D popularity

[Phil Lavoie]

On Sunday, 20 January 2013 at 09:52:42 UTC, SaltySugar wrote:
> Why it isn't popular?  We must popularize it. There aren't any 
> tutorials with D, books and other stuff. How about writing a D 
> programming forum?

I think it is on its way there though. There is the excellent 
book that Andrei wrote which will give a most useful insight on 
the language.

I have heard of D from a coworker but was uninterested in 
learning a new language at the time (and there might be many 
others in that situation). I use D now because I started a new 
project and D fitted my needs perfectly.

I think D shines when people start looking for a new language, 
especially as a C/C++ (IMHO) replacement. As more and more will, 
the more popular D will become.

As you know, those languages C/C++ are probably the most used 
languages worldwide (I am not saying not other rivals them) and 
in companies. Therefore, people who use it tend to use it for 
good reasons (legacy code compatibility, maturity of 
tools/compilers, efficient code generation, low memory 
consumption, etc...), and their minds will be hard to change, 
unless a smooth transition is guaranteed.

I think that new projects/research are the bread and butter of D 
at that time. One of its most attracting advantage for someone 
working with legacy code is that it easily binds to C (so a HUGE 
code base and native os APIs), so I believe D really has a chance 
at becoming widely used.

It is true however that, as you learn to love your new language 
(D), you will also find out that some issues haven't been ironed 
out yet (for the reference compiler for example, as someone 
mentioned), and that can be a deal breaker for some. Those of us 
that still uses it must find that its goodies outweighs its 
drawbacks: drawbacks which I think are for the most part 
UNRELATED to the language itself.

Personally, I believe that D is slowly but surely making its 
place as a viable, more powerful alternative to C++( ( ++C)++ ).