On 10/15/2013 08:13 PM, ProgrammingGhost wrote:
> What is the fastest way for me to learn D? I think what I want is a syntax reference manual and a good tutorial to learn how to find and use libs.
I would suggest to write a compiler for D in D. Helped me alot, but I still learning new stuff.

More seriously, learn C than add some java and some c++ templates and than writing D is how you want to be written.

On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:13:46 UTC, ProgrammingGhost wrote:
> What is the fastest way for me to learn D? I think what I want is a syntax reference manual and a good tutorial to learn how to find and use libs.

Ali's book is especially targeted at beginners : http://ddili.org/ders/d.en/index.html

It is really good. Also as other suggested, download the compiler/libs use dlang.org website and try to code some stuffs.

On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:36:19 UTC, John Colvin wrote:
> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:32:59 UTC, Craig Dillabaugh wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:25:48 UTC, Dejan Lekic wrote:
>>> On Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:13:45 +0200, ProgrammingGhost wrote:
>>>
>>>> What is the fastest way for me to learn D? I think what I want is a
>>>> syntax reference manual and a good tutorial to learn how to find and use
>>>> libs.
>>>
>>> I learned D by doing two things.
>>>
>>> 1) Downloading the bundled DMD in a ZIP file.
>>>
>>> 2) Reading the language reference at http://www.dlang.org (back then it
>>> was on DigitalMars website...)
>>>
>>> That is all you really need.
>>>
>>> Now I would suggest reading the D Wiki as well. ;)
>>
>> You really learned D from the online language reference?  Thats hard core!  You must be much smarter than me.
>>
>> I suggested reading the Phobos docs online, but I was just joking.
>
> I did too. I don't see it as particularly hard/only-for-smart-people, I just built simple programs and slowly looked up what I needed as I went along. A lot of help from people here and on IRC helped as well of course.

So did I, and then just at the right moment, TDPL was published, which explains the concepts of D and the reasoning behind them rather nicely, but it is not a "cookbook" or an elaborate "how to" guide. Ali's tutorial is much more practical as regards code examples, pointing out possible pitfalls and the like. As usual, you will need more than one book/source. Mind you, D is constantly evolving and things keep changing, so it's a good idea to stay on this forum and check the API regularly. If you do this, you will not only learn D, but also get a deeper understanding of programming related problems (and possible solutions) in general.

I don't know if there is a general overview of how D does things differently, e.g. that a lot of search, iteration and comparison algorithms are handled in std.algorithm (e.g. startsWith(), which would be in a string handling module in other languages).

Anyway, go ahead, you can only win!

On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 20:25:06 UTC, Chris wrote:
> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:36:19 UTC, John Colvin wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:32:59 UTC, Craig Dillabaugh wrote:
>>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:25:48 UTC, Dejan Lekic wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:13:45 +0200, ProgrammingGhost wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> What is the fastest way for me to learn D? I think what I want is a
>>>>> syntax reference manual and a good tutorial to learn how to find and use
>>>>> libs.
>>>>
>>>> I learned D by doing two things.
>>>>
>>>> 1) Downloading the bundled DMD in a ZIP file.
>>>>
>>>> 2) Reading the language reference at http://www.dlang.org (back then it
>>>> was on DigitalMars website...)
>>>>
>>>> That is all you really need.
>>>>
>>>> Now I would suggest reading the D Wiki as well. ;)
>>>
>>> You really learned D from the online language reference?  Thats hard core!  You must be much smarter than me.
>>>
>>> I suggested reading the Phobos docs online, but I was just joking.
>>
>> I did too. I don't see it as particularly hard/only-for-smart-people, I just built simple programs and slowly looked up what I needed as I went along. A lot of help from people here and on IRC helped as well of course.

> it's a good idea to stay on this forum and check the API regularly. If you do this, you will not only learn D, but also get a deeper understanding of programming related problems (and possible solutions) in general.

Very true. I have learnt a huge amount about programming in general by trying to keep up with the more experienced members here. All the discussions about the future of different language features etc. has been a fantastic education.

On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 20:31:54 UTC, John Colvin wrote:
> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 20:25:06 UTC, Chris wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:36:19 UTC, John Colvin wrote:
>>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:32:59 UTC, Craig Dillabaugh wrote:
>>>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:25:48 UTC, Dejan Lekic wrote:
>>>>> On Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:13:45 +0200, ProgrammingGhost wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> What is the fastest way for me to learn D? I think what I want is a
>>>>>> syntax reference manual and a good tutorial to learn how to find and use
>>>>>> libs.
>>>>>
>>>>> I learned D by doing two things.
>>>>>
>>>>> 1) Downloading the bundled DMD in a ZIP file.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2) Reading the language reference at http://www.dlang.org (back then it
>>>>> was on DigitalMars website...)
>>>>>
>>>>> That is all you really need.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I would suggest reading the D Wiki as well. ;)
>>>>
>>>> You really learned D from the online language reference?  Thats hard core!  You must be much smarter than me.
>>>>
>>>> I suggested reading the Phobos docs online, but I was just joking.
>>>
>>> I did too. I don't see it as particularly hard/only-for-smart-people, I just built simple programs and slowly looked up what I needed as I went along. A lot of help from people here and on IRC helped as well of course.
>
>> it's a good idea to stay on this forum and check the API regularly. If you do this, you will not only learn D, but also get a deeper understanding of programming related problems (and possible solutions) in general.
>
> Very true. I have learnt a huge amount about programming in general by trying to keep up with the more experienced members here. All the discussions about the future of different language features etc. has been a fantastic education.

It has also changed my awareness while writing code. Instead of doing things the traditional way (like in Java, Objective-C etc.), I often ask myself whether there is a different, i.e. more D-like, way of doing things. In this way, I have to really think about the pros and cons of different approaches rather than following standard patterns. At the same time, D doesn't force you to follow a certain path.