undefined | Better HN

0 pointsgameswithgo6y ago0 comments

Just some reason I might make a switch from Java/C# to Rust:

* you can keep memory use quite a bit lower * you can still sometimes get large constant factors of performance improvements over the JVM in some kinds of problem domains. If this means you can run on 1 server instead of say, 5, you have a much simpler infrastructure. * startup time, especially if you are doing 'serverless' or similar * tail latency - even a good GC language will have occasional long pauses. * data race protection at compile time * easier deployment - no need to install a jvm and keep it updated

0 comments

tracker16y ago

Beyond this, generally a smaller payload and/or container size for the application. With dependencies it can get pretty big, and this can slow down deployments (of course Rust's build time is quite a bit longer at times that offsets this).

On the long pauses, I've built simulation server systems for multi-user in .Net and the stop the world GC for several seconds now and then was very painful practically speaking.

tombert6y ago

I agree with all of your points except the "startup time" and "easier deployment"; GraalVM is pretty sweet and produces nice, self-contained executables.

pimeys6y ago

Prisma engineer here who's been part of the rewrite since the beginning. We tried GraalVM, but the binary size was huge and we anyways needed to write parts, such as the JDBC drivers in Rust, C or C++ due to GraalVM not being able to compile certain JVM code to a native binary.

We distribute the binary with our NodeJS package and hundreds of megabytes of binary size will not work that well for our users.

tombert6y ago

Oh! That's a valid reason; I'm actually surprised that GraalVM has issues not supporting JVM features, since I've been using it for Clojure code locally (though admittedly just for fun, nothing serious). Definitely makes sense if you're stuck rewriting things anyway, might as well just do it in a more modern language.

Thanks for the insight!

1 more reply

deepsun6y ago

That's interesting, would love to read more (blog post maybe?) on issues with GraalVM.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsgameswithgo6y ago0 comments

Just some reason I might make a switch from Java/C# to Rust:

0 comments

tracker16y ago

On the long pauses, I've built simulation server systems for multi-user in .Net and the stop the world GC for several seconds now and then was very painful practically speaking.

tombert6y ago

I agree with all of your points except the "startup time" and "easier deployment"; GraalVM is pretty sweet and produces nice, self-contained executables.

pimeys6y ago

We distribute the binary with our NodeJS package and hundreds of megabytes of binary size will not work that well for our users.

tombert6y ago

Thanks for the insight!

1 more reply

deepsun6y ago

That's interesting, would love to read more (blog post maybe?) on issues with GraalVM.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse