D and Nim

[Brian Rogoff via Digitalmars-d]

On Sunday, 4 January 2015 at 18:10:52 UTC, Jonathan wrote:
> Hey folks,
>
> I've been recently checking out Nim/rod and feel like it takes 
> a lot of inspiration from D (I think the creator was in the D 
> community too as some point).

I'm pretty sure that D was not a big inspiration to Nim, even 
though Araq (Andreas Rumpf) has commented here on occasion.

> How do you think it compares?

Overall, I much prefer Nim. The obvious first difference is 
syntax (Nim uses an offside rule like Python/Haskell/ISWIM) and 
for some people that's a huge difference which determines which 
they'll prefer.

Nim's parametric polymorphism is less powerful than D's I think 
(the words 'generic' and 'template' are used differently in the 
two communities so I'll try and be extra clear) but Nim has a 
powerful macro system and a (still unfinished) kind of "type 
classes" which give it an edge on D.

D has a simple class based OO that looks a lot like Java, and 
ties reference semantics to classes. D has a rather unique multi 
method based OO system.

There are quite a few more things (concurrency, effect system, 
iterators vs ranges, ..) but I'll just advise you to look.

> What areas does D, in principle, makes it a better choice?

Larger language community. Lower bus factor too, I think.

Subjectively, D feels to me like an attempt to fix and improve 
C++. Nim feels more like a language in the Delphi/Modula-3 
tradition with Python syntax. If you can't stand that syntax, 
stay away. It's not changing.

> To give you my background, I like creating games (mostly using 
> SDL bindings) using new languages, aiming for the most 
> efficient yet concise way to write the engine and game logic.

Nim's GC was designed with games in mind. D's GC (which can be 
disabled) is not usually considered a strong point of the 
language implementation.

> FYI, this is NOT a language war thread. I'm just curious about 
> what separates them from a principle level.

Quite a lot separates them, even though they both target similar 
areas. Best to read a few tutorials and write some small programs 
in each. You might also try asking on the Nim forum. I realize 
you say you're not starting a language flame war, but the 
etiquette of the question is a bit problematic. Hopefully I don't 
fan any flames with my answer.