The newly released "2024 System Programming Language Survey Report" conducts a comprehensive comparison and evaluation of the current mainstream system programming languages, including C, Rust, Ada, Zig, Odin, Jai, etc.The report evaluates performance, basic type systems, generics, memory safety, module and package systems, and independent compilation.
The results show that Rust stands out in this survey with its powerful type system and memory safety mechanism.At the same time, Rust also performs well in concurrency and error handling, and has a rich crates ecosystem, providing developers with powerful tool and library support.
C and C++ still occupy an important position as old system programming languages, but their scores in memory safety and concurrency are low, requiring developers to have higher professional skills and experience to avoid potential risks.
It is worth mentioning that the Ada language has shown great potential in this survey. Although it does not score high in some aspects, its powerful type system and contract programming capabilities provide a strong guarantee for the correctness of the program.
Other system programming languages such as Zig, Odin and Jai also have their own characteristics, but they are still in the early stages of development, with relatively small community sizes and ecosystems. The survey believes that these languages are expected to play a greater role in specific fields in the future.
The main scores are as follows:
C
Average: 3.7+/-2.9
Median: 2.5
Ada
Average: 5.7+/-2.6
Median: 6.25
Jai
Average: 4.75+/-3.0
Median: 5.0
Rust
Average: 7.8+/-2.3
Median: 9.0
Zig
Average: 7.9+/-2.1
Median: 8.5
Odin
Average: 6.4+/-1.7
Median: 6.5
Hare
Mean: 6.2+/-2.7 Median: 7.0