Advocacy (Was: Who here actually uses D?)

[spir]

On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 06:27:41 +0100
Ulrik Mikaelsson <ulrik.mikaelsson at gmail.com> wrote:

> Just discovering
> http://d-programming-language.org/ with much nicer presentation of the
> docs I've already seen, raised my motivation for D just as much as any
> random dozen solved bugs from bugzilla.

I am very much for helping and develop an independant, community-driven, site dedicated to D. At my first contact with the language, just discovering it _apparently_ was a (private, for profit) company's product was enough to let me turn back, and ciao! Whatever the language's qualities. (That it was free as in free beer did not make any difference.)
I thank Walter / Digital Mars heartfully for such a present to the programming community. Still, I would advocate for an independant reference site dedicated to the language properly speaking, without a Digital Mars logo on top of the front page (why is it currently there?); but instead as many references and pointers to Walter and the Digital Mars site as you like.
The first contact is very important. If we take this as an opportunity to improve presentation and above all documentation: superb! (*) If we honestly present the language including its present drawbacks, defaults, and issues in general: bravo! (*)
2011: the year of D?

Denis

(*) Possibly an even greater entry barrier than the present unfinished state of D2. (EDIT: Also target non-C++ programmers. And do this _seriously_. The statemtent in TDPL that programmers knowing a C++-like language will enjoy a _slight_ advantage is quite an understatement, imo: the whole book silently refers to loads of notions perticular to this language family.)
(**) The page at http://d-programming-language.org/comparison.html should also list all D2 issues, imo.
Let us take example on Nimrod's doc that fears not telling about (present and lasting, accidental and designed) shortcomings of the language. This adult attitude would be far more appealing than possibly deceiving statements, imo, and even more than non-told facts.
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vit esse estrany ☣

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