D Development Paradigm

Bill Baxter dnewsgroup at billbaxter.com
Thu Nov 29 12:52:03 PST 2007


Craig Black wrote:
> Listening to Walter argue with everyone about const again I had to laugh. 
> Does anyone else notice this pattern?
> 
> 1) People propose an idea/complaint about a language feature
> 2) Walter makes a strong case for the way D does it
> 3) People press the point but Walter is stubborn
> 4) People get tired of arguing
> 5) Many months or years pass
> 6) For unknown reasons Walter changes his mind and makes the proposed change
> 
> I remember a time when Walter disliked the idea of adding templates to D.  I 
> also remember a time when Walter argued furiously against adding const. 
> More recently he defended at length the 3-keyword const implementation.  He 
> always argues his points so adamantly that whenever he changes his mind it 
> seems like a religious conversion. :)

I think that's precisely his job.  Nobody wants to use a language that's 
changing its grammar on a weekly basis.  So his job is to keep it as 
stable as possible and not change it without overwhelmingly convincing 
evidence that a change would be an overall win.

--bb



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