Hello Tim,
Yigal Chripun Wrote:
personally I don't see a point in JVM/.NET - One of the best things
about D is that you get the ease of use of Ruby/python/etc with the
benefits of native compiling like in c/c++. Why throw that away and
make yet another version of Java/C# ?
Supporting .net would give you access to the most modern and probably
best-currently-supported Windows API. It would, if you counted Mono,
add a very nice cross-platform UI framework. Finally, depending on
what version was supported, it might enable you to write Silverlight
apps in D, permitting flash-like apps that run cross-functionally in a
web browser.
TK
Agreed.
Concerning .NET and D technology, I say go for it... especially if someone
has the initiative to keep such a port going (afterall, such initiative is
really the most important virtue for any hope of success). For myself, I'm
kind of learning not to "restrain" D with my personal biases. Sometimes
we just can't predict what kind of benefits might be in store for the language,
the platform, or other people; such expiditionary moves might not be successful
in themselves, but they could be the critical factor that brings D to the
limelight in some future endeavor.
D may be successful in areas we don't necessarily predict or prefer, and
.NET is just one of several interesting possibilities to explore. Therefore,
I don't think we should get too tunnel-visioned about "D is better because
it's a compiled language". It may be important to keep the vision a little
more open to other technologies (like VM's and such) especially as optimizations
improve in these areas. Otherwise, D will be at risk of loosing it's general
purpose nature... and being permanently fixated as a niche language. Porting
to .NET, therefore, becomes a clever way of "proving" D's viability on other
technology platfroms.
I haven't used C#, but I can bet that D could offer a very competitive and
comfortable programming environment such that it would be a welcome alternative
even in the .NET world. Microsoft may even come to see the benefits, since
D might attract an even more diverse audience to the platform, people who
would have otherwise avoided it. You never know. ;)
That'd probably be all it would take for me to start experimenting with .NET
and Mono.
-JJR
