[Tozen]

Autofree already works (to a significant extent) and has been demonstrated[1], for years now. Vlang's Vinix OS[2] uses autofree.

The situation (as I understand it) is unlike using a GC, autofree requires the user to have knowledge of memory management and how to use it properly. One of the objectives of Vlang is to be easy (easier) to use. Using a GC as the default, proved to perform very well with the language, and presented less complications for users.

It appears the strategy of the Vlang developers (as stated on their website and documentation) is to go with flexible memory management. That is the GC can be turned off whenever the user wants (-gc none), and other memory management options can be used such as autofree (-autofree) or their arena allocator (-prealloc).

This flexible memory management strategy would be somewhat similar to what Nim did, and interestingly, I don't see people crying as much about it. Furthermore, there is more to Vlang as a programming language than just autofree, as if its the only thing that counts. People use it for many other reasons.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmB8ea8uLsM (Autofree demo) 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJG4Zg6Ekfw (Vinix OS)