Why is D unpopular, redux.

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad]

On Tuesday, 24 May 2022 at 06:17:38 UTC, FeepingCreature wrote:
> Actually, I want to jump on this, because I think it's really 
> important, and it's a core argument from my perspective for why 
> D should have macros.

Are you talking of AST macros?

The reason I think D should do proper expansion of C macros is 
just that it makes it possible to view it as a high level 
alternative to C, so you get some kind of marketable focus into 
the project. But there are some randomish anti-C design aspects 
that works against it.

> And that's an issue! Because people tend to fall off the end of 
> the development pipeline

Yes, something like SDC is needed, but it is difficult to believe 
in when D keeps moving in an unpredictable manner. Does SDC need 
importC?

> There's what, five languages that started from D?

Probably more, private forks... but it is easy to predict that 
SDC will be forced in a similar direction by first going for a 
subset and take a different direction.

> With something like C++ I ironically think that's less of an 
> issue because there's "more to learn" at the high end.

C++ has more focus by not being suitable for higher level coding. 
Too many D users want only one language for everything and that 
leads to neverending feature creep instead of polishing a more 
narrow reportoire.