OT: This Swift thing

[Roy Smith]

In article <5393a264$0$29988$c3e8da3$5496439d at news.astraweb.com>,
 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:

> On Sat, 07 Jun 2014 14:11:27 -0400, Roy Smith wrote:
> 
> > And, why do you need a library routine to touch a memory location, when
> > you can just dereference an integer? :-)
> 
> And in one sentence we have an explanation for 90% of security 
> vulnerabilities before PHP and SQL injection attacks...
> 
> C is not a safe language, and code written in C is not safe. Using C for 
> application development is like shaving with a cavalry sabre -- harder 
> than it need be, and you're likely to remove your head by accident.

I never claimed C was a safe language.  I assume you've seen the classic 
essay, http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/foot.htm ?

And, no, I don't think C is a good application language (any more).  
When it first came out, it was revolutionary.  A lot of really amazing 
application software was written in it, partly because the people 
writing in it were some of the smartest guys around.  But, that was 40 
years ago.  We've learned a lot about software engineering since then.  

We've also got machines that are so fast, it's not longer critical that 
we squeeze out every last iota of performance.  Oh, but wait, now we're 
trying to do absurd things like play full-motion video games on phones, 
where efficiency equates to battery life.  Sigh.