First Impressions

[Kevin Bealer]

Georg Wrede wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>> True, and some have called for renaming char to utf8. While that would 
>> be technically more correct (as toUTF would be, too), it just looks 
>> awful.
> 
> Let's just say it would be a first step in lessening the confusion _we_ 
> create in newcomers' heads.

I would kind of agree with this, but I think it's a two-edged knife.

If we say 'char[]' then users don't know it's a string until they read 
the 'why D arrays are great' page (which they should read, but...)

If we say 'string' then we hide the fact that [] can be applied and that 
other array-like operations can work.

For instance, from a Java perspective:

char[] : Users don't know that it's "String"; users see it as low-level.
          Some will try to write things like 'find()' by hand since they
          will figure arrays are low level and not expect this to exist.

string : Users will think it's immutable, special; they will ask "how do
          I get one of the characters out of a string", "how do I convert
          string to char[]?", and other things that would be obvious
          without the alias.

Kevin