yesterday, on 23rd July carbon-lang launched a YouTube video with cpp north. in this post ill talk about everything you need to know about carbon, the experimental successor of c++
why do we need carbon in the first place?
c++ is the dominant programming language for software which focus on performance. it also has massive and constantly growing codebases and investments. unfortunately, it is struggling to further improve. it is hard to improve it because of years of accumulating technical debt and challenges with its evolution process.
plus points of carbon
it's performance level(which is really important) matches that of c++. c++ is still one of the fastest languages today
existing c++ libraries can easily adopt carbon
carbon has a gentle learning curve(plus points if you are familiar with c++) and it's syntax is similar to that of c++
carbon can be built on top of c++'s existing ecosystem. this means the already existing investments, codebases and the most important aspect, developers will also be part of the new carbon ecosystem
as the developers of carbon themselves said that "Carbon aims to fill an analogous role for C++"
goals of carbon-lang
the main aims of carbon are to support performance critical software, code which is easy to understand, write and read, fast and scalable development. there is a detailed goals document which you can check out too!
project status
carbon currently is still an experimental language and it will take a time before we can see it being used in the mainstream market. the developers are trying to better understand weather they can build a language which meets their successor language criteria and also gather a critical mass of interest within the c++ community. they are currently focused on getting more feedback and participation from the c++ community. here is the document which lists their objectives and goals for the year
here is the carbon-lang repo on github
carbon-language
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carbon-lang
Carbon Language's main repository: documents, design, implementation, and related tools. (NOTE: Carbon Language is experimental; see README)
Carbon Language:
An experimental successor to C++
Why? | Goals | Getting started | Join us
See our announcement video from CppNorth
Fast and works with C++
- Performance matching C++ using LLVM, with low-level access to bits and addresses
- Interoperate with your existing C++ code, from inheritance to templates
- Fast and scalable builds that work with your existing C++ build systems
Modern and evolving
- Solid language foundations that are easy to learn, especially if you have used C++
- Easy, tool-based upgrades between Carbon versions
- Safer fundamentals, and an incremental path towards a memory-safe subset
Welcoming open-source community
- Clear goals and priorities with robust governance
- Community that works to be welcoming, inclusive, and friendly
- Batteries-included approach: compiler, libraries, docs, tools, package manager, and more
Why build Carbon?
C++ remains the dominant programming language for performance-critical software with massive and growing codebases and investments. However, it is struggling to improve and meet…
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