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Doesn't modern C++ offer the ability to write memory safe code? The primary distinguishing difference from Rust, on this front, is that Rust is memory safe by default (and allows them to override memory safety with code that is explicitly declared as unsafe) while C++ requires the developer to make a conscious effort to avoid unsafe code (without providing facilities to declare code as safe or unsafe). While this means that C++ is problematic, it does not make Rust automagically safer - particularly when interfacing with C/C++ code (as would be the case when interfacing with Linux syscalls or most C or C++ based libraries).
I guess what I'm saying is that Rust is great when dealing exclusively with Rust libraries since it is either memory safe by default or because it is easier to audit (since it is either declared explicitly or implicitly as unsafe). On the other hand, it is not guaranteed to be memory safe. While this may sound like nitpicking, the distinction is important from the perspective of the end user who is unlikely to ever audit the code yet may be swayed by being told that it is written in a memory safe language.
The problem is much worse than how you put it. I've written C++ for more than a decade and it's painful to constantly having to worry about memory safety due to enormous complexity of the language. Even if you are super diligent, you will make a mistake and it will bite you when you expect it the least. Relying on clang-tidy, non-default compiler flags, sanitizers and other tools is not only not enough, but a constant source of headache on how to integrate them with your build systems and project requirements.
For example, everyday operations in Rust are almost all defined. But in C++, it is extremely easy to run into undefined behavior by accident and make your code do something bizarre. On the practical side, I have never ever gotten a segfault when writing rust, but have many times in C++.
It'll still let you do a bunch of stuff Rust doesn't, which is up to the programmer to decide whether this is good or not.
Use-after-free is still possible in modern C++ via std::span/std::string_view/etc. outliving the backing object.
Doesn't modern C++ offer the ability to write memory safe code?
And then Ada software caused the loss of US$370 million with Ariane 5.
> And then Ada software caused the loss of US$370 million with Ariane 5.
This seems like a bit of a non-sequitur? Ariane is an EU rocket and the flight you're referring to was carrying an EU payload, and I don't think it was ever subject to the US DoD Ada mandate or an EU equivalent (which I'm not sure ever existed?).
(Also a bit of a nitpick, but I don't think the US DoD Ada Mandate was a law per se; it was a DoD policy and not something the US Congress passed).
It's probably somewhat disputable as to whether the Ariane failure was "due to Ada" or whether other higher-level concerns were responsible (e.g., reusing the Ariane 4 software without revalidation)
1. "I don't care what my program does."
Why write it though?
2. "I don't care what the standard says, I've put text into a compiler and it gave me a binary that does the thing."
What if you want to put the same text into a different compiler in the future, or the same compiler again? Are you certain the binary is going to continue doing the thing? Have you even fully tested the binary?
3. "I use a special runtime that makes memory unsafety defined again."
One, I don't believe you unless you're part of a very small group of people and two, why are you accepting the serious drawbacks (performance, process death, all the broader issues of UB) that come with this?
It's genuinely hard for me to understand why you wouldn't think memory safety is important Don't you want to write code that's portable and correct? Don't you want to execute other people's programs and trust they won't segfault? Doesn't it frustrate you that the language committees have spent years refusing to address even the lowest-hanging fruit?