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People always shit on C for security, perhaps rightly so. But I would like to point out that 99% of everything out there has C or C++ at its base. cpython is c, java is C++, rust is based on llvm which is C++. Yes implementing your user facing application in some non-c language may improve security, but you are still depending on C when you do so.

So is C the problem, or is it modern CPU architecture? C has stuck around for so long because of how close it is to assembly language. There will always be a need for a language that is one layer above assembly, and currently assembly is incredibly hard to secure.




Historicall baggage, during the 90's C and C++ were still two options among many, but like every market there is only a few products winning out.

C is close to PDP-11 and 8/16 bit computer Assembly, it has hardly any direct mapping to modern CPUs.


D




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