How is D doing?

[bachmeier via Digitalmars-d-learn]

On Tuesday, 22 December 2015 at 03:30:32 UTC, ShinraTensei wrote:
> I recently noticed massive increase in new languages for a 
> person to jump into(Nim, Rust, Go...etc) but my question is 
> weather the D is actually used anywhere or are there chances of 
> it dying anytime soon.
> So far I've tried a while bunch of languages and i do like D 
> the most, since i am used to C/C++ syntax also Java a bit, but 
> i don't like Java.
> Now i'm trying to can C/C++ and get accustomed to something 
> more modern so D is my choice unless its a dead language.
> I'm not looking into D for job opportunities. Just writing 
> programs for my own amusement and maybe even profit some day.

I know this question has been answered, but I wanted to provide 
some hard facts for future visitors.

1. Downloads of the DMD compiler have been fluctuating between 
1000 and 1600 per day:

http://erdani.com/d/downloads.daily.png

That number only captures downloads of one compiler from one 
source.

2. Books on the language. Packt published D Cookbook in 2014. 
They have already published Learning D in 2015 and will be 
publishing D Web Development in January. Clearly, in that 
publisher's experience, D is becoming a sufficiently popular 
language to invest in it. Other books (not with that publisher) 
are currently in progress.

3. The D Language Foundation. Andrei quit his job a few months 
ago to work on D and the D Language Foundation full time.

http://forum.dlang.org/post/xsqrdgwnzehdmfmvcznn@forum.dlang.org

4. The large number of participants on the main development 
forum.  Not all of them contribute, but it indicates a strong 
interest in the language to post there.