null references redux + Looney Tunes

[Jeremie Pelletier]

language_fan wrote:
> Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:38:33 -0500, Andrei Alexandrescu thusly wrote:
> 
>> I'll note two things. For one, Walter is a heck more progressive than
>> his pedigree might lead one to think. He has taken quite some risks with
>> a number of features that made definite steps outside the mainstream,
>> and I feel he bet on the right horse more often than not. Second, this
>> particular discussion is not about efficiency.
> 
> I apologize that I said it in a way that might hurt Walter. I know he is 
> extremely talented programmer and also open for new ideas. That is often 
> not the problem. But it is not that hard to find features in D that are 
> there only to make old C++ users feel comfortable. E.g. C style pointer 
> syntax is harmful for the syntax of new features like tuples. It is also 
> really confusing, but somehow has to be there since D "must" feel like C+
> +, otherwise someone would notice that D is actually a modern multi-
> paradigm language that allows even functional programming, which is a bit 
> bad for the reputation in conservative c++ circles.

You will never be able to please everyone, or get everyone's attention. 
I don't believe D is having some features merely to attract attention to 
it, that's the thing I like best about D; it provides a very large set 
of tools and let me choose how to use them, instead of enforcing a 
certain model or paradigm.

Pointers are a critical feature of D, they allow both binary 
compatibility with C code and optimizations not possible without 
pointers. I use pointers all the time in D, just not nearly as much as I 
would in C/C++.

> Some people would not even touch the language with a 10 foot pole, if 
> someone dared to provide a practical garbage collector library for it. 
> Because that would mean that there are people with wrong opinions (tm) in 
> the community. I know there is a old and stubborn language war between 
> academic foofoo and "practical aspects".

Academics also seems to live in a fantasy world where code execute 
instantly and everyone in the world owns the latest computer hardware. 
They may not have a pet language but they have pet designs, which is 
quite equivalent.

There are conservative people on all sides :)