dmd platform support - poll

[John Reimer]

Hello Tim,

> Yigal Chripun Wrote:
> 
>> personally I don't see a point in JVM/.NET - One of the best things
>> about D is that you get the ease of use of Ruby/python/etc with the
>> benefits of native compiling like in c/c++. Why throw that away and
>> make yet another version of Java/C# ?
>> 
> Supporting .net would give you access to the most modern and probably
> best-currently-supported Windows API. It would, if you counted Mono,
> add a very nice cross-platform UI framework. Finally, depending on
> what version was supported, it might enable you to write Silverlight
> apps in D, permitting flash-like apps that run cross-functionally in a
> web browser.
> 
> TK
> 


Agreed.

Concerning .NET and D technology, I say go for it... especially if someone 
has the initiative to keep such a port going (afterall, such initiative is 
really the most important virtue for any hope of success).  For myself, I'm 
kind of learning not to "restrain" D with my personal biases.  Sometimes 
we just can't predict what kind of benefits might be in store for the language, 
the platform, or other people; such expiditionary moves might not be successful 
in themselves, but they could be the critical factor that brings D to the 
limelight in some future endeavor.

D may be successful in areas we don't necessarily predict or prefer, and 
.NET is just one of several interesting possibilities to explore.  Therefore, 
I don't think we should get too tunnel-visioned about "D is better because 
it's a compiled language".  It may be important to keep the vision a little 
more open to other technologies (like VM's and such) especially as optimizations 
improve in these areas.  Otherwise, D will be at risk of loosing it's general 
purpose nature... and being permanently fixated as a niche language.  Porting 
to .NET, therefore, becomes a clever way of "proving" D's viability on other 
technology platfroms.

I haven't used C#, but I can bet that D could offer a very competitive and 
comfortable programming environment such that it would be a welcome alternative 
even in the .NET world.  Microsoft may even come to see the benefits, since 
D might attract an even more diverse audience to the platform, people who 
would have otherwise avoided it.  You never know. ;)

That'd probably be all it would take for me to start experimenting with .NET 
and Mono.

-JJR