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josephg 2 hours ago

So Fil-C is competing with Go, C#, typescript and Python. If I’m writing a greenfield project where “bare metal” performance isn’t needed, why would anyone choose Fil-C over a more mature GC language?

C is more verbose and more error prone than Go and C#. It has worse tooling. It’s missing decades of language features. C isn’t properly cross platform. There’s no package manager. The “standard library” isn’t fully standard. It’s full of sharp edges and bad decisions.

I can imagine using Fil-C to run legacy code. But for new projects, it just seems worse in every way compared to Go, C#, typescript and friends. It’s worse, slow, and inconvenient.

baranul an hour ago | parent [-]

Of the group of languages presented, your argument has more merit for Go. With C# and others, there is an additional OOP argument in there, that splits into different factions.

But what is being overlooked, is the massive numerical dominance of C programmers and projects, along with legacy and embedded code. There is going to be a preference for writing and using C, that could arguably fuel Fil-C for a very long time.

josephg 36 minutes ago | parent [-]

> But what is being overlooked, is the massive numerical dominance of C programmers

I roll to doubt. I haven’t seen C topping programming language popularity charts for a long, long time.

I used to interview software engineering candidates professionally. Candidates could pick any language they wanted for the interview. Python was chosen by about 70% of our interviewees. C was under 5%. (N=400 or so)

baranul 9 minutes ago | parent [-]

> I haven’t seen C topping programming language popularity charts

C is still highly ranked on many charts. C (as of July 2026) is ranked #2 on the TIOBE index. PYPL has C and C++ weirdly merged, the annoying C/C++, and that comes in as #3. The IEEE and Redmonk have C firmly in the top 10, using different methodologies.

We have to also use context, as popularity can be a measure beyond simply job demand, relative to usage by students, hobbyists, open-source, and legacy. Furthermore, demand can be relative to location and country. Because it is less in your specific area or company, doesn't mean that's so in other areas or countries.