Is D right for me?

[Jesse Phillips]

Every language you choose will have its issue, and your listed requirements are basically set up so the answer is 'none.' Not one language fulfills every requirement for various reasons.

It sounds to me like you want to use Haskel but due to the loss in potential help you are looking at D. You say there were a few people who didn't get on board because of Haskel, ask them if instead D was used would the join. If not go with Haskel, if yes than I wish to make on thing clear.

You will have to support the libraries you use or wait patiently. I am not saying there isn't code to use or people willing/working to support that code. I mean that we are a small community and have had some ruff hills to clime. Lots of libraries/tools were written for D1, lots of libraries were written using Tango (D1 only). Even when effort was taken to support D2, the result was a broken library on a future compiler release (it was expected as it was clearly stated, no  longer the issue).

So even if something claims support for D2 it may require work to bring it up to the latest language specs. But the community is working, things are progressing. And I don't think D will be dieing. The more libraries D has, the more users will come and use the language resulting in more libraries. Right now we are missing some vital libraries that everyone wants, but no one wants to make/maintain (usually do to time issues).

In relation to compilers[1] I would not worry about it. By the time your project reaches a stage that must work an more platforms, it is likely that LDC and GDC, and maybe even DMD will be updated for D2 and a multitude of platforms. But for a GUI library, you would probably need to choose one and progress it as you do the project.

I do not wish to discourage you from choosing D, but feel it is always good to know what to expect. And really you could probably start your project, test the components you wish to use. It should be pretty obvious if you find something you couldn't live with.


1. http://www.wikiservice.at/d/wiki.cgi?D__Tutorial/StartingWithD/Compiler