new DIP41: dmd/rdmd command line overhaul.

Zach the Mystic reachzach at gggggmail.com
Wed May 22 22:44:59 PDT 2013


On Thursday, 23 May 2013 at 01:24:34 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 5/22/2013 5:07 PM, Zach the Mystic wrote:
>> If only there were a way to communicate, "Yes, there is a lack 
>> of stability, but
>> it's for darn good reasons!" Until that way is found, there 
>> must always be a
>> tension between doing the "right thing", and convincing people 
>> it's more
>> "stable" than it really is.
>
> And then there are those "I don't think we should introduce 
> breaking changes, and here's my list of must-have features that 
> break things." :-)

I can't help but think that success itself poses a problem for a 
programming language. The smaller the user base, the better it 
can absorb the shock, and the more loyal it is. But once you 
become mainstream, now people are using your language because 
they *have* to - I suspect it's these people who will demand 
stability above all else, because they don't care where the 
language came from or why any of the important decisions were 
made. They just want to get their work done.

Therefore, seize the day! The more people use D, the harder it 
will be to do the right thing - engineering-wise! But D is not 
designed for a small user base. It is designed to last. Be like 
the Tao!


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