C++ memory safety issues have come under heat recently, with rising interest in projects like TrapC and Safe C++ that attempt to tackle the issue. But C++ designer Bjarne Stroustrup remains steadfast in promoting profiles as essential for safety in C++.
Profiles can offer guarantees for imposing restrictions on existing features. In a February 7 note to ISO (International Organization for Standardization) C++ committee members, Stroustrup emphasized the benefits of profiles, noting that C++ type safety and resource safety, including memory safety, were aims of C++ from the very start.
“The sky isn’t falling, but unless we act now and get C++ onto a track supporting a flexible framework of profiles (supporting various forms of safety), we risk a painful decline,” said Stroustrup, who founded C++ in 1979. According to Stroustrup, profiles are essential to the language’s future, will not break existing code, and will not prevent a favorite new feature. They also are part of a long tradition of C++ evolution. He advised support for initial profiles in C++ 26, and warned against incompatible, ad hoc restrictions as the alternative.
