RFC on range design for D2

[Walter Bright]

bearophile wrote:
> That idea of yours scares me a little: I believe that if you want to
> create a language able to do *everything* better than C++ you may end
> creating a language almost like C++. I was hoping for D to become
> less powerful (and quite less complex) than C++. Many things in D1
> are designed to be less powerful than C++ ones. So now I'd like to
> know what Walter thinks about this subject (and other people),
> because there's a large difference in what I think D wants to be and
> what you say to me.

Back when I worked for Boeing, I had a discussion with some of the 
cockpit engineers about the jet engine controls (which were not made by 
Boeing, but by the engine company). Managing the fuel flow in a jet 
engine is a pretty complex business. Early engines relied on the pilots 
to tweak parameters, and if they got it wrong the engine would flame out 
probably at the worst possible moment.

Every effort was poured into automating it. Over time, they came up with 
a marvelous, and very complex, mechanical computer that bolted on the 
side of the engine, all of which was commanded by a single lever in the 
cockpit that the pilot pushed forward and he got more power.

The pilot (our "programmer") had all this *power* at his command at the 
simple, and intuitive, push of a lever. The pilot wasn't giving up a 
thing for this elegance.

I believe that at least half of the complexity of C++ is unrelated to 
its power (it's more related to the language's history). I see no 
inherent reason why a powerful language must be complicated.

Sure, there's complexity in D, too, but I regard those aspects as a 
failure in the design department.

Look at it like vinyl vs CD. There are people who insist that vinyl does 
better sonic reproduction. If you look at how the sound is reproduced, 
that just doesn't make any sense. What is really happening is they 
*like* the peculiar imperfections of vinyl; they like the hiss, rumble, 
pops and clicks. I know people who like the wacky imperfections in C++. 
They revel in mastering the arcana. But I don't see the point in that. I 
  see beauty in elegance, which is not the same thing as simplicity 
achieved by stripping out the power.