Q: commercial compiler manufacturer

[Brad Roberts]

On 6/3/2011 9:01 PM, William Bolish wrote:
> Q: Will D likely ever be picked up by a major compiler manufacturer?
> 
> The language looks really good, but without a major compiler manufacturer
> promoting & supporting the language, it seems major projects will never be
> undertaken by large corporations.
> 
> This is what I am hearing from the firm I am contracting with (an energy
> industry supplier).
> 
> Any suggestions from anyone about any very large projects underway would be
> appreciated.
> 
> Walter and Andrei: how would you approach / answer this to a client?

It's something of a catch-22.  Before the big name vendors will even consider adding a d frontend to their compilers,
they'll need to have significant customer bases asking for it.  For there to be significant customer bases asking their
vendors, there needs to be big customer base in the first place.  For there to be a big customer base, it needs either
some luck and faith of early adopters, such as ourselves, growing steadily until some inflection point where usage
explodes, or the faith of a major company (or three) to be one of those early adopters.

Like any new company, product, language, anything.. to become successful is some amount of luck, some amount of hard
work, some amount of timing, some amount of being a superior product, and a whole lotta other variables.

The user base of D has grown considerably over the years.  It seems to be accelerating too.  D2 is growing more stable,
though it still has a ways to go (on many fronts, not just the compiler(s)).

My 2 cents,
Brad