C Language Alternatives

Comments discuss modern compiled languages like Rust, Zig, Go, Odin, and Hare as safer, more developer-friendly alternatives to C for systems programming and performance-critical tasks.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Programming Languages
4,242
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#6955
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
3
2008
22
2009
68
2010
85
2011
91
2012
148
2013
183
2014
193
2015
207
2016
297
2017
259
2018
266
2019
286
2020
336
2021
335
2022
452
2023
342
2024
268
2025
362
2026
39

Keywords

e.g PHP GC JIT JS AOT C3 MSHTML IL POSIX language rust languages zig compiled python language like systems programming compilers code

Sample Comments

mark38848 Jul 2, 2024 View on HN

Why not use a fast language like C, Odin, Hare or Zig?

pjmlp Jul 1, 2014 View on HN

Possible in all languages that offer native code compilers and are more developer friendly than C.

jfkebwjsbx May 14, 2020 View on HN

Don't ever think of trying a compiled language like C++ or Rust, then :)

adrianN Dec 7, 2016 View on HN

Try Rust or modern C++. Both are pretty expressive but still suited for systems programming.

twic Sep 3, 2021 View on HN

Would it be possible to use Go for this? That compiles to native code, although it does include a much more significant runtime than C, it's safer than C or C++, and it's famously easy for developers to pick up as as second language.

morpheyesh Jul 8, 2016 View on HN

Go is definitely a good option. Also try Rust, its a system programming language that is the closest to C. It will be super fast if you don't abuse the functional constructs that the language provides :)

akhilcacharya Jan 17, 2016 View on HN

Outside of C, are there any other languages or platforms that can do this? I'd like something modern, but I haven't liked what I've seen with Rust personally.

bborud Oct 1, 2024 View on HN

It would be helpful to move to a compiled language with a decent toolchain. Rust and Go are good candidates.

makapuf Oct 30, 2019 View on HN

Ah, sure I forgot this one. Dunno, I thought C with better strings and libs would go a long way without going full c++/go/nim/rust/zig.

z3phyr Mar 25, 2019 View on HN

Look at the languages made by ex C programmers. Zig is a good candidate.