7 ms·

D seems like a cool language. Do many people use it?

by imh 9y ago

eco 9y ago
There are download stats for dmd, the reference compiler[1]. Anyone doing production work is probably using gdc or ldc though so that's not the whole picture. They have an orgs using D page: https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html If you look at the various language rankings (taken with a mountain of salt) D is still fairly low overall. Definitely one of the higher languages without a corporate/industry backer though. 1. http://erdani.com/d/downloads.daily.png http://erdani.com/d/downloads.daily.png
k__ 9y ago
I only know about FB.
- earenndil 9y ago
  Netflix is also using it.
- systems 9y ago
  FB seem to have stopped using it, they no longer have active D projects on github
- nicwilson 9y ago
  See https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html see also https://dlang.org/areas-of-d-usage.html https://dlang.org/areas-of-d-usage.html
pjmlp 9y ago
At least these ones do, you will find a few well known names. https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html However the development is mostly community driven, there is no big sponsor around, like other more widespread languages.
maxxxxx 9y ago
D is an interesting case study for good technology somehow not succeeding. The people working on it are very good and it's a really interesting language. In theory it should slowly have taken over from C++ but for whatever reason this didn't happen.
- ionforce 9y ago
  What are some prevailing opinions on why it did not succeed?
  - bachmeier 9y ago
    > why it did not succeed? Don't you mean "why it has not succeeded yet?" To some extent, I'm inclined to ask what you mean by success. It's a great language, it has three compilers, it's making progress, and it's possible to have fun writing fast, correct code quickly. It's been more successful than any other language as far as I'm concerned. Most likely you are asking why it hasn't seen widespread usage in the enterprise (like half of C++'s usage). That's a very high standard. Cost-benefit analysis usually leads to using established languages because there are benefits. D doesn't even have a very good IDE situation (I've been told), only recently got a package manager, etc.
    - earenndil 9y ago
      Eh, it only really has one compiler. DMD, LDC, and GDC all use the same frontend, they just interface to different backends (DMD, LLVM, and GCC).
    - geezerjay 9y ago
      > Don't you mean "why it has not succeeded yet?" No, OP got it right. D had a shot at success while C++'s standardization process remained stagnant, and D could pick up the slack as it wasn't bound by backward compatibility requirements or the need to update a standard. Once ISO 14882:2011 was approved and C++'s standardization effort gathered speed, D lost the only competitive advantage and lost its chance at relevance.
jordigh 9y ago
Currently, about as many as those who use Rust, although going by hype, Rust seems to be getting a lot more attention (i.e. larger derivative of the usage curve, perhaps?). If you look at usage on github, there's quite a bit of D code for such a niche language. I've been doing Advent of Code in D, and I'm having a blast: http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/ http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/ I particularly enjoyed doing day 18, which required doing message-passing concurrency (or at least simulating it) and D's concurrency primitives fit the problem like a glove: http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/day18.d http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/day18.d
- steveklabnik 9y ago
  > Currently, about as many as those who use Rust How do you get these numbers? To be clear, I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just that this is really hard to do, and I'm always curious how other people do it.
  - jordigh 9y ago
    http://githut.info/ http://githut.info/ Hm, although I think my estimate is already outdated? It seems like Rust has picked up a lot of steam in the past six months or so.
    - steveklabnik 9y ago
      Ah: GitHut.info Carlo Zapponi 2014 So yes, very outdated. I wish they kept this up-to-date! It's one of the more interesting metrics.
    - nitely 9y ago
      https://madnight.github.io/githut/ https://madnight.github.io/githut/ This one seems up to date
      - steveklabnik 9y ago
        Oh this is excellent!
katastic 9y ago
I freakin' love it. I could write pages about each of the features I use and how applicable they are. C++ is (literally) around a decade behind D, and takes the best features D already had... for ten years or longer. Better templates. Modules. Unit testing built in. Universal function call syntax. And tons more. I use almost all of those features every day. It's not perfect, there "are" flaws. But nothing horrific. It's also "C++ + 1" so any C/C++/variant programmer can pick it up over a weekend. I genuinely "enjoy" writing D code now instead of all the boilerplate C++ comes with. Things are progressing and eventually I'm going to release a game to Steam with D.

D seems like a cool language. Do many people use it?

by imh 9y ago

D seems like a cool language. Do many people use it?

eco 9y ago

There are download stats for dmd, the reference compiler[1]. Anyone doing production work is probably using gdc or ldc though so that's not the whole picture. They have an orgs using D page: https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html If you look at the various language rankings (taken with a mountain of salt) D is still fairly low overall. Definitely one of the higher languages without a corporate/industry backer though. 1. http://erdani.com/d/downloads.daily.png http://erdani.com/d/downloads.daily.png

k__ 9y ago

I only know about FB.

earenndil 9y ago
Netflix is also using it.
systems 9y ago
FB seem to have stopped using it, they no longer have active D projects on github
nicwilson 9y ago
See https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html see also https://dlang.org/areas-of-d-usage.html https://dlang.org/areas-of-d-usage.html

pjmlp 9y ago

At least these ones do, you will find a few well known names. https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html https://dlang.org/orgs-using-d.html However the development is mostly community driven, there is no big sponsor around, like other more widespread languages.

maxxxxx 9y ago

D is an interesting case study for good technology somehow not succeeding. The people working on it are very good and it's a really interesting language. In theory it should slowly have taken over from C++ but for whatever reason this didn't happen.

ionforce 9y ago
What are some prevailing opinions on why it did not succeed?
- bachmeier 9y ago
  > why it did not succeed? Don't you mean "why it has not succeeded yet?" To some extent, I'm inclined to ask what you mean by success. It's a great language, it has three compilers, it's making progress, and it's possible to have fun writing fast, correct code quickly. It's been more successful than any other language as far as I'm concerned. Most likely you are asking why it hasn't seen widespread usage in the enterprise (like half of C++'s usage). That's a very high standard. Cost-benefit analysis usually leads to using established languages because there are benefits. D doesn't even have a very good IDE situation (I've been told), only recently got a package manager, etc.
  - earenndil 9y ago
    Eh, it only really has one compiler. DMD, LDC, and GDC all use the same frontend, they just interface to different backends (DMD, LLVM, and GCC).
  - geezerjay 9y ago
    > Don't you mean "why it has not succeeded yet?" No, OP got it right. D had a shot at success while C++'s standardization process remained stagnant, and D could pick up the slack as it wasn't bound by backward compatibility requirements or the need to update a standard. Once ISO 14882:2011 was approved and C++'s standardization effort gathered speed, D lost the only competitive advantage and lost its chance at relevance.

jordigh 9y ago

Currently, about as many as those who use Rust, although going by hype, Rust seems to be getting a lot more attention (i.e. larger derivative of the usage curve, perhaps?). If you look at usage on github, there's quite a bit of D code for such a niche language. I've been doing Advent of Code in D, and I'm having a blast: http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/ http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/ I particularly enjoyed doing day 18, which required doing message-passing concurrency (or at least simulating it) and D's concurrency primitives fit the problem like a glove: http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/day18.d http://inversethought.com/hg/aoc/file/tip/2017/day18.d

steveklabnik 9y ago
> Currently, about as many as those who use Rust How do you get these numbers? To be clear, I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just that this is really hard to do, and I'm always curious how other people do it.
- jordigh 9y ago
  http://githut.info/ http://githut.info/ Hm, although I think my estimate is already outdated? It seems like Rust has picked up a lot of steam in the past six months or so.
  - steveklabnik 9y ago
    Ah: GitHut.info Carlo Zapponi 2014 So yes, very outdated. I wish they kept this up-to-date! It's one of the more interesting metrics.
  - nitely 9y ago
    https://madnight.github.io/githut/ https://madnight.github.io/githut/ This one seems up to date
    - steveklabnik 9y ago
      Oh this is excellent!

katastic 9y ago

I freakin' love it. I could write pages about each of the features I use and how applicable they are. C++ is (literally) around a decade behind D, and takes the best features D already had... for ten years or longer. Better templates. Modules. Unit testing built in. Universal function call syntax. And tons more. I use almost all of those features every day. It's not perfect, there "are" flaws. But nothing horrific. It's also "C++ + 1" so any C/C++/variant programmer can pick it up over a weekend. I genuinely "enjoy" writing D code now instead of all the boilerplate C++ comes with. Things are progressing and eventually I'm going to release a game to Steam with D.