Rust vs. Ada: A Memory Safety Showdown

2025-02-10

This article compares Rust and Ada's effectiveness in preventing common memory-related errors. Rust excels at preventing errors outright, but Ada's avoidance of dynamic memory allocation and support for formal proof of correctness help avoid many errors altogether. The article delves into common memory errors like leaks, buffer overflows, use-after-free, double-free, and race conditions, comparing how each language handles them. While Rust boasts stronger compile-time checks, Ada's static analysis capabilities and stricter pointer control offer a compelling alternative. Ultimately, the author finds both languages offer unique strengths: Rust prioritizes compile-time safety, while Ada emphasizes preventing errors from occurring in the first place.

Read more
Development

Hacking the Yamaha DX9 to Mimic the DX7

2025-01-19

A vintage synth enthusiast reverse-engineered and rewrote the firmware ROM of the Yamaha DX9, significantly enhancing its functionality to closely match the DX7. By cleverly overcoming hardware limitations and restoring missing features like two additional operators, the hacker enabled the DX9 to load and play DX7 patches. Fixes included improved MIDI handling and a pitch envelope generator. The project's source code is publicly available, showcasing impressive technical skill and passion for vintage synthesizers, even if the target audience is small. This unexpected feat delighted the retro synth community.

Read more