A Long Goodbye to C and C++, And Hello To A Rusty Future

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My first serious programming language was C. Before this, I had copied BASIC code from computer magazines, and was hooked at the power of software. But, it was C that has become my native language.

So what about the mighty Python?

To me, Python has a crazy structure and syntax that I have to continually recap. While I know how important Python is, I often really dislike using it, and would also avoid for anything that needs to be built at scale. While fine for small programs and small scale scripting, it has real scalability issues.

And, so, as C was my first proper coding language, and it will never leave me. But most things I do in coding still go back to my C roots. And, the move to C++ just passed me by, but I know how important it is to the industry.

These days, I spend a good deal of my time developing cryptographic prototypes for research work with C, JavaScript, Python, and Golang, but when I push into production, it is mainly Rust code that I produce. Basically, I often start with a given cryptographic library, and then use the code that integrates with the methods I need. But, then, I often rebuild again with Rust. The early prototypes give me a benchmark, and a testing infrastructure that I can check my Rust code against.

Overall, though, C and C++ have served our world well, and have allowed us to build our existing systems and software. But, it comes from an old world, and where…

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Prof Bill Buchanan OBE FRSE
ASecuritySite: When Bob Met Alice

Professor of Cryptography. Serial innovator. Believer in fairness, justice & freedom. Based in Edinburgh. Old World Breaker. New World Creator. Building trust.