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The name is inherently nonsense. They aren’t “conserving” anything.
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
Technology@lemmy.world•Servo: A new, independent Web Browser Engine (the core of a web browser) written in Rust.English
2·1 day agoThats definitely one of the reasons Mozilla is developing rust, but not the only one. The goal of Rust is to make it harder to write insecure code. That requires more upfront work for the coder, and can be less efficient with computer resources, but provides more peace of mind that the finished product doesn’t have as many bugs. Thats a trade off Mozilla and Rust users think is worthwhile, but not everyone agrees with that.
In terms of vendor lock-in from language choice, it’s a big fat It Depends™ lol. Theres a ton of money in big tech, so there are a lot of clever people who work full time trying to lock you onto platforms without it looking to you like you’re falling into their trap, and they use a myriad of tools.
It is rare, but not unheard of for there to be license fees just for using a language like you said. (And sometimes there is even disagreement about who gets to charge licensing fees for a language: See the Java debacle with Google v. Oracle.) However typically the issue is more around being able to use the new features of a platform when a vendor introduces them. For example, Apple really wants you to use Swift to write iPhone apps. You can use alternatives, but then when Apple introduces the new iWiping feature that revolutionizes buttholes, you won’t be able to provide that feature to your users until your language of choice gets updated to support iWipes. That could take a year and means your app is behind your competitor, who just used Swift so Apple made sure they could support iWipes on the day the feature came out.
Another extremely common example is that entire businesses are run through complicated formulas in Excel spreadsheets. Sure, there are many other ways to run a business and keep track of the numbers, but most people start small and then the complexity of their spreadsheets just grows and grows and grows. Those people will be forever stuck paying for an excel subscription (that didn’t even used to be a subscription when the business started, but now it is for some reason!) because the complexity of replacing everything is scary.
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
Technology@lemmy.world•Servo: A new, independent Web Browser Engine (the core of a web browser) written in Rust.English
2·1 day agoI say “we” because I work in software which, past a basic level, involves endless arguing amongst colleagues about what the “best” language to use is for a particular project haha. Your question of why new languages is a really great one, with controversial answers haha.
What it boils down to is that every language is a set of opinions and compromises. Sometimes the assumptions that a language maker has just become less true over time. For example the language for making websites that was written in the 90s assumed that all you would need is a way to describe titles, paragraphs, columns, and some pictures. Websites do a lot more than that now, so people have come up with new languages for building websites.
A lot of it also comes down to people/politics. Since making and maintaining a language can be complex and expensive, it is frequently only taken on by large corporations. Those corporations are always doing their best to lock you into their ecosystem, and they use their language as a carrot. If you use our language and our services, everything will just work the way you want without hassle! By the way next year we are doubling the price of our services but whatcha gonna do about it, you already wrote a bunch of expensive code and hired a bunch of people that are only familiar with our language…pay up now!
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
Technology@lemmy.world•Servo: A new, independent Web Browser Engine (the core of a web browser) written in Rust.English
4·1 day agoEdit: TL;DR look up “toy languages” to see people experimenting and trying shit.
This is an entire branch of computer science that people dedicate their lives to, called language design. You’re correct that we use software to translate a programming language into assembly language. That software is called a compiler.
As far as developing new languages, typically one starts by defining a “formal grammar”, typically in the .lex format. Since writing a whole compiler can be complicated and time consuming, most people just build off of the work of others and adapt an existing compiler such as “LLVM” to understand the grammar of their new language.
It sounds crazy to the uninitiated, but the best way to start learning about how to make computer languages is to learn about what a Turing tape machine is, and what it’s capable of. Then you will be able to understand what the difference between a “context-free” grammar and a “stateful” grammar.
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
World News@lemmy.world•Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major breakEnglish
5·1 day agoIt doesn’t take a whole lot of intelligence to see that a failed tinpot dictator is murdering brown people because he gets off on it.
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
World News@lemmy.world•Watch the moment huge bridge suddenly collapses in ChinaEnglish
4·1 day agoIf you don’t think there are major American infrastructure failures, then it is simply your ignorance. The federal government thoroughly documents major structural failures and they never have a shortage of work.
A very approachable introduction to these disasters are the books and videos by Grady Hillhouse of Practical Engineering fame.
I tend to find people who claim this actually just have shit worldviews and don’t like being called out for it. For example, do you agree that ICE is an extralegal occupying paramilitary?
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
Technology@lemmy.world•Passkeys Explained: The End of PasswordsEnglish
2·2 days agoI don’t understand how this is meaningfully different from passkeys?
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
Open Source@lemmy.ml•I made a Super Fun, Open-source Platform for learning Japanese inspired by Monkeytype
4·2 days agoIt’s more of a feeling than a technical definition. The opposite end of the spectrum”blocky letters” spectrum would be Sanskrit or Arabic.
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
News@lemmy.world•Rudy Giuliani just got smacked down as Trump's pardon is declared to have 'no impact' on the crushing state charges he still faces
23·2 days agoWell…he was a lawyer. They don’t let him do that anymore.
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
LinkedinLunatics@sh.itjust.works•Rest is a legacy feature I had deprecated
21·3 days agoIs this entire community intentionally missing the satire? Is it some elaborate joke or are y’all just really that dense?
Yes, it perpetuates the harmful stereotype that only men can have addiction issues. Gender stereotypes are harmful to all genders.
Do power rangers and teletubbies count in this scenario?
Inside the bladder. Sometimes.
Got any examples? Because I have…some…examples of password reuse being a real-life problem.
ayyy@sh.itjust.worksto
News@lemmy.world•Shots fired at Border Patrol agents on Chicago's West Side, DHS says
12·5 days agoBe safe out there, it’s acorn season.
When has he denounced Nazis?










Hey, LLM bros, explain this joke according to your LLM of choice. I need some entertainment.