On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 7:56 AM, Andrei Alexandrescu <seewebsiteforem...@erdani.org> wrote: > Bill Baxter wrote: >> >> Looks interesting. >> >> * Uses a module system >> * Built-in arrays are value types. >> * Python like slice syntx a[lo:hi] >> * immutable strings >> * switch has no break. Use "fallthrough" to fallthrough. >> * Nested functions >> * First class tuples ( a,b = func(), a,b=b,a ) >> * := for assignment >> * Uses "var" to declare variables (this was chapmpioned by some here >> instead of auto) >> * varible type comes after declaration and is optional >> * return type of functions comes after parameters >> * No Windows port yet. That's going to be a bit of a roadblock to >> widespread adoption. >> * Iota!? >> * ... >> >> There's a lot there that looks either like D or like things people in >> the D community have argued for. > > It's also missing quite a few things that people in the D community take for > granted.
It's harder to find those when you're skimming through trying to get the highlights with a 5 minute limit. :-) What are some things is it missing? (Also recall that D lacked even templates until long after its inception -- so if the language can muster some level of acceptance, probably popular demand will eventually lead to adding more of those missing features.) >> And it's got the billion dollar backing of a major company. > > That part I missed. I should have said "backing of a billion-dollar company" not "billion-dollar backing". Certainly it doesn't have the latter. But it has backing in some sense, anyway. Even if it's the 20% time of five guys, Google's paying them for that time. And whether or not they *have* any deep pocket backing, people will perceive a tie between the company and the language, which means it can ride on the wave of Google's excellent mind-share, esp. among programmers. Ken Thompson is also a very well-known and respected name from Unix and Plan 9 (and Rob Pike too?). These are all very strong marketing advantages. Looking to the future, I suspect if Google does adopt a new systems language, it's much more likely to come from within than be NIH. Because that way they'll have much more control over it if, and not have to worry so much about IP issues (not that Google spends much time worrying about IP...), etc. And if it becomes widely used in Google, then that's a very bouncy spring board from which to foist it on the rest of the world. It's definitely going to be a strong competitor for D's audience. --bb