HACKER Q&A
📣 MathCodeLove

Why didn't Pony take off?


It seems to offer a lot of the same things Rust offers, and Rust is immensely popular. What failings of Pony caused it to fall behind in popularity and adoption while Rust sprinted ahead?


  👤 derbOac Accepted Answer ✓
Some interesting discussions here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/34rszb/pony_type_and_...

https://www.wallaroo.ai/blog/wallaroo-move-to-rust

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28777306

My sense is that Rust's constructs target more closely the mental schemas of individuals most concerned with memory safety; e.g., systems programming with lots of C, but wanting something more functional and safe.

I can see the comparisons between Pony and Rust, but I personally see them as kind of different in terms of who they might appeal to the most.


👤 rurban
Pony was technically far ahead of Rust, but Rust used massive overhyping to attract more users, and hence got a much better library ecosystem.

The liers are now thanksfully gone, but the compiler limitations are still there.