Austral: A Systems Language with Linear Types and Capabilities (2022)

Austral is a new systems programming language. You can think of it as Rust: The Good Parts or a modernized, stripped-down Ada. It features a strong static type system, linear types, capability-based security, and strong modularity. This article is an introduction to the language. The first few sections are high-level: they are about the design and the mindset of the language. The next two sections, about linear types and capability-based security, are much more detailed and technical: they are meant to prove to the reader that the claims being made about security and correctness are true. Contents Design Goals There is a section in the rationale that explains the design goals for Austral, but it boils down to two things: Simplicity Strictness Simplicity means different things to different people. Some use it to mean familiarity, or ease of use, or even terseness. Simplicity here has a straightforward definition: it is the amount of information it takes to describe a system. Comp ... Read full article.