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Ladybird Browser adopts Rust (ladybird.org)
submitted 1 day ago by Innerworld@lemmy.world to c/rust@programming.dev
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.bestiver.se/post/946316

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[-] LeFantome@programming.dev 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

I made this point below but it is telling that the first project was a total rewrite of the entire JavaScript engine. There is no shared hierarchy and a well defined boundary between the C++ and Rust code. That may be a sign of things to come.

The Ladybird founder initially rejected Rust because he found it hard to integrate into their deep C++ OOP hierarchy. That problem likely remains.

We may see entire modules that are either all Rust or all C++ rather than more fine grained mixing.

[-] onlinepersona@programming.dev 13 points 22 hours ago

At least he saw the light now. Good for him. I think it was obvious that swift would fail outside of Mac, but he had to see it first. Some people will just soldier on down a wrong path, but adapted. That's promising.

[-] Czele@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Unbelievable

[-] Leny@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Why?

[-] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

They just abandoned the previous project of moving to Swift.

There’s also the issue of trying to manage a project rewrite while the project itself is under continuing feature development. Many projects have failed at that in the past because the rewriting effort is so much of a moving target and because a team split between the sides can develop a lot of friction and conflict points.

I really want them to succeed. I think it’s pretty amazing what they’ve achieved so far with Ladybird, just as a proof that it is indeed possible to write a brand new browser engine from scratch on web standards. I also think it’s extremely important that we have some mitigation against abusive behaviour by Google & Apple, however small it may be with a hobbyist browser like Ladybird.

[-] Czele@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago

Because as the article stated they have rejected Rust back in 2024. I can remember that clearly. Back then they gave some few reasons why Rust was not a good fit, i dont remember the details but for me it made an overall impression that they dont like Rust and wont go with it ever. So what a surprise to read that huh!

[-] LeFantome@programming.dev 3 points 10 hours ago

Andreas did not like the Rust community. It sounds like that is still true.

He also thought that Rust integrates poorly into project with a deep C++ OOP hierarchy. That is probably still true as well.

It is telling that the first project was a total rewrite of the entire JavaScript engine. There is no shared hierarchy and a well defined boundary between the C++ and Rust code. That may be a sign of things to come.

We may see entire modules that are either all Rust or all C++ rather than more fine grained mixing.

[-] FizzyOrange@programming.dev 2 points 5 hours ago

He also thought that Rust integrates poorly into project with a deep C++ OOP hierarchy. That is probably still true as well.

Is there any language that can do that? As far as I know there isn't. You can use SWIG or whatever but it's just as awful as any Rust/C++ interop. There's Carbon, but that's a work in progress.

IMO if you need integration with a deep C++ OOP hierarchy your options are a) give up and just use C++, or b) pain, no matter what language you target.

this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
20 points (85.7% liked)

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