Why is D unpopular?

[Walter Bright]

On 5/3/2022 12:34 AM, Max Samukha wrote:
> On Monday, 2 May 2022 at 20:24:29 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> 
>>
>> It sounds just like how Lisp, Java, and C# work. Nemerle even uses the same 
>> interpreter/code generator as C#.
> 
> C# can't do CTFE. For example, in C#, you can't generate code (without resorting 
> to hacks) at compile time based on UDAs the way you can in Nemerle or D. In C#, 
> you usually process UDAs at runtime. I guess that is what you mean when you say 
> "it needs compiler runtime at runtime". Yes, C# needs one because it must defer 
> code generation to runtime.

I'm surprised C# can't do CTFE. I guess its creators never thought of it :-)

Java can create and compile code at runtime. I ran into this when creating a 
Java native compiler for Symantec. It was used very rarely, but just enough to 
sink the notion of a native compiler.