Even though it'd be a while before this really affects the Chrome codebase, it's a real testament to how well Rust nails the safe-but-low-level niche. Google does not lack resources to tool (or staff!) a C++ codebase correctly, nor does it lack resources to build languages[1] targeting these specific problems; that they'd consider Rust isn't just because "it's there".<p>[1] <a href="https://github.com/google/wuffs" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/google/wuffs</a>
> Rust is not yet available on all Chromium platforms (just Linux and Android for now)<p>The beginning of this sentence didn’t surprise me, but the fact that it’s just Linux and Android did. Rust supports macOS and Windows really well, so I wonder what the gap is here?<p>> Facilities and tooling in Rust are not as rich as other languages yet.<p>Is this meant in the context of Chromium?
It was bound to happen eventually. Big projects like Chromium tend to move slowly so it will probably be a few years before any Rust code ends up in a shipped release. But this is a great start!
It's funny that it was created in Mozzila and first used in the [1] servo browser, and now is getting adopted by Mozzila's rival Chromium<p>[1] <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_(programming_language)" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_(programming_language)</a>
I have a hard time imagining a more accidentally complex piece of software than a web browser written in C++ <i>and</i> in Rust.<p>All the chaos of the so-called web standards, decades of accumulated C++ complexity and the eccentricity and burgeoning complexity of Rust on top. Getting assigned to such a project must be akin to punishment.