I remember just a few years ago I was avoiding learning to use templates, thinking they're super-complicated and that I'd **never** actually need them. I used to read about them in the pages of the language reference, but nothing actually *clicked* while reading those pages. I also remember reading about the `is()` keyword which was the most intriguing but complex thing on the whole website that I just couldn't wrap my head around.

At some point I forced myself to start using them in my code, to figure out their true nature and how they can help out.

Nowadays I can't live without templates, they're like second-nature to me.

I wonder if newbies still get a little scared when they reach the template section on dlang, and if we can improve this somehow. There *are* tutorials out there, but dlang.org is probably where the user gets his first impression of the language, and it has to be an inviting one.

Anyway, what features are you using now that you thought you'd never use when you started out using D?

On Saturday, 22 June 2013 at 16:17:55 UTC, Andrej Mitrovic wrote:
> Anyway, what features are you using now that you thought you'd never
> use when you started out using D?

Apologies for the title, should have said "going". Too much pizza
I suppose.. (makes me sleepy)

On Saturday, 22 June 2013 at 16:19:20 UTC, Andrej Mitrovic wrote:
> On Saturday, 22 June 2013 at 16:17:55 UTC, Andrej Mitrovic wrote:
>> Anyway, what features are you using now that you thought you'd never
>> use when you started out using D?
>
> Apologies for the title, should have said "going". Too much pizza
> I suppose.. (makes me sleepy)

Personally, I "loved" using templates in C++, so I must say, when I read TDPL, I was batshit excited about templates. enums, static if, ctfe... Wow.

Unicode: I thought "cute, this language supports unicode". Just reading TDPL's intro about unicode finally made it "click" about what unicode *is*. In about a month later, I felt like the unicode fucking *master*.

mixin and token strings. I wasn't a huge fan of mixin, but their power over macros has grown on me. As for token string, I was look "OK... a special syntax for strings representing tokens... why?" But I've come to understand how cool that actually is, and I use it a lot more now.

classes I didn't use then, and I still don't use now, but I'm more of a "low level library writer" kind of user, then building useful programs kind of guy :D

rvalue references

SCNR