Changelog Interviews The Roc programming language
Jun 11, 2025
In this discussion, Richard Feldman, the creator of the Roc programming language and author of "Elm in Action," shares insights on Roc’s innovative features inspired by Elm. Delve into topics like static dispatch, purity inference, and opportunistic mutation. Richard highlights Roc's smart handling of dependencies and security, as well as its performance advantages against languages like Rust and Go. The conversation also touches on community engagement and the potential for Roc to reshape developer experiences and foster new applications.
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Roc Evolves Elm's Legacy
- Roc is a direct descendant of Elm but aims to be a versatile language beyond frontend development.
- It targets many domains including servers, CLI apps, GUIs, and robotics with a focus on ergonomics and friendliness.
Static Dispatch Explained
- Roc uses static dispatch with dot syntax resembling object orientation but is purely functional under the hood.
- The compiler resolves calls to module functions based on the variable's type, with no runtime inheritance or classes.
Prioritize Compiler Speed Over Self-Hosting
- Roc intentionally avoids self-hosting its compiler to maximize compiler speed and safety.
- The compiler rewrite in Zig focuses on achieving 3-5x speed improvements over the old Rust-based compiler.
