The recent thread about how to solve the problem of odd looking function attributes gave me an idea to have a page that explains why certain decisions were made in the language.  Instead of having to write a long thought out response every time someone asks a question who isn't aware of previous discussion, you can respond with a link to the page.

I've created such a page in the wiki!

http://wiki.dlang.org/Language_Designs_Explained

Currently the explanations are in the form of FAQ.  I left one question unanswered since I don't know the answer so I encourage someone who does to check it out and fill it in :)

Since a wiki page is not the same as a forum post, I would like to encourage people who add questions and answers to be as detailed as necessary.  No one wants to read a novel but every detail you leave out will end up making someone come back to the forums to ask about whatever was missing from the page.

On Thursday, 29 January 2015 at 18:24:29 UTC, Jonathan Marler
wrote:
> The recent thread about how to solve the problem of odd looking function attributes gave me an idea to have a page that explains why certain decisions were made in the language.  Instead of having to write a long thought out response every time someone asks a question who isn't aware of previous discussion, you can respond with a link to the page.
>
> I've created such a page in the wiki!
>
> http://wiki.dlang.org/Language_Designs_Explained
>
> Currently the explanations are in the form of FAQ.  I left one question unanswered since I don't know the answer so I encourage someone who does to check it out and fill it in :)
>
> Since a wiki page is not the same as a forum post, I would like to encourage people who add questions and answers to be as detailed as necessary.  No one wants to read a novel but every detail you leave out will end up making someone come back to the forums to ask about whatever was missing from the page.

Looks nice.  Now that you've started here is some more content
for you :)

http://dlang.org/faq.html

It seems that your efforts, and the existing FAQ (which is dated
and still has a link to the old language comparision page) should
be integrated somehow. It would be nice if eventually D had
something like:

http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq/

Following that example, it might be worthwhile to create a
hierarchy for your design decisions document.  You could have an
entry "What's Up With Function Attributes?", or something similar
and put this page under that heading.  Having a nice hierarchy
will also help folks find what they are looking for.

One issue I have with a Wiki FAQ is that it would be really nice
if any D code appearing on the Wiki could be tested with each
compiler release, to make sure the FAQ and compiler stay in sync.
  I am not really sure how that could be done though. If the
primary purpose is to discuss design decisions then it is likely
not such a big issue I suppose.

On Thursday, 29 January 2015 at 18:24:29 UTC, Jonathan Marler wrote:
> The recent thread about how to solve the problem of odd looking function attributes gave me an idea to have a page that explains why certain decisions were made in the language.  Instead of having to write a long thought out response every time someone asks a question who isn't aware of previous discussion, you can respond with a link to the page.
>
> I've created such a page in the wiki!
>
> http://wiki.dlang.org/Language_Designs_Explained
>
> Currently the explanations are in the form of FAQ.  I left one question unanswered since I don't know the answer so I encourage someone who does to check it out and fill it in :)
>
> Since a wiki page is not the same as a forum post, I would like to encourage people who add questions and answers to be as detailed as necessary.  No one wants to read a novel but every detail you leave out will end up making someone come back to the forums to ask about whatever was missing from the page.

This is good and usefull. The D wiki itself is good because the content is clearly exposed on the homepage...for example and 'in comparison', this one http://wiki.freepascal.org/ is badly designed.

On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 06:24:27PM +0000, Jonathan Marler via Digitalmars-d wrote:
> The recent thread about how to solve the problem of odd looking function attributes gave me an idea to have a page that explains why certain decisions were made in the language.  Instead of having to write a long thought out response every time someone asks a question who isn't aware of previous discussion, you can respond with a link to the page.
> 
> I've created such a page in the wiki!
> 
> http://wiki.dlang.org/Language_Designs_Explained

Thanks! That's very helpful.


> Currently the explanations are in the form of FAQ.  I left one question unanswered since I don't know the answer so I encourage someone who does to check it out and fill it in :)
[...]

I filled it out. :-)


T

-- 
Give a man a fish, and he eats once. Teach a man to fish, and he will sit forever.

On Thursday, 29 January 2015 at 18:24:29 UTC, Jonathan Marler wrote:
> The recent thread about how to solve the problem of odd looking function attributes gave me an idea to have a page that explains why certain decisions were made in the language.  Instead of having to write a long thought out response every time someone asks a question who isn't aware of previous discussion, you can respond with a link to the page.
>
> I've created such a page in the wiki!
>
> http://wiki.dlang.org/Language_Designs_Explained

Somehwta related: I'm trying to create a "Getting Started" page on the home site primarily to redirect newcomers to the wiki. My skills building the homepage docs are lacking however. I didn't want to make a new post here, but maybe someone reading this can help me with my D.learn post:

http://forum.dlang.org/thread/dvcntsqpdwbeenqpwlav@forum.dlang.org

Thanks.

On Friday, 30 January 2015 at 20:39:27 UTC, Zach the Mystic wrote:
> Somehwta related: I'm trying to create a "Getting Started" page on the home site primarily to redirect newcomers to the wiki. My skills building the homepage docs are lacking however. I didn't want to make a new post here, but maybe someone reading this can help me with my D.learn post:
>
> http://forum.dlang.org/thread/dvcntsqpdwbeenqpwlav@forum.dlang.org
>
> Thanks.

So sorry, I lack skills. It's working now...