Another big tech company join the move away from C++ initiative, How we can stop this migration process?

Background

2011 marked the renaissance of C++, driven by the release of C++11 which introduced numerous features to modernize the language, such as lambda expressions, smart pointers, and a more efficient standard library. However, a decade later, major tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Meta are initiating processes to migrate away from C++. This shift highlights growing concerns about memory safety and the evolving landscape of systems programming.

Just recently there’s another big company joining the Moving away from C++ initiative. it concern Apple that recommend to replace C++ with Swift.

One could argue that the issue lies not with C++ itself, but with the developers using it. However, the reality is that big companies are shifting away from C++.

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The majority of code executed on a Windows PC is developed in C++, so it’s expected to encounter more issues in C++ code.

Recently, numerous articles have highlighted issues in C++ code, and even the White House has discouraged the use of C++ in favor of promoting Rust. However, does this perspective consider the extensive use of C++ compared to other programming languages? In this post, we will explore the fact that the majority of code executed on a Windows PC is developed in C++. What if most of this code were developed in Rust, C#, or Java? Would we still have the same incredible user experience we enjoy today? Let’s delve into this question and examine the potential implications.

The usage patterns of Windows users vary widely, but several key activities dominate their screen time. We can enumerate:

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C++ creator rebuts White House warning, but there’s no smoke without fire :)

In a March 15 response to an inquiry from InfoWorld, Stroustrup pointed out strengths of C++. “I find it surprising that the writers of those government documents seem oblivious of the strengths of contemporary C++ and the efforts to provide strong safety guarantees,” Stroustrup said. 

And Stroustrup cited a fact about the origin of the issue :

There are two problems related to safety. Of the billions of lines of C++, few completely follow modern guidelines, and peoples’ notions of which aspects of safety are important differ.

This highlights a significant problem with C++. When any programming language permits the execution of potentially harmful actions, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a considerable portion of developers may misuse it.

And when confronted about writing bad code, developers may offer various arguments to justify their actions, though these are often excuses rather than valid reasons:

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What attempts have been made to bring memory safety to C++?

C++ is a powerful and widely used programming language known for its flexibility and performance. However, one of its historical drawbacks has been the lack of built-in memory safety features, which can lead to various types of memory-related bugs such as buffer overflows, dangling pointers, and memory leaks.

This is a known issue that has persisted for decades, and numerous attempts have been made to find a solution. Unfortunately, none have succeeded.

What has been done in the past to enhance memory safety within the language?

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