More Illuminating Introductory Code Example on dlang.org (page 2)

On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 at 20:49:54 UTC, Nordlöw wrote: > > I believe the first code example a newbie sees when he/she first visits dlang.org should be some variation of Walter's showcase on Component Programming including all the bells and whistles of lazy evaluted ranges. > > IMHO, this would increase the probability of the newbie staying a bit further on the site trying to figure out the details of what make this intriguing D code example tick. And, as a result, be more convinced about D's unique and powerful features. > > What do you think, fellow D programmers? I disagree. If that had been my first look at D, I would have run away and never looked back. That style of code looks like a foreign language to anyone who's not used to it, implying a steep learning curve. Some people might be intrigued enough to dig into it, but anyone looking to just get stuff done isn't going to bother. Alongside an imperative-style snippet, it's fine. I think it's great to show that D supports both styles. I'd suggest actually showing two ways to do the same task, one in imperative style and one using the range pipeline.

On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 at 20:49:54 UTC, Nordlöw wrote: > On Wednesday 19:th of Februari I'm giving my first talk on D for my fellow collegues at my consultant firm office HiQ, Linköping, Sweden. > > If any of you are in the neighbourhood please let me know and I will invite you. The lecture will most likely be held in Swedish. > > I'll try to make my best to convince them that D is the way to go for the future of programming. > > On my strive I have one wish to the maintainers of dlang.org: > > I believe the first code example a newbie sees when he/she first visits dlang.org should be some variation of Walter's showcase on Component Programming including all the bells and whistles of lazy evaluted ranges. > > IMHO, this would increase the probability of the newbie staying a bit further on the site trying to figure out the details of what make this intriguing D code example tick. And, as a result, be more convinced about D's unique and powerful features. > > What do you think, fellow D programmers? Be wary as one of Walter's examples is buggy. If someone has the link I will point it out.

On Thursday, 13 February 2014 at 09:21:15 UTC, JR wrote: > On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 at 20:49:54 UTC, Nordlöw wrote: >> On Wednesday 19:th of Februari I'm giving my first talk on D for my fellow collegues at my consultant firm office HiQ, Linköping, Sweden. >> >> If any of you are in the neighbourhood please let me know and I will invite you. The lecture will most likely be held in Swedish. > > Were it in Luleå I would have loved to attend, but Linköping is way away. :< Yeah, too bad all these events are in Stockholm and Linköping. Hoping for some events in Gothenburg or somewhere else closer to Oslo.

On Thursday, 13 February 2014 at 04:30:26 UTC, Mike Parker wrote: > On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 at 20:49:54 UTC, Nordlöw wrote: >> >> I believe the first code example a newbie sees when he/she first visits dlang.org should be some variation of Walter's showcase on Component Programming including all the bells and whistles of lazy evaluted ranges. >> >> IMHO, this would increase the probability of the newbie staying a bit further on the site trying to figure out the details of what make this intriguing D code example tick. And, as a result, be more convinced about D's unique and powerful features. >> >> What do you think, fellow D programmers? > > I disagree. If that had been my first look at D, I would have run away and never looked back. That style of code looks like a foreign language to anyone who's not used to it, implying a steep learning curve. Some people might be intrigued enough to dig into it, but anyone looking to just get stuff done isn't going to bother. Alongside an imperative-style snippet, it's fine. I think it's great to show that D supports both styles. I'd suggest actually showing two ways to do the same task, one in imperative style and one using the range pipeline. I have to agree with this, if the first thing I saw when I came here was ranges I would have left a long time ago. I think most people who find themselves looking at D went looking for C++ like language with a cleaner syntax, so I think examples that illustrate that would be better for a front page kind of thing.

February 13, 2014

Re: More Illuminating Introductory Code Example on dlang.org

Posted by Chris
in reply to Nordlöw

Permalink

Chris

Posted in reply to Nordlöw

Permalink

On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 at 20:49:54 UTC, Nordlöw wrote:
> On Wednesday 19:th of Februari I'm giving my first talk on D for my fellow collegues at my consultant firm office HiQ, Linköping, Sweden.
>
> If any of you are in the neighbourhood please let me know and I will invite you. The lecture will most likely be held in Swedish.
>
> I'll try to make my best to convince them that D is the way to go for the future of programming.
>
> On my strive I have one wish to the maintainers of dlang.org:
>
> I believe the first code example a newbie sees when he/she first visits dlang.org should be some variation of Walter's showcase on Component Programming including all the bells and whistles of lazy evaluted ranges.
>
> IMHO, this would increase the probability of the newbie staying a bit further on the site trying to figure out the details of what make this intriguing D code example tick. And, as a result, be more convinced about D's unique and powerful features.
>
> What do you think, fellow D programmers?

Ranges need definitely more examples, starting with the simplest use cases going on to more advanced stuff (how to apply filters, random access ranges). Especially the do's and donts (e.g. don't put anything in popFront()), how to write a range properly, the pitfalls, and maybe when not to use ranges. A lot of this "good practices" stuff is missing for D. Often I find an example of "good practice" randomly in a thread on this forum.

But not on the start page, that would be a bit OTT, wouldn't it?

On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 at 20:49:54 UTC, Nordlöw wrote: > What do you think, fellow D programmers? What are the odds of getting a color-enabled "terminal output"? We could try to produce some simple ascii art :D

On Friday, 21 February 2014 at 16:06:04 UTC, NVolcz wrote: > On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 at 20:49:54 UTC, Nordlöw wrote: >> On Wednesday 19:th of Februari I'm giving my first talk on D for my fellow collegues at my consultant firm office HiQ, Linköping, Sweden. >> >> If any of you are in the neighbourhood please let me know and I will invite you. The lecture will most likely be held in Swedish. > > I couldn't make it. How did it go? It went great! At least four of them said they will start hacking D as soon as they get the time. I will be holding more lectures in Linköping if I get the chance. Here's a reference to my lecture notes: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BySO22MoUSXDZlBsVzllX1hsWjg/edit?usp=sharing Please correct anything if you get the chance. There's also the Facebook group "Software Craftsmanship Group Linköping" you could follow at https://www.facebook.com/groups/493309790788180/ /Per

Forums