Feedback on Átila's Vision for D

[Ethan]

On Wednesday, 16 October 2019 at 16:42:28 UTC, Rumbu wrote:
> I will put this here: 
> https://rawgit.com/wilzbach/state-of-d/master/report.html
>
> Summary (community profile/expectations/disappointments):
> - Desktop applications as main area of development;
> - Linux as preferred operating system;
> - Dub as building tool;
> - Visual Studio Code as main editor;
> - Missing language features (tuples, named arguments, string 
> interpolation)
> - Phobos is not intuitive
> - @nogc phobos
> - json serialization;
> - missing phobos important modules;
> - poor compiler error messages;
> - poor debugging experience;
> - @safe is expected to be default;
> - not enough third party libraries;
> - lack of progress on DIPs;
> - ranges are the best;
> - spaces, not tabs :)
>
> I don't necessarily endorse this list (e.g. I sincerely hate 
> dub), but the D Vision seems to ignore it. And I find this more 
> than wrong, personally perceiving it as "we don't care about 
> your opinion, we have our own agenda, get lost".

As you've stated here, you don't necessarily agree with this 
list. So I'm just quoting for the audience because it's 
everything in one place.

I'll go ahead and point this out:

If you ask enthusiasts what's important, you'll get enthusiast 
responses. Focusing on this list wholesale is a sure way to keep 
par course.

The following from the list hold the language itself back:

- Missing language features (tuples, named arguments, string 
interpolation)
- poor debugging experience
- poor compiler error messages
- lack of progress on DIPs

The following hold user adoption back:
- Phobos is not intuitive
   * But that's a blanket statement, this needs to be specific
- not enough third party libraries
   * And my stance there is we need auto-generated bindings for 
C/C++ compatible APIs instead of reinventing every wheel out there

Everything else is highly subjective and doesn't focus properly 
on growth areas that need to be hit.

Needless to say. The point of a vision for the language is 
generally to identify areas for growth. If maintenance is being 
short changed for growth, then you've got a problem that will 
quickly become unsustainable.