On: How Rust can facilitate new contributors while dec...

[JoeAltmaier]

Hell, you can use a null pointer in Java. Nothing new there.

[littlestymaar → JoeAltmaier]

Null pointers in Java leads to exception, null pointers in C++ leads to UB, which can be exploited. All bugs aren't born equal.

[smaudet → JoeAltmaier]

This is like saying your neighbors siding is off color while your own is falling off and the framing is rotting.

Both are problems with siding, one is far more serious than the other. I'm not a fan of Java, but cpp people being disingenuous is a pet peeve. "Modern" cpp still sucks, it just sucks less - it's not useful to pretend otherwise.

[JoeAltmaier → smaudet]

Yes, but at some point, broken is broken.

Our cloud service at Sococo, back in the day, their principle bug-tracing activity was Java null pointers. The second? leaks. Both problems with pointer management.

However you slice it, it takes discipline to get memory allocation right. No magic bullet.

[yencabulator → JoeAltmaier]

Neither null pointer exceptions nor memory leaks tend to lead to data corruption or security vulnerabilities.

[JoeAltmaier → yencabulator]

Agreed.

But they do lead to service downtime, loss of opportunity, broken contracts.

Not really the same, but important as well.