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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchBytes #110 used the deliberately provocative line “C++ kind of sucks, actually” to frame a more specific argument: C++ faces difficult language-evolution trade-offs because it must preserve compatibility with a vast body of existing software. The July 25, 2022 issue presented Carbon as an experimental successor-language approach intended to make a different path possible while retaining interoperability with C++.
What did Bytes #110 mean by “C++ kind of sucks”?
The headline was the newsletter’s gloss, not a direct quote from Chandler Carruth. Bytes says Carruth did not put it quite that way; the issue reports that he argued C++ was “falling short” of its goals. At the time, the issue identified Carruth as a leader of the C++, Clang, and LLVM teams at Google.
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The critique was about the difficulty of evolving the language and making code easier to write and understand while protecting compatibility with decades of existing low-level software. That compatibility burden can constrain what language designers can change without disrupting code people already depend on. It is an argument about competing goals and accumulated technical debt—not a comparative benchmark proving that C++ is worse than another language.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteRead Bytes issue #110 for the original framing and its summary of Carruth’s keynote.
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Why did the issue introduce Carbon?
Bytes presented Carbon as an experimental successor-language proposal rather than a new version of C++. Its central idea was to let a new language evolve differently while offering a path for C++ code and developers to interoperate and migrate.
The issue listed three intended benefits: performance matching C++, a simpler grammar and set of keywords, and bidirectional interoperability with C++. Those are goals, not demonstrated results in the issue. It provides no comparative performance measurements, adoption figures, or productivity study to establish that Carbon achieved them.
Is Carbon ready to replace or complement C++?
No. The Carbon Language project’s official repository describes Carbon as experimental and says it is not ready for use. Its official FAQ likewise calls it an experiment, notes that significant open questions remain, and says serious or production use is unlikely in the next few years even if the experiment succeeds.
That status matters when interpreting the 2022 issue: Carbon’s proposed interoperability and performance characteristics are aspirations, not a reason to treat it as a production-ready alternative. The available material does not establish a winner among Carbon, C++, or other languages.
What else was in the newsletter?
C++ and Carbon were the lead technical subject, but they were only part of Bytes #110. The issue’s opening also mentioned Google succession plans, Bun tattoos, and the author’s virtual wolfpack chatroom. Other sections covered:
- Radix UI v1, which the issue described as containing 26 components—a claim made in that 2022 newsletter, not a current independent count.
- A JavaScript
thisbug exercise, labeled as sponsored by Appwrite in the issue. - A Phantom frontend engineering job listing.
- A collection of developer links.
The issue also named Rust, Go, and Kotlin as other modern low-level-language options, while arguing that the C++ ecosystem was unlikely to disappear soon. It did not systematically compare those languages or establish that any one is best for a particular project.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should readers interpret the headline today?
Read it as an opinionated entry point to a language-design debate, not as a technical verdict. The issue’s useful distinction is between C++’s compatibility obligations and the desire for a language that can evolve with fewer inherited constraints. Carbon was proposed as one way to explore that trade-off through interoperability and migration, but its official project materials still characterize it as experimental.
For a practical language decision, the relevant questions would include the existing codebase and migration needs, interoperability, safety model, toolchain and ecosystem maturity, production readiness, and independently measured performance. Bytes #110 supplies context for why those questions arise; it does not answer them with a technical comparison.
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