GCC 11.1
I'm naive about the language development process. I have no area of expertise in C++. But coming from a background in Python I've seen people complain about Python getting bigger and bigger, and people have been complaining about C++ being huge for even longer.In my naive opinion, It seems to me that both C++ and Python have reached a point where most people are satisfied with the features the language has. Most of the complaints are around warts in the language itself that people wish could be fixed (but can't due to backwards compatibility).My question is why the need to keep adding features? Sure if something comes out that C++ is desperately lacking, add it in. But it seems like that hasn't been the case for a while.My other question. Would it be possible for a language to work like an OS? Where there is a LTS version of the language that is supported for X years, and then a new version comes out that contains potentially (but not always if it's unnecessary) breaking changes? I guess Python was kind of an example of that with Py2 to Py3, but no one who started using python after 1.0 expected there to be a shift like that. But if from the outset there is that expectation that after 5-10 years there will be a new version that removes warts in an old version would people accept that?It seems to me that the lifecycle of a language that is successful is
1. Be the new hotness and solve a problem in the programming space
2. Gain traction and users
3. Release version 1.0, become bound by decisions that might haunt you for the rest of the programs life
4. Accumulate features, bloat and warts
5. Have people complain about warts that you can't fix due to breaking changes
6. A new language develops that fixes your warts.
7. RepeatIt seems like the cognitive load from "upgrading" a language as opposed to learning an entirely new language from scratch (even if it fixes a lot of your gripes) would be a lot easier.Having been playing around with Rust for a bit, I've seen the conversation come up about warts in Rust, and I think people fear if it will eventually become another C++. I think the answer is probably yes, if it endures for a similar amount of time that C++ did