this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Anyone have experience using Nim? The TLDR that I am seeing is compiled portable python/js replacement in a way.

I was thinking about trying to write a webserver with it and was wondering if anyone had any previous experience with it.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Nim is cool. Easy to read python-like syntax, strongly typed, compiles (not transpiles) to C, so you can use common C tools like valgrind, gdb, musl, etc.
Small footprint, devel version supports deterministic gc (arc/orc).
One of the greatest interops with C, C++ or JS (C and JS are not mixable, obviously)

I've only used Nim in hobby/toy projects, but it was very pleasant experience.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@janAkali I wonder how it compares to compiling Python code with https://github.com/Nuitka/Nuitka , which is a real compiler using C and not just a bundler. To me, from programming language perspective Nim looks like an improvement for the developer. Here is a nice overview: https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/wiki/Nim-for-Python-Programmers , but this does not take Nuitka into account.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

First time hearing about Nuitka and it sounds promising for Python devs. But from a quick glance it is merely an AOT compiled Python.
For me, Nim has big advantage over Python: types that are statically checked at compile time.
Types make you reason about your code more. Good LSP uses types to suggest you code without any AI and shows you errors before you have to run your script/programm.