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Comment Re:Not dependently type (Score 1) 161

But with python and javascript being so dominant we are headed in a totally different direction for the bulk of our applications.

I wouldn't bet on that horse staying in the lead forever (well, horses plural). Those of us with long enough memories remember when this wasn't true. Here's a thought experiment: How did they get dominant in the first place, since at one time they were new and different? Things change and improve over time, and that's a good thing. Besides, Python and JS developers aren't necessarily the target audience, though there may be some overlap between them and potential Rust developers. For some reason "The Blind Men and the Elephant" comes to mind, and the term "tunnel vision" as well. :-)

Comment Re:Most will want to wait for 1.0, or at least bet (Score 1) 161

That's a rather uninformed statement to make, given that you're referring to a rather short time period when the rate of change caused the docs to lag behind. That will be corrected soon, I'm sure. Besides, the API docs, which are generated from the code, *are* correct and have been kept up to date all along despite the rapid rate of change. So documentation exists and is correct. The GP was likely referring to the higher level docs, such as guides and tutorials, which aren't produced by "the devs".

But hey, at least you got your *zing* in, though you forgot the rimshot at the end.

Comment Re:It's about time (Score 1) 161

Rust is specifically not designed to be a "meets all your needs" language. It's a language that knows its niche well, and sticks to it.

Basically, this is programming language for systems and other low-level stuff done right. It competes primary against C++, and to a lesser extent, C, and does it really well. It's not yet another scripting language for the web or desktop GUI or some such, and it doesn't pretend to be one.

I agree with you in principle, except for the "it competes ... really well" part. That's an unfounded assertion since it hasn't actually competed in the real world yet. Because, you know, not being finished yet. The true challenges are still in the future. It seems to have successfully passed the early "get people interested" stage, which is nice, but there are a bunch more hurdles to be surmounted before I would call it even a marginal success. Let's wait and see.

Comment Re:Device drivers ? (Score 4, Interesting) 161

This Rust language is yet another flashy thing that will not get anywhere.

That remains to be seen. I've heard the same thing said about email, the internet, Linux, Java, the iPhone, tablets and many other things over the years. The truth is that in a viable and vibrant marketplace of ideas, many things fail but some survive, and predicting which is hard. Give it a chance to fail or succeed on its own rather than condemning it in the womb, and be glad you live in a time where people have the enthusiasm and energy to try new things. Your attitude leads to stagnation.

Comment Re:Rust is pointless because has a garbage collect (Score 3, Insightful) 161

From your link:

1.8 No constructors

Functions can serve the same purpose as constructors without adding any language complexity.

How many good OO language exist without constructors? Maybe only javascript. This seems like a terrible decision.

Or maybe an informed one. Go and Rust -- objects without class

Besides, Rust isn't an "OO" language. It's a multi-paradigm language that supports pure-functional, concurrent-actor, imperative-procedural, and object-oriented styles. After 40+ years, a growing opinion seems to be that pure OOP isn't without its problems, and other approaches may fit development goals better. I'm not sure multi-paradigm languages are the answer (there seems to be a huge potential to be confusing, IMHO), but OOP isn't the evolutionary pinnacle of language design that the last few decades of hype would have us believe. I'm willing to give this approach a chance (and I'm always up for learning something new).

Critcisim of the OOP paradigm

(Aside: Not quite sure why, but the use of the term "paradigm" multiple times makes me feel slightly icky for some reason. Probably due to it's misuse in business jargon.)

Comment Re:Self-defeating name (Score 1) 161

Eh? Out of all popular languages pretty much only ones trivially googleable are Perl, PHP and Javascript, all the rest either need "language" added or are only googlable due to popularity.

I mean, seriously. An Indonesian island? A precious stone? A large snake? A speech defect? A plan or a plot? To strike heavily and repeatedly? Italian word for "stairs"? And the worst offender, simply third letter of the latin alphabet (also used as chemical symbol for carbon, roman numeral "100", average grade in education and tons of other things)?

Don't forget the fourth letter of the latin alphabet (also used as the first letter in three elements on the periodic table though can't rate it's own, the Roman numeral 500, a poor grade in education and tons of other things. And apparently something the girls be wantin'.)

Comment Re:So... (Score 1) 161

Eh, I'll try it when they find a way to finally reintroduce female characters without it turning into some misogynistic sausage-fest.
~ censor.nudity false

http://www.penny-arcade.com/co...

What about "Rust PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE" was so difficult to understand? Did you even read past the first word of the title?

Thanks for noticing. That was deliberate. My attempt to hold back the rising tide of unclear and uninformative titles and summaries on /. Too bad it wasn't successful.

Or perhaps we're both the victims of *whoosh* and the folks above were just having some fun. :-)

Submission + - The Rust programming language reaches 1.0 alpha (rust-lang.org)

c0d3g33k writes: Rust, a new a systems programming language with a focus on safety, performance and concurrency, has released the 1.0 alpha version of the language. This means that the language and core libraries are feature-complete for the 1.0 release. In practical terms, this means that the rate of change experienced by early adopters will slow down dramatically and major breaking changes should be very rare (during the alpha cycle some major changes may still occur if considered necessary). The language will stabilize further when the beta stage is reached (planned for six weeks from now). More details can be found in the announcement post at blog.rust-lang.org.
Programming

Hackers' Shutdown of 'The Interview' Confirms Coding Is a Superpower 221

theodp writes: The idea of programming as a superpower was touched upon by CS teacher Alfred Thompson back in 2010, but it became a rallying call of sorts for the Hour of Code after Dropbox CEO Drew Houston described coding as "the closest thing we have to a superpower" in a Code.org video that went viral. And if the kids who learned to code with the President last week were dubious about the power of coding, this week's decision by Sony to scrap the release of the satirical film The Interview after a massive hack attack should put aside any doubts, especially after new revelations that Sony had reached out to the White House for help and screened the film for administration officials back in June. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday that the Obama Administration is viewing the Sony attack as a "serious national security matter" and is considering a range of possible options as a response, which could turn things into a contest of U.S. Superpower vs. Coding Superpower. In case it wasn't mentioned last week, remember to always use your coding superpower for good, kids!

Comment Re:The Systemd Fiasco or Hello FreeBSD (Score 4, Insightful) 581

Linux has become the laughingstock of the computing world thanks to the Systemd Fiasco.

An entire operating system trashed by a single incompetent clown and his shit pet project rammed down distro throats by his foaming at the mouth fanboys.

A healthy open source community would never have let this fiasco happen.

Hello FreeBSD. A pure Unix operating system run by grownups only interested in technical excellence.

There seems to be a little foaming at the mouth going on right there in your own post.

Comment Thank you, Mr. Ellis (Score 2) 15

Thanks for responding to my off-the-cuff question (Talk about Planetary for a bit).

I found that I just wanted to try and scrape away all those barnacles to see the thing that charmed and fascinated people right at the start. I still don’t know that I managed that to anyone’s satisfaction, but the act of it seemed to me to reveal a story about the genre itself.

If you don't know that you managed it to anyone's satisfaction you're either stupid or deliberately humble and obtuse. I'm guessing the latter. What you describe is the very reason many people love this work. You scraped away the barnacles and managed to produce something that identified what people love about this stuff. Look, back when I was a kid, I KNEW that Godzilla was a guy in a rubber suit, but it was still cool. The same thinking applies to all popular culture. We KNOW there is a man behind the curtain - we're not stupid. The all powerful OZ is just a sham - we get it. But the illusion he's weaving is kind of cool. That's the part we love. I know I'm never going to be Carson of Venus, Superman, Doc Savage, or Tarzan, Lord of the (Ebola-ridden) Jungle. But the fact that I can imagine those ideals inspires me to be a better person, just a little bit. That's what these stories are all about. When faced with the issue of the day, having these stories in the back of my mind helps me to be just a little better. Given the behavior of many that don't have this kind of value system in this world, I recognize that these stories have brought some good to the world.

So scraping off the barnacles and distilling the essence of what people loved about these stories managed to remind me of why they were interesting and important in the first place. And so I try to be a better person with renewed vigor, thanks to you. You have my gratitude.

Comment Re:I would never give Home Depot my address... (Score 1) 99

You don't have to set anything up - just use the address tag when you supply an email address. It's still a valid email address (see link below), so will still get delivered to your inbox. The extra information in the tag/extension makes the address unique (if you made the tag info unique), so can be used to filter messages, sort them to subfolders etc. depending on what your mail provider supports. Different providers support different separators, Gmail happens to be one that supports the plus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Comment Just talk about Planetary for a bit (Score 2) 58

Mr Ellis,

I enjoy all your work, but I view Planetary as a "love letter to the things I love". I would appreciate it if you just wrote a little bit about what you were thinking/feeling when you were working on Planetary. That work covers a lot of territory, but my reaction on first reading was to weep because you captured so perfectly the essence of all those wonderful stories that I loved as a young man. I didn't think anyone loved that shit as much as I did, but Planetary seemed to capture the essence of all those great stories whilst bringing them in to the modern age and reminding us why they were relevant and maybe still are.

So, if you would, just riff a bit on Planetary and all the things you had in your head when you were working that all out. Planetary as the finished work we have as a reference - I'm interested in the stew in your mind containing all that wonderful stuff that eventually was distilled into Planetary. Talk about that a bit, if you are so inclined.

Thanks.

Security

Drupal Warns Users of Mass, Automated Attacks On Critical Flaw 76

Trailrunner7 writes The maintainers of the Drupal content management system are warning users that any site owners who haven't patched a critical vulnerability in Drupal Core disclosed earlier this month should consider their sites to be compromised. The vulnerability, which became public on Oct. 15, is a SQL injection flaw in a Drupal module that's designed specifically to help prevent SQL injection attacks. Shortly after the disclosure of the vulnerability, attackers began exploiting it using automated attacks. One of the factors that makes this vulnerability so problematic is that it allows an attacker to compromise a target site without needing an account and there may be no trace of the attack afterward.

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