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Comment by ilovecaching | Hacker News Reader

I think you’re very confused about the purpose of a systems programming language.

Not at all, and I've actually _used_ Nim for a few years now.

If Nim does not get a general purpose, batteries included web framework it will never reach escape velocity and will be left in obscurity despite all of the incredibly difficult and marvelous work Araq and the team has done.

I want them to succeed. I love the language!

Nah, parent commentator and me both think Nim could be really large. The definition of "systems programming language" is defined by arbitrary lines.

Web apps are applications and are the opposite of systems software. Systems software would be the web server itself, or something that runs beneath the application layer.

Yes definitions are sometimes nebulous but that doesn’t mean words should lose all meaning and we should stop trying. Systems programming is a useful label for the boot stack, kernel, protocol implementations etc. which support the application layer.

The "systems" label only means those languages can do a few more low-level things, nothing more. There's no reason not to use it for other things as well.

I know this is hammered to death on HN, but you could definitely argue memory safety is a reason not to use systems languages for anything else.

Granted though it means what you meant by "it". I read that as "a systems programming language", but if you specifically meant Nim then I think it can enable a GC.

people just say it's a systems language, it doesnt have to be only this.

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