carbon-language/carbon-lang
Carbon Lang
Carbon is an experimental, compiled systems programming language designed as a successor to C++. It focuses on providing a high-performance environment for modern software development while prioritizing memory safety and expressive generic programming. The language is built to support performance-critical engineering, allowing for precise control over memory layout and execution flow.
A primary differentiator of the project is its bidirectional interoperability with existing C++ codebases. This allows developers to call functions and share data between languages without manual wrappers, facilitating a gradual migration path for legacy systems. The language architecture is generic-first, utilizing checked generic constraints and interface requirements to ensure type safety and code reusability at compile time.
The language incorporates an incremental memory safety model that prevents common errors through initialization tracking, bounds checking, and the explicit isolation of unsafe code blocks. Its syntax is expression-oriented, treating control flow structures like loops and branches as values to maintain type consistency. The project also enforces a nominal type system and uses canonical source representation to ensure consistent interpretation across different build environments.
Features
- Languages - Functions as an experimental high-performance systems programming language successor to C++.
- Interoperability - Provides direct bidirectional function calls and data sharing with existing C++ codebases.
- Programming Languages - Operates as a high-performance compiled language for modern systems development.
- Generics & Templates - Defines generic types with full type-checking to improve code reliability and reduce compile-time overhead.
- Ownership & Borrowing - Provides incremental memory safety through isolated unsafe blocks and strict initialization tracking.
- Memory-Safe Systems Programming - Builds high-performance software with low-level access while preventing memory errors.
- Type System Tools - Creates class types to encapsulate data and behavior, supporting inheritance and access control.
- Language Bindings - Provides a bidirectional bridge for seamless function calls and data sharing with legacy code.
- Developer Tools - Experimental language design and tools
- Language Features - Executes standard mathematical calculations on numeric types using conventional operators.
- Legacy Migration Strategies - Enables gradual migration of legacy systems while maintaining full interoperability with existing components.
- C & C++ Ecosystem - Provides bidirectional interoperability with C++ codebases for seamless function calls and code translation.
- Data Structure and Type Helpers - Accesses specific items within collections using subscript syntax.
- Performance Engineering - Provides precise control over memory layout and execution flow for maximum hardware utilization.
- Generic Component Architectures - Supports creation of highly reusable and type-safe software modules.
