Safe C++ proposal is not being continued
6 hours ago
- #Programming Languages
- #Safety
- #C++
- The Safe C++ proposal aimed to introduce a safe subset of C++ with guarantees similar to Rust, without breaking existing code.
- Safe C++ required explicit opt-in via safe contexts, allowing incremental adoption while maintaining backward compatibility.
- The proposal faced unresolved issues, such as error reporting for borrow checking and interaction with templates.
- The Safety and Security working group decided to prioritize 'Profiles' over Safe C++, leading to its discontinuation.
- Profiles impose compile-time constraints on C++ usage to ensure safety, without introducing new language constructs.
- Profiles are seen as a more pragmatic and adoptable approach compared to the ambitious Safe C++ proposal.
- The C++ community showed resistance to adopting Rust-like safety models, preferring incremental improvements via Profiles.
- Profiles aim to standardize existing informal safety practices in C++, focusing on constraints rather than new semantics.
- While Profiles may offer weaker guarantees than Safe C++, they represent a realistic path forward for C++ safety.