Is there some lore about this I don't know?
There is no C++ allowed in the Linux kernel and Linus has gone on several major rants about how terrible a language it is.
Then why does he write C++?
https://github.com/subsurface/subsurface/commit/1b16d570a1b6700295153bd6597b148b65000458
Torvalds just really dislikes C++. He's gone on the record saying that he thinks it's just not a good language. In his own words "C++ is just a waste, there is no design at all, just adding some scum on top of C."
Never before have I been so offended by something I 100% agree with.
I would have agreed with that before C++11. But since then, C++ has improved a lot. Its like the vision of what C++ suddenly became more clear. So I wonder if Linus would still say that today. (Unfortunately, there have been a lot of missteps in the development of C++ though, and so there is a lot of cruft that everyone wishes was not there...)
”C++ is a horrible language. It's made more horrible by the fact that a lot of substandard programmers use it, to the point where it's much much easier to generate total and utter crap with it. Quite frankly, even if the choice of C were to do nothing but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would be a huge reason to use C.”
I don't know about Linus, but the last time Reiser's wife was seen, she was writing a c++ hello world
Too soon.
”C++ is a horrible language. It's made more horrible by the fact that a lot of substandard programmers use it, to the point where it's much much easier to generate total and utter crap with it. Quite frankly, even if the choice of C were to do nothing but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would be a huge reason to use C.”
For an example from the other poster’s explanation:
https://lwn.net/Articles/249460/
This was pre c++11 - not sure if he’s changed his mind at all with more modern c++
Linus is a C advocate btw, which make him even more goated
The day I learned that Linus shares my disdain for all things OOP was such a good day for me.
Me, when Linus' opinion is different to mine: "Linus has such weirdly strong opinions about this"
Me when Linus' opinion is the same as mine: VINDICATION
peak hairless ape
I feel the OOP debate got a bit out of hand. I hate OOP as well, as a paradigm.
But I love objects. An object is just a struct that can perform operations on itself. It's super useful. So many problems lend themselves to the use of objects.
I've been writing a mix of C and C++ for so long I don't even know where the line is supposed to be. It's "C with objects". I probably use only 1% of the functionality of C++, but that 1% is a huge upgrade from bare C IMO.
Agreed. Objects are nice and a great way to program. Composition is great. Traits/interfaces are great. Namespaces are great. Objects are a really nice way to reap the benefits of principles like these.
But then there are aspects of OOP that absolutely suck, like inheritance. I hate inheritance. The rules get very confusing very quickly. For example, try understanding overriding of methods. Do I need to call the superclass method or not? If not, does it get called automatically? If so, in what order? How do these rules change for the constructor? Now repeat this exercise for every OOP language you use and try not to mix them up... Java, C++, Python, etc.
Fortunately, it feels like we rely on inheritance less and less these days. As an example, I really like how Java allows you to implement
Runnablethese days. Before, if you wanted to run a thread, you needed a separate object that inheritedThread. And what if that object needs to inherit from another one too? Things would get out of hand quickly. (This is a very old example, but with lambdas and other new features, things are getting even better now.)Anyway, long story short, I think OOP is a complicated way to achieve good principles, and there are simpler ways to achieve those principles than a full OOP implementation.
I think the problem with OOP is something you can see whenever legislation is linked with prestige (it happens a lot in real life). The number of good possible rules is quite limited, and the number of people who want to make a name for themselves by championing them seems to be infinite. If you can't find a good rule to claim as your own, you have to pick a bad rule and try to gaslight people into thinking it's a necessary and beneficial. Enough people do that, and we end up with modern OOP.
Yeah it's pretty great, especially when so many people are so quick to assume that OOP is essential for managing complexity.
OOP is the poster child for solving the problems that it creates itself.
I know it is a complete joke. But every time i think of c++ i am reminded of this prank article https://www-users.york.ac.uk/~ss44/joke/cpp.htm
Mic looks like earring, can't unsee it...
Assembly it is, then
That's the Linux equivalent of calling someone an idiot sandwich.
What's wrong with c++?
For kernel dev it would be a disaster, there's too much implicit action, and abstractions that have unknown runtime cost. The classic answer is that everyone uses 10% of its features over C, but nobody can agree on which 10%.
As someone forced to get up to date with C++ recently, at this point it's a language in full identity crisis. It wants so badly to be Rust, but it's got decades of baggage it's dragging along.
And now there is precedent for Rust components in the Linux kernel.
It do be like that... a lot of old languages want to be Rust...
What’s wrong with C? Just write a module
- My dad
10 in binary as well
Rapid Abandonment Is Imperative
