Description #
Carbon is an experimental programming language designed as a successor to C++, focusing on improved safety, modern language features, and seamless interoperability with existing C++ codebases.
History #
Carbon was announced by Google engineers in 2022 as a community-driven project to address C++ complexity and modernize systems programming. It is still in development but aims to coexist with and gradually replace C++ in large codebases.
Hello World Code #
fn Main() -> i32 {
Print("Hello, World!\n");
return 0;
}How to Run #
Option 1: Online
Experiment on Carbon Playground (Experimental – not available).
Option 2: Local
- Carbon is in early stages; follow the latest compiler builds on GitHub
- Build and run Carbon code per instructions at https://github.com/carbon-language/carbon-lang
Key Concepts #
- Designed for gradual migration from C++
- Strong static typing with modern syntax
- Memory safety improvements without garbage collection
- Interoperability with C++ APIs and tooling
- Supports procedural and object-oriented programming
- Built-in tooling for code formatting and analysis
- Emphasizes simplicity and readability
- Ownership and lifetime tracking for safer memory
- Open source with community-driven design
- Early adoption mainly in experimental projects
Try It Online #
Carbon Playground (not available)
Fun Facts #
- Carbon was introduced with a “how to replace C++” philosophy.
- The language prioritizes performance and compatibility with existing C++ ecosystems.
- Google employees designed Carbon for systems-level programming modernization.
- The project has a strong emphasis on community input and iterative design.
- Carbon supports modern features like pattern matching and type inference.
