Language Comparisons

How Crush compares to other popular languages.

Crush vs Python

Similarities

• Simple, readable syntax
• Dynamic typing
• High-level abstractions

Differences

Example Comparison

Python:

def greet(name):
    print(f"Hello, {name}!")

greet("Alice")

Crush:

fn greet(name: String) {
    io.print("Hello, " + name + "!");
}

greet("Alice");

Crush vs JavaScript

Similarities

• Dynamic typing
• First-class functions
• Async support (future)

Differences

Crush vs Rust

Similarities

• Similar syntax
• Type hints
• Performance focus

Differences

Crush vs Bash

Similarities

• Scripting focus
• System administration
• Command execution

Differences

Performance

Crush has five execution tiers spanning interpreter to native code:

AOT-compiled Crush achieves near-C performance — LLVM and GCC constant-fold the stack machine operations into direct native code. For compute-bound Crush programs, crush-aotc produces .so files that run within 2-5× of hand-written C.

See the crush-ast benchmarks for detailed cross-language comparisons.

When to Use Crush

✅ Use Crush when:

• You need to combine multiple languages
• Security and isolation are important
• You want capability-based permissions
• You’re building polyglot applications
• You need native performance with scripting ergonomics (crush-aotc)

❌ Consider alternatives when:

• You have a large existing codebase in another language
• You need mature ecosystem (Python/JavaScript)
• You’re building web frontends (use JavaScript/TypeScript)

Migration Guide

From Python

1. Add type hints to function signatures
2. Replace print() with io.print()
3. Add capability permissions to manifest
4. Keep Python code in @python {} blocks during transition

From JavaScript

1. Change function to fn
2. Add semicolons
3. Replace console.log() with io.print()
4. Keep JavaScript in @javascript {} blocks

From Bash

1. Wrap shell commands in @bash {} blocks
2. Use Crush for logic and control flow
3. Add type safety with Crush variables