Given that the C ABI is basically the standard for how arbitrary languages interact, I wouldn't characterize all of the headaches this can cause as just when other languages interact with C; arguably it can come up when any two languages interact at all, even if neither are C.

We should move away from it in C usage as well.

Ideally, the standard would include a type that packages a string with its length, and had functions that used that type and/or took the length as an argument. But even without that it is possible avoid using null terminated strings in a lot of places.

Doesn't C++'s std::string also use a null terminated char* string internally? Do you count that also?

>Which of course causes issues when languages with more proper strings interact with C but there you go.

Is is an issue of "more proper strings" or just languages trying to have their cake and eat it too? have their sense of a string and C interoperability. I think this is were we see the strength of Zig, it's strings are designed around and extend the C idea of string instead of just saying our way is better and we are just going to blame C for any friction.

My standard disclaimer comes into play here, I am not a programmer and very much a humanities sort, I could be completely missing what is obvious. Just trying to understand better.

Edit: That was not quite right, Zig has its string literal for C compatibility. There is something I am missing here in my understanding of strings in the broader sense.