https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/eyzrm9/d_as_a_c_replacement_the_art_of_machinery/
https://theartofmachinery.com/2019/04/05/d_as_c_replacement.html

On Wednesday, 5 February 2020 at 04:31:21 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/eyzrm9/d_as_a_c_replacement_the_art_of_machinery/
> https://theartofmachinery.com/2019/04/05/d_as_c_replacement.html

It's a pity associative arrays aren't part of betterC. I was considering starting a new project in betterC, because I was looking for something like C with some additional nice haves, but without assoc arrays for me betterC still occupies that weird spot where it's not enough over C and too much below D.

On 05/02/2020 8:51 PM, JN wrote:
> On Wednesday, 5 February 2020 at 04:31:21 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
>> https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/eyzrm9/d_as_a_c_replacement_the_art_of_machinery/ 
>>
>> https://theartofmachinery.com/2019/04/05/d_as_c_replacement.html
> 
> It's a pity associative arrays aren't part of betterC. I was considering starting a new project in betterC, because I was looking for something like C with some additional nice haves, but without assoc arrays for me betterC still occupies that weird spot where it's not enough over C and too much below D.

It makes sense. AA's are still a data structure that has been hand written.

It needs an implementation. It needs a runtime to make them work.

You can't get them for free.

But what you do get is safety features and operator overloading to make your usage of an implementation very nice to use compared to C.

On Wednesday, 5 February 2020 at 04:31:21 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/eyzrm9/d_as_a_c_replacement_the_art_of_machinery/
> https://theartofmachinery.com/2019/04/05/d_as_c_replacement.html

There was a comment in reddit regarding the article so I quote it from here.



Problem with D is the lack of direction:

    LOTS of bugs, that has been accumulating and being ignored due to the desire of adding new features instead

    insane technical debt from all the "hacked" half-implemented features

    the GC is slow and leaks.. nobody seems to care, basically the whole reason to use a GC thrown out the window

    its all about adding the latest "cool" feature, as soon as its half-implemented its abandoned and a new one is added, see multiple alias-this, contracts, etc

    Now they want a borrow checker.. because ofc they do, rust has one so we need one as well. Already a hacked version of it already exists, and as always it will be ignored..

    The language is used as an academic sandbox for testing stuff by their creators. Theres no direction whatsoever.

    Ignoring the lack of tools, documentation, etc



I must say that it is summarized very well. Especially that it is focusing implementing the latest cool feature instead of stability.

On 2/5/2020 3:50 AM, IGotD- wrote:
> I must say that it is summarized very well. Especially that it is focusing implementing the latest cool feature instead of stability.

Non-specific complaints are useless. If you have specific issues, post the bugzilla numbers. If they aren't in bugzilla, add them.

On Wednesday, 5 February 2020 at 07:51:17 UTC, JN wrote:
> On Wednesday, 5 February 2020 at 04:31:21 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
>> https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/eyzrm9/d_as_a_c_replacement_the_art_of_machinery/
>> https://theartofmachinery.com/2019/04/05/d_as_c_replacement.html
>
> It's a pity associative arrays aren't part of betterC. I was considering starting a new project in betterC, because I was looking for something like C with some additional nice haves, but without assoc arrays for me betterC still occupies that weird spot where it's not enough over C and too much below D.

Hey, I saw this last night, and implemented a AA for betterC. It is very simple and probably is not something that you could use.

https://github.com/aferust/bcaa

On Wednesday, 5 February 2020 at 11:50:47 UTC, IGotD- wrote:
> [...]
>     The language is used as an academic sandbox for testing stuff by their creators. Theres no direction whatsoever.
>
>     Ignoring the lack of tools, documentation, etc
>
>
>
> I must say that it is summarized very well. Especially that it is focusing implementing the latest cool feature instead of stability.

Yeah... Sure... and after all that constructive, accurate and subtle criticism, the guy says: "I love D, i really do [... but blablabla]". That's funny, in some sort of convoluted way.

Anyway, I quite agree with the article. I'm currently playing with D and some Vulkan demos, and translating some C++ tutorial code to D is very easy and gives a much more readable syntax.

ie.: simple stuff like:
std::vector<VkBuffer> uniformBuffers;
VS
VkBuffer[] uniformBuffers;

On Thursday, 6 February 2020 at 08:40:19 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 2/5/2020 3:50 AM, IGotD- wrote:
>> I must say that it is summarized very well. Especially that it is focusing implementing the latest cool feature instead of stability.
>
> Non-specific complaints are useless. If you have specific issues, post the bugzilla numbers. If they aren't in bugzilla, add them.

I've noticed that this is the new policy of the D Foundation. Criticism that does not mention a specific bug is discarded as "non-specific". Very clever, but not _really_, as people will see through it sooner or later. The thing is that D has accumulated so many bugs and half-baked features that it is hard to pinpoint any specific issues. You never know what's gonna hit you and when it's gonna hit you.

Walter, your new policy is like saying, after someone tells you to clean up your room, "Can you tell me which dirty plate or old newspaper I should start with? No? So your criticism is non-specific!" D has turned into a political party.

I don't know who wrote that comment on Reddit, it sure wasn't me, but you see the same (non-specific) criticism keeps coming up again and again. D is an interesting case study in sociology and psychology. I am fascinated. Especially now that censorship is no longer taboo.