Google insists it's easy to add Rust code to your firmware
www.theregister.com
Not so much when trying to convert coding veterans

Google recently rewrote the firmware for protected virtual machines in its Android Virtualization Framework using the Rust programming language and wants you to do the same, assuming you deal with firmware.

In a write-up on Thursday, Android engineers Ivan Lozano and Dominik Maier dig into the technical details of replacing legacy C and C++ code with Rust.

“You’ll see how easy it is to boost security with drop-in Rust replacements, and we’ll even demonstrate how the Rust toolchain can handle specialized bare-metal targets,” said Lozano and Maier.

Easy is not a term commonly heard with regard to a programming language known for its steep learning curve.

Nor is it easy to get C and C++ developers to see the world with Rust-tinted lenses. Just last week, one of the maintainers of the Rust for Linux project - created to work Rust code into the C-based Linux kernel - stepped down, citing resistance from Linux kernel developers.

“Here’s the thing, you’re not going to force all of us to learn Rust,” said a Linux kernel contributor during a lively discussion earlier this year at a conference.

    • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
      52·
      7 mesi fa

      I mean, I work as a software engineering and if I’m not doing continuing ed, be it about architecture, storage, or new languages, I’m going to be of less value in the marketplace. I’ve learnt languages I didn’t particularly want to in the past for work (though I generally came to tolerate or even like some of them. Not lua, though; lua can go to hell).

      If Rust truly is the better, safer option, then these people are holding everything back.

      • stupidcasey@lemmy.world
        27·
        7 mesi fa

        C/C++ is the bedrock of our modern civilization in some ways more fundamental than actual bedrock, the first step in getting any OS running is making it run C and after that you are basically done, it’s not surprising that developers resist, if nothing else it’s a common language, and standards are hard to change on the best of days. This isn’t just learning a language, it’s a complete paradigm shift.

        • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
          17·
          7 mesi fa

          The bedrock of modern civilizations is expensive to develop, buggy and unergonomic though.

          If you make C run, you probably (I’m not sure, would have to verify) can make rust run. And if there isn’t yet, there will probably soon be a C compiler written in rust, so you can choose to bootstrap from wherever you prefer.

          C’s ABI will probably last longer than C, since there is not a stable rust ABI though.

            • Spore@lemmy.mlEnglish
              2·
              7 mesi fa

              Currently it’s a long chain from an early version of GCC to the latest one, then mrustc (in C++) which can compile rustc 1.54.0.

            • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
              1·
              7 mesi fa

              To be fair, in that article mentions the way to get rust from C. Sure, there is not a compiler written in C, but C is down there in the list of compilers needed for rust, so “just” need to compile some other compilers in the middle.

              • BatmanAoD@programming.dev
                1·
                7 mesi fa

                Ah, sorry, I misinterpreted your comment somehow. Yes, Rust is bootstrappable today, it’s just a much longer process than it would be if there were a compiler written in C.

    • theherk@lemmy.world
      38·
      7 mesi fa

      Fortunately, they aren’t being asked to do that. All the rust team was requesting was metadata about the call signatures so that they could have a grasp on expected behavior.

    • superkret@feddit.org
      10·
      7 mesi fa

      It isn’t unreasonable to ask someone to learn a new language, if they currently only speak Sumeric.