431
average c++ dev
(programming.dev)
I don't think that casting a range of bits as some other arbitrary type "is a bug nobody sees coming".
C++ compilers also warn you that this is likely an issue and will fail to compile if configured to do so. But it will let you do it if you really want to.
That's why I love C++
I actually do like that C/C++ let you do this stuff.
Sometimes it's nice to acknowledge that I'm writing software for a computer and it's all just bytes. Sometimes I don't really want to wrestle with the ivory tower of abstract type theory mixed with vague compiler errors, I just want to allocate a block of memory and apply a minimal set rules on top.
People just think that applying arbitrary rules somehow makes software magically more secure, like with rust, as if the compiler won't just "let you" do the exact same fucking thing if you type the
unsafekeywordIt's neither arbitrary nor magic; it's math. And
unsafedoesn't disable the type system, it just lets you dereference raw pointers.