😵‍💫 Nobody Expected C++ Memory Safety. Rust In Trouble

White House’s report may ignite C++ transition to a memory safe language meaning Rust will have to compete with the old calvary

Brought to you by Tom Smykowski, probably the last human tech editor!

On February 2024 White House published a report called “Back to the building blocks: a path toward secure and measurable software”. The report stirred a heated debate in the programming community.

White House is the residence of the President of United States of America, but also an executive office of the formerly mentioned. If we’d compare it to other presidential offices, that one holds a lot more responsibilities including receiving reports from National Security Council.

White House, public domain

Meaning White House oversees safety including cybersecurity.

I mention all of this because depending on the country you’re living in, it may be surprising that the office of a president suddenly publishes a report about software safety. The report is quite interesting, I’ll tell you more about it now.

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White House Report: Ditch C++

The report points out the problem of software vulnerabilities that fall into categories. According to the report some vulnerabilities should be ruled out by a broad measures.

Also it points out some of the most serious vulnerabilities are due to memory safety issues (70% of them), what could indicate that even the most rigorous methods of coding fall short if a language doesn’t protect memory.

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C and C++, widely used programming languages, are not considered memory safe.

When a C / C++ developer won’t make sure rigorously his application is safe, a bad actor can gain access to data he shouldn’t have, or…