Galen Hunt, managing director of Microsoft Azure Sphere and former head of the operating systems development group at Microsoft Research, has unveiled a new research project within Microsoft's CoreAI division. The initiative combines artificial intelligence with traditional algorithms to automate the conversion of Microsoft's extensive C and C++ codebases into Rust.
The project sets a clear objective: to eliminate C and C++ from Microsoft’s codebases entirely by the year 2030. This will reduce technical debt in large-scale software systems. Memory safety issues in C and C++ have long contributed to security vulnerabilities, and Rust’s compile-time guarantees offer a robust alternative.
One Engineer, One Million Lines
The infrastructure under development aims to empower a single engineer to translate up to one million lines of code per month. This level of automation would significantly accelerate migration efforts across Microsoft’s vast software portfolio, which includes operating systems, cloud services, and embedded platforms.
But why Rust?
Rust, known for its memory safety without a garbage collector, enforces strict compile-time checks that prevent common programming errors such as null pointer dereferences and data races. Microsoft has already adopted Rust in select security-critical components.
This announcement reveals Microsoft's far-reaching plans for the programming language. By integrating AI capabilities with foundational systems knowledge, Microsoft may modernize its legacy code much faster.
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