Memory safety for SerenityOS – Andreas Kling – I like computers!

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2022-05-19 23:30:04

After visiting my nephews for easter, I spent the drive back home thinking about the future they will grow up in. What will their computers look like? What kind of software will they use? Will any of my code still be running?

When I started the SerenityOS project in 2018, I used C++ for everything, simply because it was the language I was most comfortable with. It was the right choice at the time, as it allowed me to bootstrap the project (and a community) very quickly and efficiently.

In the time since then, SerenityOS has grown larger and more complex, and we recently passed 700 individual contributors! It’s far from a one-man hobby project at this point.

When thinking about the future, I would love for SerenityOS to be around in 30 years, when my nephews are my age (and I’m an old greybeard!)

While I believe our community and system architectures are strong enough to sustain development for years to come, I no longer believe that C++ is the right language for us.