Re: GSoC'17 - Introduction: Rustify GJS

["Zeeshan Ali (Khattak)" <zeeshanak gnome org>]

Ah OK, thanks. You are in good hands then. :) Best of luck!

On 8 May 2017 at 12:10, Luke Jones <luke nukem jones gmail com> wrote:
> Ah, I knew I forgot something; Philp Chemento is my mentor.
>
> On 8/05/2017 10:07 PM, "Zeeshan Ali (Khattak)" <zeeshanak gnome org> wrote:
> > Hi Luke,
> >
> > Sounds really exciting! May I ask who is your mentor for this project?
> >
> > On 7 May 2017 at 23:31, Luke Jones <luke nukem jones gmail com> wrote:
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > I am Luke Jones, a student of software engineering in New Zealand.
> > >
> > > The project proposal of mine that was accepted is to research and
> > > implement the Rust language in to GJS to help reduce or eliminate
> > > memory leaks and increase memory safety.
> > >
> > > GJS is something that some rather important parts of the GNOME
> > > ecosystem rely on (eg, shell), and it is imperative that it be solid,
> > > stable, fast - as we all know, while C and C++ are wonderful languages
> > > in their own right, they also allow many flaws to sneak past simply by
> > > virtue of giving the programmer incredible unchecked power. This has
> > > in the past introduced such things as memory leaks (not freeing after
> > > use), use after free, array out of bounds and so on.
> > >
> > > And then we have the cool new kid on the block; Rust.
> > >
> > > Where the power of Rust comes in to play is via its compiler - it
> > > enforces a set of rules regarding the ownership of data;
> > > * data is immutable by default
> > > * data may have any number of references (pointers) to it for as long
> > > as the data is within scope of those references, or;
> > > * data may only have one mutable reference
> > > * if data is /moved/ it is no-longer able to be referenced by a
> > > previous reference, and the compiler checks this.
> > > * data /must/ have a value - null does not exist
> > >
> > > The above means that such things as use-after-free are almost
> > > impossible, as the compiler checks that the data is within scope and
> > > throws an error if not. You can see a small demo here
> > > https://is.gd/sT26Fj
> > >
> > > So.
> > > The aim of my project is to investigate a number of things;
> > > * interoperation of C/C++ and Rust - Rust has an FFI
> > > * the replacement of small sections of C/C++ with Rust
> > > * the impact this has on such things as performance, memory safety,
> > > memory use
> > >
> > > The ultimate goal after this is to open the way for using Rust within
> > > GJS for mission critical sections - dependant on results of course -
> > > and hopefully inspire others to start their own investigations in to
> > > use of Rust within their projects.
> > >
> > > Project: https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/projects/#6418800843948032
> > >
> > > I'm looking forward to seeing the benefits of this, and other
> > > projects. Exciting times.
> > >
> > > Luke
> > > Oh, and yes there was the recent GNOME+Rust Hackfest, and also librsvg
> > > slowly converting to Rust - I hope to be able to use this knowledge
> > > base, as well as contribute to it.
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > gnome-soc-list mailing list
> > > gnome-soc-list gnome org
> > > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-soc-list
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> >
> > Zeeshan Ali



-- 
Regards,

Zeeshan Ali