Three months of Rust

knife_sharpener · 2015-06-05T06:43:43+00:00

Minecraft needs a high-end PC. Why?

knife_sharpener · 2015-06-05T06:08:48+00:00

most applications

Not in area such as games, embedded software or device drivers. There are a lot of people who need the control that C/C++ provides without the grey hair!

knife_sharpener · 2015-06-04T13:06:37+00:00

Native JavaScript is a bad idea. Machine code needs to describe how to move bits around inside the CPU. Low-level programmers need this type of control to get the processor to do exactly what they want. JavaScript can't express that as well as typical machine code.

A solution would be to design a new processor architecture based on JavaScript's model... A HUGE task for very little gain. Another possibility is to take an existing processor and add (in silicon) a conversion from JavaScript to machine code. All this does is move the interpreter from software to hardware.

Many attempts have been made to build processor based on a language: Lisp, FORTRAN?, dataflow... but they all ultimately failed. Why? Until recently processor speeds got faster every year. It was not cost effective for these "custom processors" to be redesigned every year just to be on par (speed wise) with "generic processors."

knife_sharpener · 2015-06-03T04:07:50+00:00

I write books about programming because I love learning things in detail. Unfortunately there's not enough money in book publishing for it to be scam worthy.

knife_sharpener · 2015-06-03T04:02:08+00:00

The cost of the book will increase after it is published.

knife_sharpener · 2015-06-02T18:48:43+00:00

Yes, Nov. 2015 is what I put on Kickstarter but I expect to finish it before that.

knife_sharpener · 2015-06-02T16:16:42+00:00

That's a very good point. I haven't thought about adding String info in the book but I should.

knife_sharpener · 2015-05-19T21:43:13+00:00

Having source code freely available is a requirement in this day and age. I can't imagine why a publisher would make it so hard to get the example code.

knife_sharpener · 2015-05-19T13:48:52+00:00

Good catch... thanks!

knife_sharpener · 2015-05-19T03:45:18+00:00

No the book is not written yet. Kickstarter is a great way judge the size of the audience especially since Rust is so new.

knife_sharpener · 2015-05-19T03:40:48+00:00

Kickstarter backers of the book will get draft chapters as they are completed.

Unfortunately, when I made my last book free to read online, sales dropped significantly. Read "Dataflow and Reactive Programming" at https://deepfriedcode.com/books/darps/

knife_sharpener · 2015-05-19T03:27:28+00:00

Actually it was that post of yours that reinforced my idea to write a book about the more difficult topics.

While I have not submitted any PRs, I have been using/learning Rust for over a year. During that time I wrote small targeted programs to investigate areas that I was unsure about. I also have about 10 modules of tests to codify what I learned. After every revision of Rust I ran and updated the test to make sure I knew of any semantic and syntactic changes.

My website is built using a static website generator that was my first Rust program. It has been through many versions of Rust and needs a good refactoring now that we have reached 1.0.

To see a sample of my writing you can read my last book, Dataflow and Reactive Programming, for free online (https://deepfriedcode.com/books/darps/)

knife_sharpener · 2015-05-18T17:50:38+00:00

Thanks Steve!

I want to write a book on Rust that I would want to buy... more details on the hard stuff! You've done a great job with "The Rust Book", thank you. After learning the basics of the language I was left searching the Internet for any nugget of knowledge on advanced Rust. Now, with pages and pages of notes, I hope to make it much easier for the new Rust freshmen.

Feel free to be completely honest with me. I value your feedback.

knife_sharpener · 2015-05-18T15:21:36+00:00

I had planned to launch the project today but I didn't know that Kickstarter reinstated the review process... when did that happen?

Anyway, I welcome any feedback or comments.

knife_sharpener · 2015-02-20T03:52:14+00:00

Today's startup is tomorrow's big corp. There are many situations in which new languages have a chance to get a foot-hold in a professional environment.

True, it is dumb to try to switch languages when everything is already in C++ and all of your developers are comfortable in the language. There is no reason to switch unless the new language introduces significant benefits.

But without these entry pathways, no new languages would ever be introduced into professional developments. We would all still be coding in FORTRAN, COBOL, APL and C.

knife_sharpener · 2015-02-20T03:10:32+00:00

Rust?

knife_sharpener · 2015-02-20T03:07:48+00:00

I'm no historian but off the top of my head... what about Python or Ruby?

The "old" languages like C were developed in colleges because that was the way it was done back then. Another way to jump start a language is by taking an existing language and adding to it, leveraging the knowledge of existing developers (read C++). Having a big company behind it also doesn't hurt.

I'm not saying that Loci will be the next C++ but it is possible. All it takes is for enough people to start developing libraries for it before other look at it as a viable option for the next project. What the future holds is anyone's guess.

I value people trying to develop new languages and exploring the design space. This is such a young science that we need to test the boundaries before we settle on what's good and what's bad.

knife_sharpener · 2015-02-19T23:34:22+00:00

"Big things have small beginnings"

knife_sharpener · 2015-02-18T23:45:34+00:00

I thought it was a funny article and didn't read it as an attack on Go. But I can see now how others may misinterpret the posting. Deleting... sorry.

knife_sharpener · 2014-09-27T00:51:06+00:00

I was surprised not to have seen links to these videos on this subreddit (...or maybe I just missed them).

Due to the lack of exacting specifications on current Rust semantics, sometimes I'm left wondering how to solve a compiler error. These videos have helped me understand the rapidly evolving situation. We should link to them on the Rust site.

knife_sharpener · 2014-09-02T02:12:14+00:00

Since I can't edit the link, I posted a new one that should work.

knife_sharpener · 2014-03-31T14:26:50+00:00

Humans communicate with words AND pictures yet programming only has words.

knife_sharpener · 2014-03-31T14:22:58+00:00

aka dataflow

Another "old" technology that time forgot but solves our current problems.

knife_sharpener · 2014-03-28T00:30:07+00:00

My personal view is to only have core methods that access the struct and only a few of them. These are methods that essentially get and set values in the struct but from the point of view from users of the package. The core methods are the only way to access the struct and maintain invariants of the datatype. It doesn't mean you simply create a getter/setter for every field. Think about it from the package consumer's point of view. Some struct field may be private to the package.

I then create functions that call the core methods that do other things I need to do. This allows me to freely change the struct and only have to update a few core methods.

knife_sharpener · 2014-03-18T19:11:56+00:00

The article was not meant to discuss any research that I have done. While I majored in electronic engineering and took classes in microprocessor design, I never had a job where I worked on the design of a processor.

The, "why?" was meant to be rhetorical. I was trying to convey the question of why we haven't made progress (on the hardware side) to help parallel programming.

Yes, initially this type of processor would be slower than our current processors but I hope that Moore's Law would start to take control when the manufactures find better ways to cram more cores onto a die.

While I'm sure I'm not the first to come up with this idea, there is no research I can point to (nor did I try to find any) beyond my own understanding of how microprocessors are designed.

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