Meta supports Hack/Python/C++/Rust as developer preferred language

Meta supports Hack/Python/C++/Rust as developer preferred language.

Meta announced the approval of Hack, Python, C++, and Rust as the languages of choice for employees and developers to build software on its platform.

The company told The Register that supporting a programming language was not an easy decision.

“It’s important that each language we adopt is best suited for a specific use case; so whenever we evaluate a language, we do our due diligence. Language decisions are sticking around once they’re made, so we want to start with Just being thoughtful and giving our engineers the best tools.”

For Meta, a supported language is expected to provide a good experience for both internal and external developers in terms of code editing, debugging, building, core libraries, and interoperability.

The company assures that people who code in a supported language will not be asked to convert the code to a different language.

Hack is a new programming language developed by Meta itself, a type-safe PHP variant that relies on HipHop Virtual Machine (HHVM).

Meta recommends Hack for business logic and relatively stateless applications, Python for data science, ML applications, and Instagram-related code; C++ for performance-sensitive backend services, and Rust for Performance-focused backend services and CLI tools. “The Rust footprint in our products and services is growing rapidly, and we are committed to using Rust for the long term and welcoming early adopters.”

Other programming languages, such as Java, Erlang, Haskell, and Go, are approved for specific use cases, but are not supported outside of these cases.

Rust is popular today thanks to its memory safety features, including adoption in Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Linux kernel development.

But The Register notes that for Meta, memory safety may not be as important as customer safety in the short term.

A report on “Trust and Security in the Metaverse” by consulting firm Everest Group argues that businesses engaging in virtual world interactions will need to up their game of trust and security to avoid abuse, data privacy concerns for virtual world avatars , digital asset fraud, and the mental/physical health of content managers.

In addition, Meta will have to prove the existence of a mass-market business in the virtual world to justify the $10 billion loss reported last year by the company’s Reality Labs unit. “What the company really needs is a revenue-safe language.”