Why I'm hesitating to switch to D

[Jonathan M Davis]

On 2011-06-30 15:59, simendsjo wrote:
> On 01.07.2011 00:49, Simen Kjaeraas wrote:
> > On Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:52:38 +0200, Daniel Gibson
> > 
> > <metalcaedes at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Am 30.06.2011 23:50, schrieb KennyTM~:
> >>> On Jul 1, 11 05:39, bearophile wrote:
> >>>> Jonathan M Davis:
> >>>>> Actually, I find the backticks to be by far the most pleasant way to
> >>>>> get raw
> >>>>> strings in D.
> >>>> 
> >>>> I don't have backticks on my keyboard, so I use them only when they
> >>>> are needed. They have even removed the backticks in the Python2 ->
> >>>> Python3 transition partially because of this (and partially because
> >>>> there is a more obvious way to do it in Python, and Python tries to
> >>>> keep only one obvious way to do things).
> >>>> 
> >>>> Bye,
> >>>> bearophile
> >>> 
> >>> Python's `xyz` is equivalent to repr(xyz). I think it is removed in
> >>> Python 3 more because `...` is not worth the specialness as repr(). But
> >>> D's `...` is much more worthy as a convenient literal syntax when
> >>> involving '"' or '\'.
> >>> 
> >>> (I know some keyboard doesn't have '[' and ']'. So having no '`'
> >>> shouldn't be the reason it is removed from the language.)
> >> 
> >> Keyboards without []? This makes programming nearly impossible O_O
> > 
> > And standard Norwegian layout has them on AltGr+8/9. The pain.
> > But using US int'l has the added advantage of confusing the hell out
> > of my cow-orkers when they try to use my confuser (which has thus earned
> > that title :p).
> 
> Switch to programmer dvorak and they'll never touch your computer again.

I switched to dvorak _and_ got one of these: http://www.kinesis-
ergo.com/advantage.htm

No one is going to be using my computer with my keyboard. Though honestly, as 
much as I like dvorak, I wouldn't advise that anyone switch to it. Too many 
programs assume qwerty, so all of their shortcuts are designed for it. Stuff 
like the shortcuts for cut, copy, and paste are on completely different places 
on the keyboard and don't work as well (only cut can be done with just your 
left hand). I had to completely remap vim to be able to use it. Other programs 
need their keys or shortcuts remapped to work very well. It just causes 
problems for stuff that assumes qwerty. So, it's likely more pain than its 
worth. My keyboard is awesome regardless of whether you use qwerty or dvork 
though. I can actually type numbers on it without looking, which I could never 
do on a normal keyboard, because the keys aren't vertically aligned on a 
normal keyboard. It's expensive, but I'm quite happy that I bought it.

- Jonathan M Davis