• Steve Teale <steve.teale britseyeview.com> Jun 29 2009
• "Nick Sabalausky" <a a.a> Jun 29 2009
• "Lars T. Kyllingstad" <public kyllingen.NOSPAMnet> Jun 29 2009

Steve Teale <steve.teale britseyeview.com> writes:

dsimcha Wrote:

 I feel that miscellaneous toolchain issues (other than implementing changes to
the
 spec and fixing bugs that severely affect the usability of language features)
are
 an order of magnitude less important because this stuff can always be done
after
 the fact without breaking code.  In other words, once the spec is finalized
and a
 decent reference implementation is out the door, people can confidently use D2
 knowing that the situation will only get better.  Until then, it's two steps
 forward, one step back when code breaks in non-trivial ways due to a spec
change
 or a compiler bug makes a seemingly useful feature that you planned on using
 absolutely useless.


Dsimcha,

Everything can be done later. The concern is 'will it'. If D dies on the way
because people come to look __again__ and see same-old, same-old, then this is
a real risk.

Steve

"Nick Sabalausky" <a a.a> writes:

"Steve Teale" <steve.teale britseyeview.com> wrote in message 
news:h2asuv$cm4$1 digitalmars.com...
 dsimcha Wrote:

 I feel that miscellaneous toolchain issues (other than implementing 
 changes to the
 spec and fixing bugs that severely affect the usability of language 
 features) are
 an order of magnitude less important because this stuff can always be 
 done after
 the fact without breaking code.  In other words, once the spec is 
 finalized and a
 decent reference implementation is out the door, people can confidently 
 use D2
 knowing that the situation will only get better.  Until then, it's two 
 steps
 forward, one step back when code breaks in non-trivial ways due to a spec 
 change
 or a compiler bug makes a seemingly useful feature that you planned on 
 using
 absolutely useless.


 Dsimcha,

 Everything can be done later. The concern is 'will it'. If D dies on the 
 way because people come to look __again__ and see same-old, same-old, then 
 this is a real risk.


Sorry about my bad mood and echoing of the "elbow grease" stance, but "it 
will" if people work on these things (as they are doing) instead of 
complaining about the sky falling. 

"Lars T. Kyllingstad" <public kyllingen.NOSPAMnet> writes:

Steve Teale wrote:
 dsimcha Wrote:
 
 I feel that miscellaneous toolchain issues (other than implementing changes to
the
 spec and fixing bugs that severely affect the usability of language features)
are
 an order of magnitude less important because this stuff can always be done
after
 the fact without breaking code.  In other words, once the spec is finalized
and a
 decent reference implementation is out the door, people can confidently use D2
 knowing that the situation will only get better.  Until then, it's two steps
 forward, one step back when code breaks in non-trivial ways due to a spec
change
 or a compiler bug makes a seemingly useful feature that you planned on using
 absolutely useless.


 Dsimcha,
 
 Everything can be done later. The concern is 'will it'. If D dies on the way
because people come to look __again__ and see same-old, same-old, then this is
a real risk.
 
 Steve



...except everything isn't same-old same-old! A lot of exciting things 
have happened in the last year:

   - The D2 spec is soon finished.

   - Phobos is being completely rewritten, and from what I've seen
     so far I think it is a beautiful piece of work.

   - The DMD compiler is available for more architectures than ever.

   - A D book is being written by a well-known author and C++ expert.

   - An alternative compiler is in active development. It is built on
     a modern compiler infrastructure, and it is developed by a team of
     people instead of just one person. This should secure its future
     somewhat. I suspect that once the D1 version is in place, the
     D2 version won't be far behind.

   - The DMD compiler is now open source. It is easier than ever to
     tweak and patch it, and to make a D compiler of your own.

I think these are exciting times in which to be a D user! :)

-Lars