Simplifying templates

[Sergey Gromov]

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:05:31 -0500, dfgh wrote:

> Warning: this would break existing code.
> 
> I have an idea for a completely new template syntax that is easier to
> use and implement.

It looks nice, and many people already brought this topic up, the
template-function unification.  But some changes may be simply too much.

My experience led me to belief that one should not significantly change
design during a project.  You can tweak, polish, cut sharp corners and
drape in different colors, but you shouldn't change the basis.  The
problem is, you can never tell whether a particular design was wrong
until you've implemented a finished product based upon that design.  And
you can never justify a significant design change because you end up
with nothing to compare to.  You have nothing to answer to those who say
you shouldn't have changed anything, except "maybe."  Also, if you do
significantly change design, you risk ending up with a half-baked thing
nobody wants to use because it's half-baked and changes too often too
much.  This is what happens to D2 to a certain extent, and you must be
really careful now.

To put this another way, when a change proposed is so significant,
actually getting it into the language becomes much less a matter of
proposal quality and usefulness, and much more a matter of Walter's
personal opinion.  I think that the fate of such proposals is to wait
until somebody decides to write another language "better than D." :)