language_fan wrote:
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:38:33 -0500, Andrei Alexandrescu thusly wrote:
I'll note two things. For one, Walter is a heck more progressive than
his pedigree might lead one to think. He has taken quite some risks with
a number of features that made definite steps outside the mainstream,
and I feel he bet on the right horse more often than not. Second, this
particular discussion is not about efficiency.
I apologize that I said it in a way that might hurt Walter. I know he is
extremely talented programmer and also open for new ideas. That is often
not the problem. But it is not that hard to find features in D that are
there only to make old C++ users feel comfortable. E.g. C style pointer
syntax is harmful for the syntax of new features like tuples. It is also
really confusing, but somehow has to be there since D "must" feel like C+
+, otherwise someone would notice that D is actually a modern multi-
paradigm language that allows even functional programming, which is a bit
bad for the reputation in conservative c++ circles.
You will never be able to please everyone, or get everyone's attention.
I don't believe D is having some features merely to attract attention to
it, that's the thing I like best about D; it provides a very large set
of tools and let me choose how to use them, instead of enforcing a
certain model or paradigm.
Pointers are a critical feature of D, they allow both binary
compatibility with C code and optimizations not possible without
pointers. I use pointers all the time in D, just not nearly as much as I
would in C/C++.
Some people would not even touch the language with a 10 foot pole, if
someone dared to provide a practical garbage collector library for it.
Because that would mean that there are people with wrong opinions (tm) in
the community. I know there is a old and stubborn language war between
academic foofoo and "practical aspects".
Academics also seems to live in a fantasy world where code execute
instantly and everyone in the world owns the latest computer hardware.
They may not have a pet language but they have pet designs, which is
quite equivalent.
There are conservative people on all sides :)
