Source URL: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/05/18/0257255/rust-is-so-good-you-can-get-paid-20k-to-make-it-as-fast-as-c?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Source: Slashdot
Title: ‘Rust is So Good You Can Get Paid $20K to Make It as Fast as C’
Feedly Summary:
AI Summary and Description: Yes
Summary: The Prossimo project aims to enhance Internet security through the development of the rav1d AV1 decoder using Rust, which focuses on memory safety. While the implementation shows promise, it currently lags behind its C counterpart, prompting a public bounty to incentivize optimizations.
Detailed Description: The Prossimo project, supported by the Internet Security Research Group, is focused on improving the safety and security of software infrastructure via memory-safe coding practices. This initiative highlights the ongoing shift in software development towards more secure programming languages, particularly Rust. The launch and continuing adjustments of the rav1d AV1 decoder illustrate both the complexities of transitioning to Rust and the inherent challenges of performance optimization.
Key points include:
– **Project Objective**: Prossimo’s goal is to migrate security-sensitive software to memory-safe code, reducing vulnerabilities associated with common programming errors in languages like C.
– **Development of rav1d**:
– rav1d is an AV1 decoder written in Rust.
– It aims to provide a safer alternative to the existing C-based dav1d decoder.
– The project began working with engineering support from Immunant.
– **Performance Challenges**:
– Currently, rav1d performs approximately 5% slower than dav1d, which raises concerns for adoption among developers reliant on speed.
– The slow performance leads to the development team’s frustrations, as they aimed for performance parity.
– **Optimizations and Community Engagement**:
– The development team has engaged additional contractors to help optimize rav1d.
– A bounty of $20,000 has been established to encourage the community to contribute to achieving performance parity with the C-based decoder, signifying a collaborative approach in open-source development.
– **Reception and Industry Response**:
– The attempt to optimize rav1d drew attention from the FFmpeg community, showcasing industry perspectives on Rust’s performance capabilities compared to C.
This case serves as a valuable learning opportunity for security and compliance professionals regarding the adoption of secure coding practices, challenges in performance optimization, and the potential for community-driven solutions. It also highlights the broader implications of programming language choices in the realm of software security.