It is the year 2020: why should I use / learn D?

[Walter Bright]

On 11/24/2018 6:52 AM, Chris wrote:
> On Friday, 23 November 2018 at 23:49:16 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
>> On 11/23/2018 4:59 AM, Chris wrote:
> 
> 
>> Fixing autodecode will break about everything. But you don't like breaking 
>> changes.
>>
>> What do you suggest?
> 
> If you put it this way, as you tend to, of course, I look like a lunatic. The 
> breaking changes I don't like (and no-one does) are changes that seem completely 
> random to the user. Normal, "innocent" code just breaks.

Your last statement will come true if autodecode is removed.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I've been bombarded with messages for 15 years 
that consist of:

1. stop doing enhancements, just fix bugs
2. add in my favorite enhancement

1. don't break existing code
2. add in my favorite enhancement that breaks existing code

usually in the same message from the same person.


 > But autodecode is not even open for discussion anymore.

It is open. Nobody has shut down discussion of it. The trouble is nobody yet has 
come up with a reasonable migration path that doesn't result in normal, innocent 
code silently breaking.

BTW, you can defeat autodecode for your own programs by using the .byChar filter:

https://dlang.org/phobos/std_utf.html#byChar