My Meeting C++ Keynote video is now available

[Mike Franklin]

On Monday, 14 January 2019 at 05:31:27 UTC, Paul Backus wrote:

> When something like an object system is made part of the 
> language (or at the very least, the standard library), it 
> becomes a focal point [2] that the community can coordinate 
> around. Due to the diverse, distributed nature of any 
> programming-language community, trying to coordinate through 
> explicit communication is not really a viable option, so having 
> these kinds of focal points is very important if we want to be 
> able to work together on anything.
>
> [1] http://winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Lisp_Curse.html
> [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_(game_theory)

I think D's structs are a sufficient object system for such a 
focal point.  With design by introspection, `alias`, templates, 
`alias this`, `static if`, CTFE, mixins, and a few new D 
features, classes would be unnecessary.  Rust and Zig are pretty 
good examples of this.

D's implementation could even be improved to keep its runtime, 
yet still allow D to be used as I'm suggesting, without 
introducing any breakage for anyone.  I made some significant 
progress in that direction when I was working on the compiler in 
the 2017~2018 timeframe, but my abilities ultimately fell short, 
and I couldn't see a way forward without support.

Mike