November 1, 2025
Rewrites, rage, and Rust
Automatically Translating C to Rust
Auto‑translating C to Rust? Devs shout “unsafe soup” as hype meets reality
TLDR: Auto tools promise to turn risky C code into safer Rust, with help from smarter analysis instead of raw AI. Commenters are split: some slam autotranslated Rust as “unsafe soup,” others worry Rust’s hype could fade, while pros note the real hurdle is knowing array sizes before you “make it safe.”
The big idea: take old, risky C code and auto‑translate it into Rust, the language famous for catching memory mistakes before they crash your system. Tools like C2Rust promise speed, and the article says smart analyses can clean up ugly code while steering clear of error‑prone AI. But the comments? They came in hot. One engineer snarled that autotranslated Rust is “an absolutely hopeless number of unsafe statements,” dubbing it unsafe soup and joking you’re better off using “Fil‑C.”
Then the mood splits. Rust fans wave receipts—Linux now lets Rust in the kernel, the White House says stop writing new critical systems in C, and Rust’s safety could catch bugs like the ones that bit cURL. But skeptics deliver a cold shower. “The other direction might be more interesting,” warns one, predicting a future where Rust’s popularity dips and teams have to migrate Rust back to something else. The nerdiest drama lands on arrays: figuring out sizes. Commenters point to DARPA’s TRACTOR program and dream of converting fragile C pointers into safe Rust slices—if you can actually know the size. Meanwhile, jokes fly about “rewrite in Rust” memes vs. “ship it in C and pray,” and everyone agrees: auto‑translation isn’t a silver bullet—yet.
Key Points
- •Rust is presented as the most promising target for migrating C systems due to strong safety guarantees and performance.
- •C’s memory-unsafe features lead to vulnerabilities; examples include Heartbleed and Microsoft’s high rate of memory-related issues.
- •Industry adoption of Rust includes VLC components, GNU Coreutils rewrites, and Linux kernel support since 6.1 with a Rust network driver in 6.8.
- •Automatic translators like C2Rust are essential and actively used (e.g., by Huawei), but often generate unsafe or unidiomatic Rust.
- •Static analyses and code transformations can improve automatic C-to-Rust translation; LLMs are promising but need combination with analyses to avoid errors.