> Copilot 3.9, a stream-based DSL for writing and monitoring embedded C programs, with an emphasis on correctness and hard realtime requirements.
I hate to say it.
This is something that actually, genuinely should, be re-written in Rust.
I hate to say it.
This is something that actually, genuinely should, be re-written in Rust.
It uses C as a back end, which is a sensible thing to do since it is the default in embedded software development, few embedded toolchains support Rust. And it is just a backend, they could have output machine code directly, but C is more universal and you can take advantage of all the C compiler optimizations. Using Rust for this would get you all of the disadvantages and none of the advantages that Rust has over C.
Now, maybe you mean writing embedded code in Rust instead of C, at least, now you have a point, Rust has features that I think would be well suited for critical embedded software. But that's also what Copilot tries to do, if anything, Copilot competes against Rust (and ADA). I say that in the sense that they all address the same problem (safety) and you have to choose one solution, not that they are enemies.
Should its author generate Rust from Rust? Would it be better if Copilot produced object files or executables directly, or used eg. LLVM IR?