alt Hacker NewsAs much as I enjoyed Swift, one can only wonder what the world would look like if they had gone with Rust as their default language instead.
Replies
AceJohnny2 • yesterday at 10:49 PM
Rust doesn't have an ABI [1]. Swift needed one to be a useable application language:
https://faultlore.com/blah/swift-abi/ (written by a core Rust developer)
[1] apart from the basic/universal C one, which prevents exposing any useful Rust semantics over the interface
jadengeller • yesterday at 9:43 PM
Modern Swift borrows a lot from Rust! And it also has its own benefits, both ergonomic and also supporting eg generic in dynamic libraries
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One of the genius things about Swift is its interop with Objective C. Made the switch over considerably easier for developers. I’m not sure what that looks like in a Rust world.
Rust is also just a more complex language. I’m not convinced the benefits would have been worth it.