Get this rant out of my drafts folder :)

_posts/2020-08-29-rust-is-not-c.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Comparing apples to orange rustaceans"
+tags:
+- rust
+- opinion
+---
+
+Never trust a developer who praises the purity or elegance of the C programming
+language.  I find comparisons often made between Rust and C for "systems
+programming" to be one of my least favorite, and most disingenuous discussion
+topics among developers on the internet. It's like comparing roller skates to
+an electric car. While they both can transport you from one place to another,
+only one of them is likely going to bring you safely to your destination.
+
+Tweets like [this
+one](https://twitter.com/JamesWidman/status/1122921637798662144) or blog posts
+like [this
+one](https://thephd.github.io/your-c-compiler-and-standard-library-will-not-help-you)
+really help drive the point home that C is **not** what most people think it
+is.  One of the common themes is "complexity." It is absurd to talk about
+C's simplicity compared to Rust's complexity because C:
+
+* Doesn't have a standard library
+* Doesn't have any built in concurrency or parallelism primitives
+* Doesn't have any concept of modularization.
+* Doesn't offer type safety.
+
+C isn't actually one thing to begin with either. Depending on which revision of
+the specification and which compiler you use, a C program may not be
+compilable. Each compiler has a slightly different perspective on what the
+gaps, "undefined behavior" in what C is actually defined as, should mean in the
+real world.
+
+Most of the [worst security
+bugs](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/mitre-shares-this-years-top-25-most-dangerous-software-bugs/)
+are trivial to write in C. In order to "safely" write C, a significant amount
+of static analysis, developer chutzpah, and code review needs to be added into
+the development process.
+
+C was invented 48 years ago.
+
+As an industry we have learned and evolved so much in the way we think about
+safety, concurrency, and software development as a discipline in the last five
+decades. To me, adopting C for a new project is throwing all that away for
+misguided notions of purity and performance.
+
+I considered offering platitudes about what C is good at, or
+where C belongs. Instead I'm going to take a hardline approach:
+
+**C is dangerous, inefficient, and has no place in modern development.**
+
+Don't take this as "you should use Rust" (you should) but rather: you should
+_not_ use C for anything new.