In a significant shift that could reshape software development practices across the tech industry, Microsoft is planning to dramatically reduce its reliance on the C and C++ programming languages by the year 2030. According to an article titled “Microsoft Working to Slash Use of C and C++ Programming Languages by 2030,” published by Startup News FYI on December 24, 2025, the company has laid out a long-term strategy to transition toward more memory-safe programming alternatives, particularly Rust.
The move reflects growing awareness across the industry of the security and maintenance challenges associated with older, low-level languages like C and C++. These languages, while foundational to systems programming and performance-critical applications, are notorious for allowing memory management issues such as buffer overflows and use-after-free vulnerabilities. Such problems account for a significant portion of security flaws in modern software.
Microsoft’s initiative underscores its commitment to secure software development, part of a broader effort the company has been advancing over recent years. The company has been one of the most prominent advocates for adopting memory-safe languages, including its active participation in the development and promotion of Rust. Originally developed by Mozilla, Rust has gained traction in enterprise environments due to its ability to offer performance comparable to C++ while enforcing strict memory safety guarantees at compile time.
The Startup News FYI report notes that Microsoft has already begun transitioning internal projects and critical components of its codebase to safer alternatives. This includes experimentation with rewriting parts of Windows code in Rust and fostering internal expertise through training and open source contributions. The company’s longer-term vision, according to the article, is to eliminate C and C++ from newly-developed projects entirely by the end of the decade, except where technical limitations make other options unviable.
As reported, this internal shift is also expected to influence Microsoft’s external developer ecosystem. With hundreds of thousands of developers engaging with Microsoft platforms—ranging from Azure to GitHub to the Windows operating system—the company’s move may accelerate broader adoption of safe programming paradigms across the industry. Existing libraries and APIs may undergo refactoring, and support for modern languages will likely become increasingly emphasized in Microsoft documentation, tooling, and educational materials.
The implications extend beyond Microsoft. If one of the largest software companies in the world successfully reorients its development framework away from long-standing industry staples like C and C++, it may encourage other technology firms to follow suit. While critics point out that complete abandonment of C and C++ is unlikely due to legacy systems and the need for granular performance optimization, the trajectory suggests a notable evolution in how major software firms prioritize safety, maintainability, and scalability in code.
Microsoft’s strategy also highlights the challenges inherent in managing a decades-spanning software portfolio. Migrating or rewriting legacy code in memory-safe alternatives is a non-trivial undertaking. Nonetheless, the company appears committed to a gradual but decisive transformation that could fortify its products against an evolving cybersecurity threat landscape.
As technology companies grapple with increasing technical debt and cybersecurity demands, Microsoft’s plan to shift away from C and C++ by 2030 marks a watershed moment—one that could define the next era of systems programming and secure software architecture.
