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Google says replacing C/C++ in firmware with Rust is easy (www.theregister.com)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I assume that you do know that tools improve objectively in the cycle and are making a joke on purpose.

[+] [email protected] -7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

If you had a grasp on the subject you'd understand that it takes more than mindlessly chanting "tools" to actually get tangible improvements, and even I'm that scenario often they come with critical tradeoff.

It takes more than peer pressure to make a case for a tool.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

mindlessly chanting “tools”

That's what you were doing in the first place. Instead of evaluating and trying new things, you are putting them in an imaginary cycle, ignoring any actual value that they brings.

Also Rust has been on your "stage 2" for 10 years. It's now widely used in multiple mainstream operating systems for both components and drivers, driving part of the world's internet stack, and is used to build many of those "shiny and new tools".

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

There you go again flinging insults at anyone who disagrees with you.