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I think D has more features than C++ at this point. Also you are expected to heavily rely on the GC (the standard library itself does) which puts D into a whole

by copx 13y ago

I think D has more features than C++ at this point. Also you are expected to heavily rely on the GC (the standard library itself does) which puts D into a whole different league i.e. the Python and Go league. It can never be a replacement for C++ for that reason alone.

steveklabnik 13y ago
You can and people do turn the GC off in D.
- copx 13y ago
  I know but you are left with a crippled subset then. D was not designed for it. You can turn off the GC in most GC language implementations I know, that does not make them alternatives to languages designed for no-GC code. Non-GC (i.e. maximal and predictable performance) is first class in C++, it is a red-headed stepchild in D.
  - kyllo 13y ago
    So would you say that GC is the main reason why D did not become very popular as a C++ replacement? I'm not a C++ guy at all, but from my cursory readings D seems better than C++ in just about every possible way, unless you really DON'T want GC.
    - copx 13y ago
      >So would you say that GC is the main reason why D did not become very popular as a C++ replacement? I think so yes. There are strong anti-GC sentiments among the crowd which still swears by C++ and did not move on to C# etc. long ago e.g. AAA-game developers. D had other problems in the past (standard library conflict, poor implementation quality) and suffers from poor marketing, lack of corporate support, and the lack of a "killer app". I think few people would argue these things aren't important for breaking into the mainstream. However, yes, I think the GC issue is the biggest one by far. D is a complex, feature-loaded language (IIRC it has templates, compile-time function execution etc. really C++11-grade and more). It naturally does not appeal to people who are attracted by Python, Go, or even C#. It should attract C++ programmers but largely fails at that and I think the primary issue is indeed its GC-based nature.

by copx 13y ago

steveklabnik 13y ago

You can and people do turn the GC off in D.

copx 13y ago
I know but you are left with a crippled subset then. D was not designed for it. You can turn off the GC in most GC language implementations I know, that does not make them alternatives to languages designed for no-GC code. Non-GC (i.e. maximal and predictable performance) is first class in C++, it is a red-headed stepchild in D.
- kyllo 13y ago
  So would you say that GC is the main reason why D did not become very popular as a C++ replacement? I'm not a C++ guy at all, but from my cursory readings D seems better than C++ in just about every possible way, unless you really DON'T want GC.
  - copx 13y ago
    >So would you say that GC is the main reason why D did not become very popular as a C++ replacement? I think so yes. There are strong anti-GC sentiments among the crowd which still swears by C++ and did not move on to C# etc. long ago e.g. AAA-game developers. D had other problems in the past (standard library conflict, poor implementation quality) and suffers from poor marketing, lack of corporate support, and the lack of a "killer app". I think few people would argue these things aren't important for breaking into the mainstream. However, yes, I think the GC issue is the biggest one by far. D is a complex, feature-loaded language (IIRC it has templates, compile-time function execution etc. really C++11-grade and more). It naturally does not appeal to people who are attracted by Python, Go, or even C#. It should attract C++ programmers but largely fails at that and I think the primary issue is indeed its GC-based nature.