D [programming language]!?
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I remember it just like it was yesterday when I started to learn C++ and recognized it as the most powerful language (from what I read). Now, this thing called "D" comes along and makes me wonder when if ever it will replace C++ and C++ will be equivalant to Visual Basic (j/k).
http://www.digitalmars.com/d/
Blah blah blah. Somebody "discovers" D every few months and wonders the same thing. It's not new, it's been around for ages, and is hasn't really taken off yet, certainly not to the extend C++ or newer languages like C# have. It doesn't offer a whole lot that's novel these days.
There is no "most powerful language", because a language's power depends totally on the problem domain. Instead you could say that one language is the "most appropriate for problem X".
There are a lot of C++ alternatives out there (Objective-C is another one). The biggest shortcoming with all of them is that they don't have as strong of a community behind them, so there are fewer available libraries, fewer development tools, and fewer people that know how to use them.
There are a lot of C++ alternatives out there (Objective-C is another one). The biggest shortcoming with all of them is that they don't have as strong of a community behind them, so there are fewer available libraries, fewer development tools, and fewer people that know how to use them.
I agree with Oluseyi: D is an evolutionary dead end.
The language has been around for a long time and despite its advantages has failed to become popular. It won't die unless all its fans get bored or run over by a bus, but if it had what it takes to become a mainstream language—a mix of elegance, brutality, power and luck—then it would have taken off by now, and I don't really see what could happen that could change anything now.
Besides, since the language isn't widely used, but doesn't really invent anything new either, I doubt it's going to be used as an inspiration for another language.
The language has been around for a long time and despite its advantages has failed to become popular. It won't die unless all its fans get bored or run over by a bus, but if it had what it takes to become a mainstream language—a mix of elegance, brutality, power and luck—then it would have taken off by now, and I don't really see what could happen that could change anything now.
Besides, since the language isn't widely used, but doesn't really invent anything new either, I doubt it's going to be used as an inspiration for another language.
Just a question now that we're having yet another of these threads: Has anyone actually done anything more elaborate than Hello World in D who would like to share their experiences with the language?
Perhaps I should pick D for some simple project of mine to learn it and see for myself what it is about.
Perhaps I should pick D for some simple project of mine to learn it and see for myself what it is about.
I have. :P
It's nice programming language, but it doesn't have tools like Java, C++, C#. Don't expect any great debugger/IDE/etc for it.
For gfx game programming, there is Derelict.
What I would use is SFML though.
http://www.sfml-dev.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=13&sid=3cd5509c1052f02a60b624b4a634959a
It is actively updated, and should be updated to the newest SFML 1.4 too.
The newsgroups are useful.
http://www.digitalmars.com/webnews/newsgroups.php?search_txt=&group=digitalmars.D
I don't expect it to be used in professional companies, because of the lack of tools.
But for indie, I think it could be used.
It's nice programming language, but it doesn't have tools like Java, C++, C#. Don't expect any great debugger/IDE/etc for it.
For gfx game programming, there is Derelict.
What I would use is SFML though.
http://www.sfml-dev.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=13&sid=3cd5509c1052f02a60b624b4a634959a
It is actively updated, and should be updated to the newest SFML 1.4 too.
The newsgroups are useful.
http://www.digitalmars.com/webnews/newsgroups.php?search_txt=&group=digitalmars.D
I don't expect it to be used in professional companies, because of the lack of tools.
But for indie, I think it could be used.
Quote:Original post by ToohrVyk
The language has been around for a long time and despite its advantages has failed to become popular. It won't die unless all its fans get bored or run over by a bus, but if it had what it takes to become a mainstream language—a mix of elegance, brutality, power and luck—then it would have taken off by now, and I don't really see what could happen that could change anything now.
I'd have to beg to differ. The D language (with the Tango runtime) shows promise and may have what it takes to become popular, but the lack of implementation is a killer: few platforms are supported by the reference implementation, and no implementation AFAIK has ever passed the full suite of regression tests. I doubt this will change any time soon, as even the reimplementation projects inherit many of the quirks of DMD by reusing the frontend in their own projects. All told, I check out the language every year or so to see if progress has been made, but the language I'd like to use is still beset with the implementation quirks I'd rather avoid.
[Edited by - crusadingknight on January 10, 2009 11:14:13 AM]
I think several people have the wrong idea about why D is not popular. I'd say the reason is not in any way related to the language itself, I find the language itself extremely impressive.
The reason it isn't popular is the lack of tools, mainly the fact that it doesn't have a great IDE or debugger, like Visual Studio. Hell if it had that level of support, I'd be using it as my mainstream language over C++, rather than just dabbling in it occasionally.
If D had the same level of tool support that C# currently has, AND vice-versa, then I think the popularities would be the just as reversed.
The bottom line is that most people will use whatever you make easy for them to use.
The reason it isn't popular is the lack of tools, mainly the fact that it doesn't have a great IDE or debugger, like Visual Studio. Hell if it had that level of support, I'd be using it as my mainstream language over C++, rather than just dabbling in it occasionally.
If D had the same level of tool support that C# currently has, AND vice-versa, then I think the popularities would be the just as reversed.
The bottom line is that most people will use whatever you make easy for them to use.
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