We are forking D

[Bruce Carneal]

On Monday, 8 January 2024 at 18:35:53 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 1/8/2024 6:34 AM, Bruce Carneal wrote:
>> It might not still be up but I found it approachable.  Again, 
>> though, it's a draft and might not match the code (or the 
>> actual intent for that matter).
>
>
> I had thought the Interpolation template implementations were 
> meant to be overridden. But looking at the the sql 
> implementation:
>
> https://github.com/adamdruppe/interpolation-examples/blob/master/lib/sql.d
>
> shows this not to be the case.
>
> > Still, a useful possibility for those who prefer not to look
> at code in the
> > early going.
>
> A specification should not require looking at the code. After 
> all, do you expect to need to read the C++ compiler source to 
> figure out what it does?

Sure, specs are useful as are the documented use cases provided 
with a working implementation.  Working prototypes let you "kick 
the tires" and can help you *debug* the spec. They can also help 
you estimate the long term support burden more accurately than 
you would from simply looking at a spec (forestalls a bunch of 
hand waving).

I'm not saying we should drop specs of course, in fact I consider 
them a requirement at this level, rather that we should 
understand their limitations and the benefits provided by working 
code with examples.