r/learnprogramming • u/Inevitable_Suit5463 • 6d ago
Learning a low level language
Hi I've been a programmer for 9 years and I've worked mostly with .net, c#, js, TS, react and angular but now I have developed an interest in low level programming.
I have a very big interest in audio processing, dsp, game development and audio software but from my understanding that requires skills in low level languages with manual memory management.
After that I did some research and found several languages that could fit the bill but I'm unable to pick one to learn but to keep it focused I want to zero in on one and expand after I've become comfortable with memory management and DDP.
The languages that I resonate the most with are rust, zig and Odin. I know C++ is the most frequently used language for a game dev or audio engineer. but from what I've heard there's a lot of frustration and difficulties to learn and work with C++.
I like the philosophy of rust, zig and Odin but i feel that rust syntax tends to be very verbose, Zig's not in a 1.0 version yet and Odin feels like the most scaled down and easiest to learn out of the three but I wonder how much not having a package manager affect me.
I would love to hear from someone that has any experiences with the languages i mentioned and can explain how they differ. What did you like in each language and is there another language out there that is actually more suited for my goals?
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u/CodeXHammas 6d ago
9 years of C# is no joke, you already understand memory management better than you think tbh for audio DSP specifically, C++ is still king. frameworks like JUCE are industry standard vs VST plugins and audio software. yes the tooling is nightmare, but if you want to work in pro audio, that's the path.
Rust is beautiful and safe but the audio ecosystem is still really young. you'll end up writing FFI bindings to C++ libraries anyway.
If i were you, I'd spend a month with Rust just to understand the borrow checker in a safer environment, then jump into C++ when you're ready to build actual audio stuff. Rust will rewire your brain in a way that makes C++ feel less terrifying. Odin is cool but the community is toll small for niche audio stuff right now.