Discussion about D at a C++ forum

Mike Parker aldacron at gmail.com
Sat Jan 7 23:47:29 PST 2012


On 1/8/2012 3:57 PM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> On Saturday, January 07, 2012 22:19:53 Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>> Here's an interesting discussion that may reflect the perceptions and
>> misperceptions about D within the larger community.
>>
>> http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/58832/
>
> Not exactly the most informed discussion. But I would expect that some of the
> misinformation is fairly typical. I'd say that a lot of what people think or
> know about D is from a couple of years ago (if not farther back) and/or
> derived from the opinions of others rather than real experience. And an
> initial bad experience (as has happened far too often, as we've seen with
> newbies reactions to stuff not working just around here, let alone in the D
> community as a whole) can definitely lead to negative and/or misinformed
> beliefs, which then spread to others outside the D comunity when D is brought
> up.
>
> I'm not sure what we can do about that other than really improving what we
> have to offer, and while we still have plenty to do, we've definitely been
> making solid improvements.
>
> - Jonathan M Davis

Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone really can do about it (and I'm 
not actually directing this post at you, Jonathan, just preaching in 
general). Java, for example, *still* suffers from the reputation it 
gained back in the late 90's. You have companies like Sony running 
successful online games with both the client and the server developed in 
Java, while around the net people are swearing up and down that it's too 
slow for games. There are issues with Java, sure, but modern JVM 
performance is perfectly acceptable (and then some) for a significant 
number of use cases.

We'll see the same thing with D, I'm sure. Once a negative rumor gets 
out there, it refuses to go away regardless of its current veracity. New 
programmers come along, hear things from their veteran colleagues, and 
spread it around themselves without ever once bothering to verify it. It 
seems very much to be a natural condition. Just look how bad it is in 
the political arena.

I think the best we can do is to put our heads down, get the work done, 
and step into an outside discussion every now and then to interject some 
FUD-fighting evangelism (in the belief that not all of the naysayers are 
knuckleheads, but simply misinformed). The people who really matter 
right now are the ones who are rational enough to ignore the FUD and and 
serious enough to give D more than a cursory look. Their initial 
experience is what will ultimately make or break D's chances for wider 
adoption.

That said, I do admit to a certain amount of blood boiling when I see my 
favorite language being verbally abused!


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