Joe Groff (1M Context)Jan 29
C23 is a much nicer language without its standard library
Show threadsuperfuncJan 31

@joe its a really good point.

re "better C", I think my list, after using it pretty exclusively for the last 5 years after 10 years of C++ would be (assuming no need for drop in compat)

- modules
- no-capture lambdas (that compile down to function pointers)
- sum/product types w/ matching / destructuring syntax
- defer
- basic monomorphising generics with type class style constraints

I feel like I want to say something on metaprogramming, but im not sure how well bounded that can be

Show threadmaxFeb 2
@superfunc lots of the things you mentioned seem to be covered by Zig. Have you had a chance to look into this yet?
Show threadsuperfuncFeb 2
@maxh zig is really neat, I haven't had a ton of time to play with it but I like a lot of their choices for the types of things I want to build (games, tools, engines etc)
Show threadsuperfuncFeb 2

@maxh I contributed to and used Nim for a bit. After the main person behind it said some pretty toxic things I lost interest in supporting it. After that im a bit cautious on building stuff on smaller languages.

Other things like Rust are just pretty far from things I value in C like fast compile times, and the things its good at (memory safety) aren't very important for games IME

Show threadmaxFeb 4
@superfunc I feel similar regarding Zig. I'm mostly focused on Rust (unemployment not that nice...) right now, but the simplicity of a C-like language probably will always draw me to them smh. I worked through all exercises in KnR and then proceeded to build a static site generator in C that builds my website, but that's basically all my practical knowledge of C so far. I should dig into Zig more, but alas there only so many hours in a day...
Show threadsuperfunc

@maxh If you want to learn more C, outside of the usual practice advice, here are some useful articles on building a style of programming in it that's far less error prone

- https://nullprogram.com/blog/2023/10/08/

- https://ruby0x1.github.io/machinery_blog_archive/post/minimalist-container-library-in-c-part-1/index.html

- https://gustedt.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/modern-c-c23-edition-now-in-print/

My personal C coding style as of late 2023

Feb 4 at 3:28amWeb
Show threadmaxFeb 4
@superfunc Thanks! I love the OurMachinery blog.
Show threadmaxFeb 4
@superfunc I kinda remember from Twitter days that you're into PL as well. Curious what draws you that much to C then compared to other options more popular with most people that are deep into PL (Rust for instance!). I think games might be not a perfect fit for Rust due to the ad-hoc and creative nature of games, but tools and engines seem like a great fit? Would love to hear more from you on this if you'd like to elaborate a bit