• Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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    5 months ago

    Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to write software in C that is very secure. It takes thought but C has the edge with its small footprint and system integration

    • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to write software in assembly that is very readable. It takes thought but assembly has the edge with its miniscule footprint and zero-dependency runtime.

      • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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        5 months ago

        I wouldn’t go that far

        The problem with assembly is that it is almost impossible to optimize it as a human. Way back in the day instruction sets were written for humans but these days it is highly unlikely that you will be able to write assembly that can outperform a compiler. The reason primary has to do with pipelining and caching since modern CPUs are extremely complex.

    • sabin@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Yea I mean it’s possible, but the sooner you bite the bullet and use a more modern language, the sooner you’ll get back to the same level of maturity and start having productivity dividends being paid out thanks to things like being able to get your compiler to prevent use after free bugs and the like.

      Not sure how much sudo specifically needs this, maybe new commits are rare. As long as it stays out of LTS for the time being I’m all for it though.

      Also not quite sure what you mean by “footprint”

      Are you talking about the binary size or the fact that C has a tiny and straightforward language spec?