I don’t really get why “size and complexity” is considered a bad thing. Why am I supposed to think smaller languages are better?
I don't think its an either or thing. It all depends on the problem. Embedded systems with limited resources and hard-realtime requirements (thinking of CNC controllers, robotics, avionics, nuclear control systems, etc) must shed all this complexity as a rule. Application software (the vast majority of code anyone sees and interacts with) on the other hand benefits from all these abstractions which allow for rapid cross-platform development.
While Rust might be a better fit for hard-realtime systems than C++, it still has a lot more overhead in binary size than C, and it is stunted by the difficulty in producing compiler toolchains for the various esoteric microcontrollers which dominate this space.
You can make Rust binaries as small as you'd like basically: https://github.com/johnthagen/min-sized-rust
You can also run it on stuff like Arduino: https://creativcoder.dev/rust-on-arduino-uno
It's probably not the ideal tool for those jobs but it's also far from the worst. It very much tries to go by the C++ maxim "you pay for what you use", albeit imperfectly. I just don't see any dealbreakers here that would warrant yet another language in this space, at least none that couldn't be solved by fixing or expanding what Rust already offers.
I don't think its an either or thing. It all depends on the problem. Embedded systems with limited resources and hard-realtime requirements (thinking of CNC controllers, robotics, avionics, nuclear control systems, etc) must shed all this complexity as a rule. Application software (the vast majority of code anyone sees and interacts with) on the other hand benefits from all these abstractions which allow for rapid cross-platform development.
While Rust might be a better fit for hard-realtime systems than C++, it still has a lot more overhead in binary size than C, and it is stunted by the difficulty in producing compiler toolchains for the various esoteric microcontrollers which dominate this space.
You can make Rust binaries as small as you'd like basically: https://github.com/johnthagen/min-sized-rust
You can also run it on stuff like Arduino: https://creativcoder.dev/rust-on-arduino-uno
It's probably not the ideal tool for those jobs but it's also far from the worst. It very much tries to go by the C++ maxim "you pay for what you use", albeit imperfectly. I just don't see any dealbreakers here that would warrant yet another language in this space, at least none that couldn't be solved by fixing or expanding what Rust already offers.