In article <e2r088$2in4$1@digitaldaemon.com>, John Demme says...
>
>gabe wrote:
>[... Lots of stuff cut]
>> 
>> I look forward to hearing from you!
>> _________________
>> New to the land of D, but I like the look of the place.
>> -Gabe
>
>It sounds to me like a project needs to be started with the goal of
>producing a packaged D.  One file (with an installer) that includes:
>-DMD (or GDC)
>-build
>-Ares + Mango
>-A set of Ddoc macros to get some really nice documentation output
>-Really nice looking and complete documentation
>-Code examples, along with compilation instructions
>-Integration of this software, where ever applicable
>
>I might note that a lot of this stuff already exists, but it needs to be packaged together!

Exactly! Kind of a "D Programmer's Toolkit" or SDK.

If I may make some suggestions for inclusion:

- Installation features for both Windows and Linux/Unix users.  Perhaps even provide an .exe or .msi for Windows folks and scripts for both userland and root installations under *nix.

- Would obviously be lacking an IDE and windowing toolkit once those projects mature.

Actually, if Walter just included build with his DMD distros, that would be a huge step forward.  On a new system it's already the third thing I download right after DMD and the DMC backend.

- EricAnderton at yahoo

Derek Parnell wrote:
> This I can do (and I'm not after the "glory" either). I'll make a start tonight and see how we go.

The std.stream can use some attention. It is unusable without looking at the source :-(

On Fri, 28 Apr 2006 00:35:11 -0700, Walter Bright wrote:

> Derek Parnell wrote:
>> This I can do (and I'm not after the "glory" either). I'll make a start tonight and see how we go.
> 
> The std.stream can use some attention. It is unusable without looking at the source :-(

Ok. I've already started on std.date so I'll finish that first.

-- 
Derek
(skype: derek.j.parnell)
Melbourne, Australia
"Down with mediocracy!"
28/04/2006 5:52:32 PM

Walter Bright wrote:
> Derek Parnell wrote:
>> On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:31:12 -0700, Kyle Furlong wrote:
>>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>>> Anyhow, I hear you. I welcome your help in any way you feel you can best contribute.
>>> Really? If this is really true, and you welcome help, what shall we do? How is one supposed to help you if you do not have a list of things we can help you with?
>>
>> For example Walter, can I send you Phobos modules with improved
>> documentation in them and no source code changes? What is the method you
>> use to accept Phobos source code changes? I presume you do a line-by-line
>> analysis and manually incorporate those lines you wish to.
> 
> 
> On any Phobos changes, yes, I do a line by line check on any changes, and do a manual merge.
> 
> Two areas that could use big improvements are in the Ddoc comments and in the unit tests. For Ddoc in particular, usage examples for every function are needed.
> 
> For unit tests, enough needs to be there to get 100% coverage as verified by the D coverage analyzer. Having 100% coverage means that it's much easier to improve the libraries without slipping into reverse.
> 
> I know there isn't much glory in either of those two tasks, but Ddoc and the D coverage analyzer make them much easier, and they make the difference between a professional and an amateur project.

While on the subject of code coverage and documentation...
It won't show up as code coverage, but the enum in std.regexp includes REstar, REplus, and REquest, which are never used. This makes the code harder to understand.
I also note that std.regexp seems to support both greedy and non-greedy matches, but this is not documented anywhere.

clayasaurus wrote:

<snip>

>> Second, you have poor documentation, and
>> what documentation you do have is either written tersely, poorly, or scattered
>> to hell-and-gone. 
> 
> I've never had a problem with it, but maybe I'm just a newbie. Care to give specifics?
> 


I just want to point out that Clay is a long time D devotee and has been a loyal follower and contributer for a fair amount of time in the D community (years now?).  He's actually being extremely modest here to call himself a "newbie."  I was surprised that he still considers himself that at this point in the game because he just lowered my own level to uber-newbie by labeling himself such... :)

I already respect this young fellow as one of the foundations of the D community.  He's industrious and committed and has contributed much in the form of bug reports, projects, and help in this newsgroup and on dsource.org forums.

I don't take his words lightly. In demonstration of non-typical youthful exuberance :), Clay channels his energy into setting an example of discreetly offering his opinion and respectfully answering posts.  He's a careful and moderate poster: I don't recall him ever plaster-posting loads of grating pontifications as is the tendency of some.

Tip of the hat to you, Clay. Keep up the good work! :)

-JJR

John Reimer wrote:
> clayasaurus wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
>>> Second, you have poor documentation, and
>>> what documentation you do have is either written tersely, poorly, or scattered
>>> to hell-and-gone. 
>>
>> I've never had a problem with it, but maybe I'm just a newbie. Care to give specifics?
>>
> 
> 
> I just want to point out that Clay is a long time D devotee and has been a loyal follower and contributer for a fair amount of time in the D community (years now?).  He's actually being extremely modest here to call himself a "newbie."  I was surprised that he still considers himself that at this point in the game because he just lowered my own level to uber-newbie by labeling himself such... :)
> 
> I already respect this young fellow as one of the foundations of the D community.  He's industrious and committed and has contributed much in the form of bug reports, projects, and help in this newsgroup and on dsource.org forums.
> 
> I don't take his words lightly. In demonstration of non-typical youthful exuberance :), Clay channels his energy into setting an example of discreetly offering his opinion and respectfully answering posts.  He's a careful and moderate poster: I don't recall him ever plaster-posting loads of grating pontifications as is the tendency of some.
> 
> Tip of the hat to you, Clay. Keep up the good work! :)
> 
> -JJR

Love and huggles for John too! :D