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diff --git a/content/2013-10-06-the-state-of-rust-0-dot-8.markdown b/content/2013-10-06-the-state-of-rust-0-dot-8.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1156975 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/2013-10-06-the-state-of-rust-0-dot-8.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,89 @@ +Title: The State of Rust 0.8 +Date: 2013-10-06 20:32 +Category: Rust + +Another 3 months, another release. This is the first release that I've +witnessed in its entirety! This is a summary of Rust: its compiler, +libraries, documentation, and community. ([What is +Rust?](http://rust-lang.org)) + +<!-- more --> + +# Compiler + +The compiler is faring well. It received a lot of attention in compile speed, +although memory usage regressed significantly. It is now mostly fixed in +master. Time compiling `fn main() { }` went from 172ms to 112ms on my box. +When compiling programs of any significance, the gap is much larger. There's +also been some thought put into parallelizing rustc. Michael Woerister's GSoC +project was debuginfo, and it's almost in a fully-working state. As of 0.8, +it's not completely baked -- libstd can't be compiled with it, and stepping +through code isn't perfect -- but it's a huge step forward, and he created an +extensive testsuite, so it shouldn't regress. The pretty printer hasn't seen +much improvement. Default methods, one of the major things Michael Sullivan +worked on over the summer, are in a much better state. If there are any +remaining bugs in them, I haven't seen them. + +# Iterators + +Iterators are hugely improved for 0.8. The `for` loop syntax now uses the +Iterator trait. Additionally, most uses of vector iterators now compile to the +exact same code that indexing or iteration would in C or C++, including the +ability to be vectorized. Additionally, they now use default methods instead +of extension implementations. A bunch of other extensions to Iterator were +added, such as DoubleEndedIterator and RandomAccessIterator. + +# Documentation + +The documentation is in a much better state than it was 3 months ago. The new +rustdoc was started and finished. I started it, and Alex Crichton really +polished and finished it the last two weeks before the release. The API +documentation is now navigable, and one can actually see the relationship +between various types. A bunch of work also went into the tutorials, yielding +three new documents: error handling and conditions, iterators and containers, +and rustpkg. + +# `rustpkg` + +Rustpkg continues to advance. Tim put out the call for community involvement, +and it's getting significant traction in actual libraries. There are still a +few kinks when using it for development, but when just fetching and building +dependencies, it works very well. Servo is porting its whole mini-ecosystem +over to rustpkg, uncovering bunches of problems and deficiencies in the +process. If you're interested in helping out with Rust, rustpkg is a major +area. Tim is also super nice, and will happily help you get into the codebase. + +# Libraries + +Rust is slowly accreting more and more useful libraries: mostly coming from +the gamedev community, but sometimes other useful things as well. The +new runtime has completely replaced the old, a significant step forward for +Rust's maturity. `rust-http` is making some really nice strides, as well as +the opengl bindings. The standard libraries are becoming nicer to use. +`std::run`, in particular, stands out to me as something that's quite easy to +use, and `std::str` saw a lot of work making it more correct. + +# The Future + +This was a great release cycle, and I think the next one will be even better. +Alex Crichton was hired as a full-time Rust developer, and he has been doing a +lot of important work that just would have taken a while to happen otherwise. +I'm very optimistic about this release, much more so than 0.7. I think we +might be able to hit milestone 1 for 0.9 or 0.10, though that's just +speculation on my part. + +# Is Rust Ready? + +No. Rust is approaching maturity, but it isn't there yet. There are still +backwards-incompatible changes being made to try and get to milestone 2. The +major things that come to mind are closure reform and privacy overhaul (which +is being worked on in master [right +now](https://github.com/mozilla/rust/pull/9735)). Additionally, people in the +gamedev community are starting to [hit walls with the type +system](http://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/1nxs1h/the_state_of_rust_08/ccnb8ya). +Those probably won't be fixed in the time leading up to 1.0, but this is also +speculation. + +Experimenting with Rust is becoming more viable as time goes on, but using it +in production is a bad idea, especially if "low maintenance" is at all +valuable. |