um... by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny

    DeWalt doesn't sell power tools that go out of their way to make sure you don't cut off your fingers.

    Unfortunately, they do. That's why when I get a new power tool, I have to make modifications to pare it down to an elegant C-style device:

    I remove the blade guard. I cut off the grounding prong and file down the ears on the neutral conductor. I permanently glue down the little trigger interlock button. I put a lock washer on the blade arbor so that it can't ever slip and reduce my torque. None of these annoying things even matter so long as I never make a mistake.

  2. Re:Facepalm. by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 5, Funny

    Correcting others on ML, but misusing the phrase "du jour" and instead claiming Rust is a language by force of law. Oh, the irony police called, their phone exploded.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  3. Re:ML is a language, not "machine learning". by BadDreamer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't leave us hanging; did you get the job?

  4. Re:Rust: a programming lang with a toxic community by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Funny

    To keep a long story short

    Wow - I'd hate to see your long ones!.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.