• Chris Nelson (12/12) Oct 14 2016 I'm mainly a scripting language, .NET, and SQL programmer. I've
• bachmeier (6/18) Oct 14 2016 Jump in and learn C as you go. C can be a beast at times,
• Ryan (8/20) Oct 14 2016 I came from a python/java background when I started to learn D. I
• Nicholas Wilson (10/22) Oct 14 2016 It is possible to write in a C style in D and they are similar
• WhatMeForget (7/19) Oct 14 2016 I would jump right into D and then veer off into C on a need to

Chris Nelson <xradionut555 gmail.com> writes:

I'm mainly a scripting language, .NET, and SQL programmer. I've 
been looking for a good programming language for Linux/BSD other 
than Python. I've surveyed the options and D appears to be a sane 
modern choice for me. (Thanks Ali Çehreli and others!)

The only hitch is that many of the projects and libraries I'm 
interested in using or maybe porting are mainly C based. (My 
overall C-fu is weak...) Should I review a good C book or 
tutorial before jumping in to fully learning D? Or should I just 
eschew any C exposure until I master D?

(As a side note, many of the C libraries I'm interested in seem 
to be confusing messes of header files and "organic" code. But 
who am I to judge?)

bachmeier <no spam.net> writes:

On Saturday, 15 October 2016 at 01:46:52 UTC, Chris Nelson wrote:
 I'm mainly a scripting language, .NET, and SQL programmer. I've 
 been looking for a good programming language for Linux/BSD 
 other than Python. I've surveyed the options and D appears to 
 be a sane modern choice for me. (Thanks Ali Çehreli and others!)

 The only hitch is that many of the projects and libraries I'm 
 interested in using or maybe porting are mainly C based. (My 
 overall C-fu is weak...) Should I review a good C book or 
 tutorial before jumping in to fully learning D? Or should I 
 just eschew any C exposure until I master D?

 (As a side note, many of the C libraries I'm interested in seem 
 to be confusing messes of header files and "organic" code. But 
 who am I to judge?)

Jump in and learn C as you go. C can be a beast at times, 
particularly if it involves the C preprocessor, and delaying 
learning D won't help.

Have you seen
https://github.com/jacob-carlborg/dstep

Ryan <ryan a_fake_email.non> writes:

On Saturday, 15 October 2016 at 01:46:52 UTC, Chris Nelson wrote:
 I'm mainly a scripting language, .NET, and SQL programmer. I've 
 been looking for a good programming language for Linux/BSD 
 other than Python. I've surveyed the options and D appears to 
 be a sane modern choice for me. (Thanks Ali Çehreli and others!)

 The only hitch is that many of the projects and libraries I'm 
 interested in using or maybe porting are mainly C based. (My 
 overall C-fu is weak...) Should I review a good C book or 
 tutorial before jumping in to fully learning D? Or should I 
 just eschew any C exposure until I master D?

 (As a side note, many of the C libraries I'm interested in seem 
 to be confusing messes of header files and "organic" code. But 
 who am I to judge?)

I came from a python/java background when I started to learn D. I 
had a programming class many-many years ago in C, and I only knew 
it well enough to do small programs. I started learning D almost 
2 years ago, and then started in on C++ after that.

I think D is by far the easiest compiled language to "learn". You 
can get into to it pretty easy (easier than C++) and write 
something useful pretty quick. Then there's always more to learn.

Nicholas Wilson <iamthewilsonator hotmail.com> writes:

On Saturday, 15 October 2016 at 01:46:52 UTC, Chris Nelson wrote:
 I'm mainly a scripting language, .NET, and SQL programmer. I've 
 been looking for a good programming language for Linux/BSD 
 other than Python. I've surveyed the options and D appears to 
 be a sane modern choice for me. (Thanks Ali Çehreli and others!)

 The only hitch is that many of the projects and libraries I'm 
 interested in using or maybe porting are mainly C based. (My 
 overall C-fu is weak...) Should I review a good C book or 
 tutorial before jumping in to fully learning D? Or should I 
 just eschew any C exposure until I master D?

 (As a side note, many of the C libraries I'm interested in seem 
 to be confusing messes of header files and "organic" code. But 
 who am I to judge?)

It is possible to write in a C style in D and they are similar 
enough (when writing like C) that learning D should cover you for 
most of the C (sans macros), but obviously D can do a whole lot 
more.
D has the philosophy that it should work the same way as C or not 
compile at all.

As always Ali's book is excellent (and free!), so start with that.

There are many bindings for C libraries available for D, see 
code.dlang.org or try dstep as mentioned above.

WhatMeForget <kheaser gmail.com> writes:

On Saturday, 15 October 2016 at 01:46:52 UTC, Chris Nelson wrote:
 I'm mainly a scripting language, .NET, and SQL programmer. I've 
 been looking for a good programming language for Linux/BSD 
 other than Python. I've surveyed the options and D appears to 
 be a sane modern choice for me. (Thanks Ali Çehreli and others!)

 The only hitch is that many of the projects and libraries I'm 
 interested in using or maybe porting are mainly C based. (My 
 overall C-fu is weak...) Should I review a good C book or 
 tutorial before jumping in to fully learning D? Or should I 
 just eschew any C exposure until I master D?

 (As a side note, many of the C libraries I'm interested in seem 
 to be confusing messes of header files and "organic" code. But 
 who am I to judge?)

I would jump right into D and then veer off into C on a need to 
know basis. This link might be of interest:

https://dlang.org/ctod.html

Also, are you aware of the libraries at the DUB registry?

And finally, Chapter 9 of Mike Parker's "Learning D" has lots of 
info on libraries.