Why I'm hesitating to switch to D

[Jonathan M Davis]

On 2011-06-30 17:29, simendsjo wrote:
> On 01.07.2011 02:19, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> > 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
> 
> Looks ergonomically "correct", but pretty massive.

It's not really any wider than a normal keyboard, and it's only a little 
deeper (in spite of the fact that it has that gap in the middle). However, it 
is much taller. So, it works most anywhere that a normal keyboard would, but 
it won't work very well in some places where height matters (e.g. keyboard 
trays).

- Jonathan M Davis