We hit the ACM mailing list!!!

[Dave]

BCS wrote:
> 
> The internetnews.com artical just went out on the ACM TechNews mailing list
> 
> Quote:
> 
> When Is a D Better Than C? When It's a Language
> InternetNews.com (01/05/07) Patrizio, Andy
> 
> A newly developed free programming language aims to address the 
> shortcomings of C/C++, though some question the likelihood of the 
> language's success since it is not being released in conjunction with 
> any other product or platform. The language, D, was developed by Walter 
> Bright, who created the first C++ compiler, Zortech++. He has developed 
> a compiler and standard libraries for both Windows and Linux for D. The 
> Phobus standard library and the compiler front-end are open source, and 
> a D compiler is included for the widely-used open source C compiler, 
> GCC. D is able to produce compiled code without the need of a virtual 
> machine. The language is also somewhat backwards compatible with C: It 
> can be interfaced with any C API without the need for a call interface; 
> but it adds Java and Microsoft C# functions such as garbage collection, 
> an inline assembler, and Java-like single inheritance. In production 
> since 2001, D has received considerable contribution from the 
> Slashdot/open source developer community. Bright designed the language 
> with the experience of C++ programmers in mind, not the sale of a 
> product. He says, "The idea is to make programming in D the most 
> productive possible. Quicker to learn, quicker to write code in, quicker 
> to debug, and quicker to maintain." However, Forrester analyst Jeff 
> Hammond questions the programming language's market potential. He says, 
> "To make a technology viable, the technology has to be more than just 
> good. You have to build a business model around it. What's the business 
> model here?"
> 

Once again, Forrester shows its value as a contrary indicator...

There are quite a few successful languages out there that *don't* (or didn't) have a "business 
model" wrapped around it. Perl, Ruby, Python, C, C++ to name just a few. Those languages showed how 
they were useful to programmers and _then_ business models developed around the language, not the 
other way around.

As for the other languages that started with a business model... Well, the business model for Java 
ended up changing (set-top devices to server development), not Java itself. C# took a few years 
itself to become really popular, and that was after massive spending and influence by MS, and also 
basically because the alternative (VB.Net) wasn't palatable by many.