This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I’m not sure what to think about this. It’s bizarre, the White House making any recommendations on programming languages.
They’re definitely not seen as an authority in this field. Why would anyone care what recommendation they make? And so why make one at all?
They’re definitely not seen as an authority in this field. Why would anyone care what recommendation they make?
It's possible that they are acting on the advice of advisors who are authorities in this field.
And so why make one at all?
I expect it's because information and industrial security are components of national security, which is of great concern to them, and those things depend on software.
I'm not surprised to see this, given that state-sponsored electronic attacks are on the rise these days.
This is exactly why people sound sophomoric when they say "lobbying needs to go!" There are some drastic problems with lobbying as it is allowed now, but the last thing we need is the government regulating things they know nothing about without the input of experts. On top of that, it's nonsense that I can't pass my local councilman on the street and stop and push them to spend more time addressing important issues like climate change.
It's important to remember that the argument against lobbying isn't about the broadest sense of the word "lobbying", but rather about corporations and other moneyed interests having unfair and unhealthy influence over the laws that govern everyone else.
The people who decry lobbying probably agree with you; they're just using the word in an implicitly narrow context.
they’re just using the word in an implicitly narrow context.
I think we mostly agree, but disagree on this point. I think it's just that most people haven't given it any thought. Like they are just ignorantly going along with the popular opinion.
I suppose mob mentality is likely to play some part in every widely shared view.
At the very least, I can guarantee that one of said people has given it thought. :)
I don't think your argument quite holds up. The directionality is important. It's true that the government can't always know about technical things directly, but I think it's fine for the government to be expected to know which experts they need to consult, and for that process not to just be open to everyone (which just means more open to those with more money).
it’s fine for the government to be expected to know which experts they need to consult
What happens if they don't even know it's a problem? Or they don't realize the severity of the problem so it gets a lower priority?
And it also sounds like you're arguing that I can't talk to my local representative about what I think are the important issues that need to be addressed. If they have to seek me out, I would have zero input.
It’s a national security threat
C/C++ is a threat to mental stability
NIST are the experts guiding the White House.
NIST is mentioned
confused and angry screaming
There have been words around this, like how software should be safe by design, but the regulation should come from the governing entity. This is simply materialized now, but there has been momentum.
They can't even figure out language for human interpretation much less computer interpretation.
Gov is getting rusty
I agree, let's start with dumping Windows.
Done, next the Linux kernel? 😱
It's a hard sacrifice to make, but if that means killing Windows, then mwahahaha... I mean, MS's power lies in supporting all that legacy.
Team Fortran raise up, but not too fast our old bones aren't as strong as they used to be.
I updated an internal library from 77 to 90 last week. We're working quickly these days!
Good luck with that, C/C++ are still crazy popular
well... that's the point - if they weren't this wouldn't be a concern
Damn, it’s been like 25 years since I touched either of those. Aside from OS development, do people really do that anymore?
C++ is also the standard in game dev. You may see some C# here and there, but most engines, public available or otherwise, are built on C++.
If it is a AAA game, I can assure you it is most likely made with C++.
Most of the embedded world uses those.
https://www.geekboots.com/story/why-c-is-so-popular-and-still-the-best-programming-language
Basically, C runs the modern world. WiFi, MacOS, Windows, Linux, and so much more
Embedded systems developer here. If you're programming on ARM or one of the other big microcontrollers there aren't many well supported options. ARM's official Keil compiler and libraries are C and C++ and I see no official movement to change that.
They have literally decades in building those tools.
Microsoft's multithreaded OS ThreadX is C code. They just bought it for a large undisclosed amount in 2018. It ain't going anywhere soon.
AWS's FreeRTOS is C. Not going anywhere.
Embedded development toolchains are very slow to change.
A large chunk of not most of robotic development is C and C++. Since working with a mixture of hardware, software, and even performance software here comes C and C++.
C/C++: so bad that even the white house takes notice 😂
C isn't bad. It has been a good portable assembly language for ages, and remains so today. What's problematic is continuing to use it where more advanced languages now make more sense.
I won't defend C++, though. I'm happy to kick it to the curb now that better alternatives are gaining traction.
The problem with C++ is not the lack of safety features. It's the ever lasting backwards compatibility that is keeping it both alive and down at the same time.
Having to support 50 year old code, is going to limit any restriction you place. But it is usually the restrictions that make a language good.
Example: You can write perfectly good modern C++ code without any pointers. But pointers are so ingrained into the language, that it is impossible to remove them.
Probably a good idea, plenty of languages out there that can give good performance while being memory safe nowadays.
Wtf, I thought this was a meme...
segmentation fault (c and c++ dumped)
Just write memory safe code lol
Good reason to not drop C and C++
“We, as a nation, have the ability—and the responsibility—to reduce the attack surface in cyberspace and prevent entire classes of security bugs from entering the digital ecosystem but that means we need to tackle the hard problem of moving to memory safe programming languages,” National Cyber Director Harry Coker said in the White House news release.
o7
Can’t we just bring back Forth and call it a day?
sad stroustroup noises
I'm like absolutely convinced Rust is the shit!
