Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I'd be surprised about this mostly because I can't imagine anyone using gcc-specific Rust extensions. Not only does rustc have an extraordinary amount of traction by being basically the only choice up until this point, Rust doesn't really have the reputation of moving slowly to adopt new features; if anything, there's been as much skepticism about new features added over the years as excitement. I can honestly imagine more people adopting a Rust implementation with a commitment _not_ to add new features that are added to rustc than one that adds its own separate features.

Even as someone who probably will never use gccrs, I think having more than one implementation of Rust is a good thing for the language (for all the usual reasons that get cited). In the long term, I'd love for Rust to eventually to be able to specify its semantics in a way that isn't tied to rustc, which is a moving target and gets murky when you consider implementation-specific bugs.



> Rust doesn't really have the reputation of moving slowly to adopt new features

There are some exceptions to this. Although there are possibly good reasons for such features moving slowly, a competing compiler could popularize them before they are stabilized in rustc. One example is generators[1] but there's a longer list in The Unstable Book.[2]

[1] https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/43122

[2] https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/unstable-book/language-feat...


Prevalent use of nightly Rust purely for specific unstable features would do the same. It's been a while since there has been a "must have" feature has kept people confined to nightly, though.


I feel like having a distinct implementation that is unstable is more likely.

Stabilizing things from rustc is a recipe for disaster as if rustc builds something new you are in a bad place.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2027 batch! Applications are open till November 2.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: