C++ Core Guidelines

Posted Apr 20, 2021 9:15 UTC (Tue) by farnz (subscriber, #17727)
In reply to: C++ Core Guidelines by mathstuf
Parent article: Rust in the Linux kernel (Google security blog)

It becomes possible with modules, where it isn't today. The difficulty is that (unlike Rust), C++ has over 20 years of legacy from the days without modules, and so the work needed to ensure that the legacy rules interact nicely with any changes you might make in an edition is huge - so an edition change would need massive gains to back that up.

We shall see if Rust's editions run into a similar trap in 2040 or so - will the legacy of interacting nicely with Rust back to Rust 2015 edition be large enough to make edition changes minor, or will the editions system have ensured that such legacy doesn't build up, by making it easy to remove things?