D Language Foundation January 2023 Quarterly Meeting Summary

[M.M.]

On Monday, 27 February 2023 at 10:47:04 UTC, Mike Parker wrote:
> ...
> ### Dennis
> Dennis asked about the future direction of `-betterC`...
>
> ... He then listed three possible approaches:
> * Explicitly annotate code as CTFE-only with new syntax: 
> `pragma(ctfe)`, `if (ctfe)` etc. Walter noted that the syntax 
> is an extra `()`.
> * Implicitly make functions using DRuntime features as 
> CTFE-only. This might be surprising and unintuitive
> * Generate run-time errors instead of compile-time errors. This 
> makes errors easier to slip by.
>
> Martin suggested a fourth option: phase out `-betterC` because 
> it's a "pile of hacks"...
>
> As a final question, Dennis asked what the "official" intended 
> use for BetterC was in the first place: just a C migration tool 
> or also something for new D code. I said `-betterC` shouldn't 
> be used for writing new code. Walter said it can be used for 
> whatever calls for it, be it integrating with C, targeting 
> embedded systems, or any scenario where you don't want to link 
> DRuntime.
> ...

In the recent post by Mike Parker, betterC is used as a great 
alternative to C for writing bare-metal RISC-V application:

https://forum.dlang.org/post/eemwycjmfqvedgggnvnr@forum.dlang.org