10 ms·

> First, they are using WASM which itself is a a low-level representation. WASM is used to generate the query plan, but query execution now happens entirely wi

> First, they are using WASM which itself is a a low-level representation. WASM is used to generate the query plan, but query execution now happens entirely within TypeScript, whereas under the previous architecture both steps were handled by Rust. So in a very literal sense some of the Rust code is being rewritten in TypeScript. > Basically, if the majority of your application is already in JavaScript and expects primarily to interact with other code written in JavaScript, it usually doesn't make sense to serialize your data, pass it to another runtime for some processing, then pass the result back. My point was simply to refute the assertion that once software is written in a low level language, it will never be converted to a higher level language, as if low level languages are necessarily the terminal state for all software, which is what your original comment seemed to be suggesting. This feels like a bit of a "No true Scotsman" argument: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman > As for the "compilers are special" reasoning, I don't ascribe to it. Compilers (and more specifically lexers and parsers) are special in the sense that they're incredibly well suited for languages with shared memory multithreading. Not every workload fits that profile. > The old cases I would choose the scripting language (familiarity, speed of adding new features, ability to hire a team quickly) seem to be eroding in the face of LLMs. I'm not an AI pessimist, but I'm also not an AI maximalist who is convinced that AI will completely eliminate the need for human code authoring and review, and as long as humans are required to write and review code, then those benefits still apply. In fact, one of the stated reasons for the Prisma rewrite was "skillset barriers". "Contributing to the query engine requires a combination of Rust and TypeScript proficiency, reducing the opportunity for community involvement." [1] [1] https://www.prisma.io/blog/from-rust-to-typescript-a-new-chapter-for-prisma-orm https://www.prisma.io/blog/from-rust-to-typescript-a-new-cha...

zoogeny 2y ago
I'm not denying the facts of the matter, I am denying the conclusion. The circumstances of the situation are relevant. Marshalling cost across IPC boundaries come into play in every single possible situation regardless of language. It is why shared memory architectures exist. It doesn't matter what language is on the other side of the IPC, if the performance gained by using a separate process is not greater than the cost of the communication then you should avoid the IPC. One way to avoid that cost is to share the memory. In the case of code already running in a JavaScript VM a very easy way to share the memory means you do the processing in JavaScript. That is why I am saying your evidence is a red herring. It is a case where a reasonable decision was made to rewrite in JavaScript/TypeScript but it has nothing to do with the merits of the language and everything to do with the environment that the entire system is running in. They even state the Rust code is fast (and undoubtedly faster than the JS version), just not fast enough to justify the IPC cost. And it in no way applies to the point I am making, where I explicitly question "starting a new project" for example "my default assumption to use JS runtimes on the server". It's closer to a "Well, actually ..." than an attempt to clarify or provide a reasoned response. The world is changing before our eyes. The coding LLMs we have already are good but the ones in the pipeline are better. The ones coming next year are likely to be even better. It is time to revisit our long held opinions. And in the case of "reads data from a OS socket/file-descriptor and writes data to a OS socket/file-descriptor", which is the case for a significant number of applications including web servers, I'm starting to doubt that choosing a scripting language for that task, as I once advocated, is a good plan given what I am seeing.
- throwitaway1123 2y ago
  Rather than fixating on this single Prisma example, I'd like to address your larger point which seems to be that all greenfield projects are necessarily best suited to low level languages. First of all, I would argue that software rewrites are a bad proxy metric for language quality in general. Language rewrites don't measure languages purely on a qualitative scale, but rather on a scale of how likely they are to be misused in the wrong problem domain. Low level languages tend to have a higher barrier to entry, which as a result means they're less likely to be chosen on a whim during the first iteration of a project. This phenomenon is exhibited not just at the macroscopic level of language choice, but often times when determining which data structures and techniques to use within a specific language. I've very seldomly found myself accidentally reaching for a Uint8Array or a WeakRef in JS when a normal array or reference would suffice, and then having to rewrite my code, not because those solutions are superior, but because they're so much less ergonomic that I'm only likely to use them when I'm relatively certain they're required. This results in obvious selection bias. If you were to survey JS developers and ask how often they've rewritten a normal reference in favor of a WeakRef vs the opposite migration, the results would be skewed because the cost of dereferencing WeakRefs is high enough that you're unlikely to use them hastily. The same is true to a certain extent in regards to language choice. Developers are less likely to spend time appeasing Rust's borrow checker when PHP/Ruby/JS would suffice, so if a scripting language is the best choice for the problem at hand, they're less likely to get it wrong during the first iteration and have to suffer through a massive rewrite (and then post about it on HN). I've seen plenty of examples of competent software developers saying they'd choose a scripting language in lieu of Go/Rust/Zig. Here's the founder of Hashicorp (who built his company on Go, and who's currently building a terminal in Zig), saying he'd choose PHP or Rails for a web server in 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQnz7L6x068&t=1821s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQnz7L6x068&t=1821s
  - zoogeny 2y ago
    > your larger point which seems to be that all greenfield projects are necessarily best suited to low level language That is not my intention. Perhaps you are reading absolutes and chasing after black and white statements. When I say "it makes me think I should ..." I am not saying: "Everyone everywhere should always under any circumstances ...". It is a call to question the assumption, not to make emphatic universal decisions on any possible project that could ever be conceived. That would be a bad faith interpretation of my post. If that is what you are arguing against, consider if you really believe that is what I meant. So my point stands: I am going to consider this more deeply rather than default assuming that an interpreted scripting language is suitable. > Low level languages tend to have a higher barrier to entry, I almost think you aren't reading my post at this point and are just arguing with a strawman you invented in your head. But I am assuming good faith on your part here, so once again I'll just repeat myself again and again: LLMs have already changed the barrier to entry for low-level languages and they will continue to do so.

zoogeny 2y ago

I'm not denying the facts of the matter, I am denying the conclusion. The circumstances of the situation are relevant. Marshalling cost across IPC boundaries come into play in every single possible situation regardless of language. It is why shared memory architectures exist. It doesn't matter what language is on the other side of the IPC, if the performance gained by using a separate process is not greater than the cost of the communication then you should avoid the IPC. One way to avoid that cost is to share the memory. In the case of code already running in a JavaScript VM a very easy way to share the memory means you do the processing in JavaScript. That is why I am saying your evidence is a red herring. It is a case where a reasonable decision was made to rewrite in JavaScript/TypeScript but it has nothing to do with the merits of the language and everything to do with the environment that the entire system is running in. They even state the Rust code is fast (and undoubtedly faster than the JS version), just not fast enough to justify the IPC cost. And it in no way applies to the point I am making, where I explicitly question "starting a new project" for example "my default assumption to use JS runtimes on the server". It's closer to a "Well, actually ..." than an attempt to clarify or provide a reasoned response. The world is changing before our eyes. The coding LLMs we have already are good but the ones in the pipeline are better. The ones coming next year are likely to be even better. It is time to revisit our long held opinions. And in the case of "reads data from a OS socket/file-descriptor and writes data to a OS socket/file-descriptor", which is the case for a significant number of applications including web servers, I'm starting to doubt that choosing a scripting language for that task, as I once advocated, is a good plan given what I am seeing.

throwitaway1123 2y ago
Rather than fixating on this single Prisma example, I'd like to address your larger point which seems to be that all greenfield projects are necessarily best suited to low level languages. First of all, I would argue that software rewrites are a bad proxy metric for language quality in general. Language rewrites don't measure languages purely on a qualitative scale, but rather on a scale of how likely they are to be misused in the wrong problem domain. Low level languages tend to have a higher barrier to entry, which as a result means they're less likely to be chosen on a whim during the first iteration of a project. This phenomenon is exhibited not just at the macroscopic level of language choice, but often times when determining which data structures and techniques to use within a specific language. I've very seldomly found myself accidentally reaching for a Uint8Array or a WeakRef in JS when a normal array or reference would suffice, and then having to rewrite my code, not because those solutions are superior, but because they're so much less ergonomic that I'm only likely to use them when I'm relatively certain they're required. This results in obvious selection bias. If you were to survey JS developers and ask how often they've rewritten a normal reference in favor of a WeakRef vs the opposite migration, the results would be skewed because the cost of dereferencing WeakRefs is high enough that you're unlikely to use them hastily. The same is true to a certain extent in regards to language choice. Developers are less likely to spend time appeasing Rust's borrow checker when PHP/Ruby/JS would suffice, so if a scripting language is the best choice for the problem at hand, they're less likely to get it wrong during the first iteration and have to suffer through a massive rewrite (and then post about it on HN). I've seen plenty of examples of competent software developers saying they'd choose a scripting language in lieu of Go/Rust/Zig. Here's the founder of Hashicorp (who built his company on Go, and who's currently building a terminal in Zig), saying he'd choose PHP or Rails for a web server in 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQnz7L6x068&t=1821s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQnz7L6x068&t=1821s
- zoogeny 2y ago
  > your larger point which seems to be that all greenfield projects are necessarily best suited to low level language That is not my intention. Perhaps you are reading absolutes and chasing after black and white statements. When I say "it makes me think I should ..." I am not saying: "Everyone everywhere should always under any circumstances ...". It is a call to question the assumption, not to make emphatic universal decisions on any possible project that could ever be conceived. That would be a bad faith interpretation of my post. If that is what you are arguing against, consider if you really believe that is what I meant. So my point stands: I am going to consider this more deeply rather than default assuming that an interpreted scripting language is suitable. > Low level languages tend to have a higher barrier to entry, I almost think you aren't reading my post at this point and are just arguing with a strawman you invented in your head. But I am assuming good faith on your part here, so once again I'll just repeat myself again and again: LLMs have already changed the barrier to entry for low-level languages and they will continue to do so.