Why I Like D

[forkit]

On Thursday, 13 January 2022 at 21:32:15 UTC, Paul Backus wrote:
>
> Actually, I think *self*-government has very little to do with 
> it.
>

I'm not so sure.

Presumably, C++ provides a programmer with much greater autonomy 
over their code than D?

C provides even greater autonomy over both C++ and D. And I'd 
argue, that's why C remains so useful, and so popular (for those 
problems where such a level of autonomy is needed).

By, 'autonomy', I mean a language provided means, for choosing 
what code can do, and how it does it.

A language that makes you jump through loops to get that 
autonomy, will serve a niche purpose (like Java for example).

An aversion to losing that autonomy, I believe, is a very real 
reason as to why larger numbers of C++ programmers do not even 
consider switching to D.

Of course, even if they did consider D, there are other 
considerations at play as well.

It think this is also why D (in contrast to C++ programmers) 
tends to attract programmers from the C# and Java like world. 
That is, D provides greater autonomy (which should translate to 
greater freedom to innovate and be creative with code).

Of course autonomy is not something that is real.

Only the 'perception of autonomy' can be real ;-)