Google launches new carbon programming language-an experimental replacement for C++

Google engineers are launching a new "experimental" open source programming language called Carbon. It should be the successor to C++, writes The New Stack.

Frustrated by the slow evolution of C++, Google engineers have launched a new "experimental" open source programming language called Carbon. Google engineer Chandler Carruth presented the language this week at the CPP North C++ conference in Toronto.According to Carruth, C++ has a number of problems that hinder modern developers. The evolution of the language is hindered, in particular, by a bureaucratic committee focused on standardization. This makes it difficult to add new features, because the process of making important decisions can take years.Carbon will be built on the basis of modern programming principles. The Carbon code compiler is written using LLVM (low level Virtual Machine). It also used developments from the Clang compiler for C, C++, Objective-C, and Objective-C++.According to the documentation, Carbon will have the following characteristics: easy to read and write code; the ability to interact with existing C++ code and migrate from it; support modern operating systems, hardware architectures and environments, and so on. Carbon developers will look for ways to better track uninitialized States and develop APIs. The team plans to write translation tools to translate C++ code into Carbon code.This is what the C++ code and the same function written in Carbon look like: Details

In his presentation at CPP North, Kfrrut advised those who use Rust to continue using it. Carbon is designed for those developers who already have large C++ code bases that are difficult to convert to Rust.

Carruth wants to build Carbon in a more open, community-led environment. The project will be supported on GitHub and discussed on Discord. Although Carbon started out as an internal Google Project, the development team wants to reduce contributions from Google or any other individual company to less than 50% by the end of the year. In the end, they want to transfer the project to an Independent Software Foundation, where its development will be managed by volunteers.