Rust needs an official specification (tweedegolf.nl)

submitted 2 days ago by snaggen@programming.dev to c/rust@programming.dev

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[-] onlinepersona@programming.dev 1 points 2 days ago

I'm actually surprised there is no specification. It's how I thought languages were written: spec first, implementation later. Do RFCs serve this purpose?

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[-] BatmanAoD@programming.dev 5 points 19 hours ago

That's actually not how any language has ever been written, though it's easy to get that impression from how much the C and C++ communities emphasize their formal specifications.

But in fact, both languages were in production use for over a decade before they had a formal spec. And languages with formal specifications are actually a tiny minority of programming languages.

[-] snaggen@programming.dev 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

That requires a complete picture and all possible use cases from the start. Initially when a language is new and hardly used there are much to benefit from flexibility and trying new concepts. Then as the language matures, a more formal process is needed to ensure stability. There is a reason these discussions comes now, since rust is in a very stable phase.