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On Thursday, 3 July 2025 at 03:06:53 UTC, monkyyy wrote:
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Dead code isnt that bad, it just means its your problem to fix bugs or more likely ignore the docs and test it like a black box, but its not going anywhere, you could even keep local copies.
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I has 70 repos
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That's a good point and a healthy reminder to my mindset. Thanks!
After all, it's not like the text of code itself decays even if it becomes inoperable. In the worst case, code from one language or library can be rewritten in another language or library, etc.
Similarly, I have ~50 project folders on my computer, most of which are stubs with design ideas and partial assets and partial codebases, so I really feel for you. We are kindred spirits regarding starting and stopping projects then. I have had some great ideas over the years, including even some that I had ideas to make for years before someone else made great income on them, but have historically switched around on projects too much to get real outcomes done. It is embarrassing for me, and has been the greatest struggle of my life, my #1 internal mental nemesis, but I'm working to change and intend to embody that change no matter what.
Tangentially, I seldom publish anything on GitHub because (1) I don't know what I'll make into a product later on potentially and thus can't afford to be too open yet unfortunately and (2) Microsoft trains AI on GitHub now from what I understand and so there's now great IP risk in exposing any important code to GitHub. I can't afford to have my work stolen. If I was independently wealthy though then I'd probably open up basically everything though.
On Thursday, 3 July 2025 at 15:57:11 UTC, Dennis wrote:
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Don't worry, this is a normal, maybe even necessary part of a programmer's journey. There's a talk I can recommend in its entirety, but the most relevant part starts at 11:07:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89bLKVvF85M&t=667s
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>I wish I could turn back the clock to when working in any programming language or system was pure joy and wonder and not just some amorphous sense of looming liability and risk, but here I am anyway, wishing for years that I could break that cycle of stagnation.
Relatable as well. I used to just write code willy nilly, now I'm constantly pondering like: https://xkcd.com/1445/
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You've already said this to yourself and I doubt me saying it is making a difference, but I don't know what else to say. 🙂
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There's indeed a risk factor when using a more niche language like D instead of a more mainstream language. But a lot of your software robustness comes from how you choose to write it. If your code is full of mixin / __traits etc., then you are highly dependent on the D compiler and its development. But simple code like if (x > 0) x -= 2; has been stable across decades in multiple languages.
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>Anyway, I hope the best for everyone for our future, myself included.
The same, good luck!
I watched the entire video you linked to and enjoyed it quite a lot. Thank you for that!
Likewise, the XKCD meme link is extremely relatable and relevant to me. I would go so far as to even say that the meme is like "my life in a nutshell" in a sense, heh.
And, actually, your words have helped me feel better, genuinely, so I wouldn't say it is/was futile at all! I have indeed said loosely similar things to myself in a sense, but the aspect of the experience being a part of a programmer's normal development and the reminder that many others have gone through it is heartening. It lightens the weight of the sense of lost time and guilt at least some, which helps me feel less crushed by it.
Also, the insight that most of the code is interchangeable (besides the most uncommon features) seems also like a wise reminder. Sometimes I get stuck in a mindset of thinking of code and assets in more heavy and petrified terms than I really should. Software is not the Pyramids or the Parthenon, and some level of malleability and transience has to be accepted, etc.
I wish you luck as well and thank you for your efforts here!
On Thursday, 3 July 2025 at 17:50:36 UTC, Mike Shah wrote:
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I forgot to mention in the other thread that perhaps an actionable thing would be to again check this page out or perhaps update it in regards to new libraries: https://wiki.dlang.org/Libraries_and_Frameworks
I think the greater discussion is to your bottom point however, about worrying about investing a lot of time/energy/code to D.
>I want what I make to last.
The D compiler being open source, and having the LDC and GCC backends means D is here to stay. Learning D and spending time with the language will not go to waste . An exercise metaphor might be that of 'cross-training' -- spending time biking will help you with running and vice versa. But I think with programming it's even more direct a benefit. I have some talk about this with D and C++ here as some proof (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnKsOak0DHU&t=1s).
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Whenever I'm in a position to hire and I see someone has ventured outside of standard languages taught in school, that's a big indicator that person really cares about exploring/expanding their craft
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Another random note: Try to give yourself some small projects. e.g. Build a raytracer in a day (sounds like you have some game/graphics experience), build a small game, set a clock for 1-hour and write a tutorial for some topic, etc. These small little projects add up to big wins and motivation over time :) Good luck!
The link to the list of libraries is a helpful supplement to the Awesome D list previously linked to in the thread, so I appreciate the additional resource. I think I random saw it once before, but it is good to be reminded of it.
I watched your whole video talk on D (on 1.75 speed for parts I've already learned about, which was most of it) and found it a good quality feature overview and comparison to C++.
Diversification of programming language knowledge certainly has upsides and has broadened my perspective quite a bit and your reminder that at least some people in hiring positions view it positively (though job board postings seem to almost always do the opposite) is helpful.
I do think I've gone much too far into that extreme of language dilettante-ism though in terms of time management, since I basically don't have real projects to show for it, seeing as tutorials and random messing around doesn't really rise to the level of presentability.
The advice to focus on smaller projects or smaller pieces of things is another prudent reminder that I appreciated. The fact that I've got so little tangible software from so many years of messing around is one of the biggest weights on my mind and having more actual completed software would help me not feel as stuck. Cumulative wins could help a lot to free me from the sense of "learned helplessness" that has blighted my programming life these past several years.
On Friday, 4 July 2025 at 07:54:43 UTC, Steve wrote:
>@WraithGlade
You seem to be suffering from analysis paralysis.
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Yep, definitely a fair label at this point!
Being flustered and stuck in my endeavors has really been a huge struggle for me. It's my #1 problem pretty much. I intend to change though and here's to hoping I pass the critical threshold soon and get a lot more done in the future.
On Friday, 4 July 2025 at 15:11:25 UTC, GrimMaple wrote:
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This is how I initially ended up with D myself, trying to figure out a better way to write software than C++.
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Having done that, I would tell you straight away: no. If you want to start building Realâ„¢
Software in D, you'll most likely end up absolutely having to contribute to multiple
3rd party project, or building a significant part of low-level libraries yourself. For me,
it was adopting dlangui (I still keep maintenance of it, if you file a PR I'll be more than glad to accept it). It also inevitably forced me and Adam to create OpenD, because
upstream D had very little care to anything non-compiler related.
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Since a few releases back, C# is able to compile to native code. Yes, it can compile to native code, without tucking behind a .NET library or JIT. So if you want a natively-compiled language with GC (which is why I personally selected D), you can now use C#. The world has gone so mad that you can actually link-in C libraries to your natively built C# application.
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>I have squandered practically the entire past decade just running in circles switching between different programming languages and reading countless programming language tutorials and books and messing around in them in aimless ways and basically hardly creating anything real or substantive. That's not the life I wanted for myself, nor is it even a responsible way of living for me at this point given how much time I've lost doing that.
I don't think you should be going too hard on yourself for this. Yours truly done this too, and nowadays can use 5 or 6 programming languages reasonably well. It accumulates general experience, general knowledge, and fixes your brain from thinking in one language's paradigm.
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Thank you for the warning about the potential to have to lay down a lot of groundwork on libraries. It's good to hear from someone's direct perspective and experience with such things.
I had no idea that C# could compile to native code now. That's good for them and for Unity and Godot developers no doubt. C# is at least better than Java, though still moderately stilted for my own preferences in languages. The Microsoft connection is not great, especially considering they have embraced the AI-powered plagiarism trends (among other things) and hence are increasingly untrustworthy. However, it is a pragmatic option to consider at least, though I'd probably pick something else if I switch again (such as Lua + Love2d, or Rust + Macroquad, or Nim + Raylib, or whatever else).
There is also of course the option of C++, but I have become tired of the mess of it and even more so of C++'s build ecosystem (CMake, etc). It does at least have a huge range of mature libraries and engines though (the most dominant game dev language by far, even now).
Thank you for reassuring me to not be so hard on myself! It is heartening to hear from other programmers who have experienced these kinds of struggles.
I am committed to making this change in my life and living a healthier balance in my mentality as a programmer. Both my responsibilities and my lifelong creative intentions depend upon it, so I've got to get unstuck in my head and start living more again.
Anyway though, I'm going to take the rest of the day off on these matters and give myself permission to relax some. I spend most days so tightly wound up about "must be productive" while ironically not being so and hardly ever let myself take it easy. I've barely even played games these past several years (maybe <50 hours per entire year on average) because I don't give myself permission to, because I feel guilty about my stagnation, but I need to stop being so uptight, both regarding programming and living life, I suppose.
Most importantly of all though: I am wishing you all a Happy 4th of July (American Independence Day)!
