The Problem with C (2020)
C is the glue interface that connects all the different languages together. I wouldn&#x27;t want to see anything new added to the language that complicates this lingua franca.<p>I liked C in the 80s, 90s and 2000s. It was a neat and simple language, but that changed as compilers got more aggressive with their optimizations and exposed just how complicated and unintuitive the spec actually is (and the impossibility of avoiding UB). C was a good learning experience for language committees (as was C++), but it&#x27;s time to cut our losses and move on.<p>I also liked C++ in the 90s, but soon grew to despise it. When they tried to revamp it and make it safer to use, I was hopeful, but that&#x27;s now gone. It&#x27;s too complicated, the error messaging sucks, and there are too many different ways to do the same thing (with ever changing best practices). In a way, CMake and C++ are two peas in a pod.<p>This is why I now pin my hopes on rust and zig. I want to write low level code, but not in C or C++. I want a build system that&#x27;s not Makefiles, CMake, or (shudder) gradle.