Setting up dmd properly

[Mike Parker via Digitalmars-d-learn]

On Tuesday, 12 January 2016 at 21:08:30 UTC, Jason Jeffory wrote:
> (I should mention that I am exaggerating a bit, and some of the 
> complaints about D are actually more directed to the 
> programming community in general. D has the same fundamental 
> issues though and it is just a matter of scale. Programming is 
> way more fun when you are actually programming and getting the 
> job done rather than fighting things that should work but 
> don't. As programmers, we get used to that crap.. specially 
> those that programmed in the 70's and 80's... but it doesn't 
> mean it's ok. Specially when we know how to fix it. I really 
> like the D language but the D tool chain should be more user 
> friendly to work with on every level.)

I think there's another side of this in that what is an issue for 
one person isn't necessarily an issue for another. For example, 
your difficulties with static linking... you aren't the first 
person to have this problem, but I personally never have. It all 
seems quite straight forward to me. I was annoyed by the COFF/OMF 
issue when I first started using D, sure, and that's what 
prompted me to start Derelict), but it's never been a problem 
that prevented me from building my D projects.

The way to solve this particular sort of problem is to have more 
documentation, or tutorials, but that requires someone with the 
time and motivation to write it. People who aren't having that 
problem are going to be motivated to direct their time and energy 
elsewhere. So I don't see this as an issue of "getting used to" a 
bad situation, just one of varying opinions about what part of 
the situation is bad.

I'm going to make an effort toward improving the situation with 
my learningd.org site. Linking with C libraries would be a good 
topic for a tutorial to go there. There is also some movement 
behind the scenes right now to create a comprehensive web site 
for teaching all things D, but it's going to be after the next 
DConf before any concrete effort is made in that direction.

As for the toolchain... Until there is a dedicated team with a 
clear goal-oriented task list and the management necessary to 
keep development focused on those tasks, then development will go 
in the direction that the core contributors feel they need to 
direct their efforts. Anyone can champion a new cause in D's 
development, and several have over the years. That's what has 
driven the project forward. There have been many, many, many 
discussions over the years about how unfriendly D is to new 
users, or how difficult it is to get up and running with this or 
that aspect of the toolchain. Most of them have resulted in 
improvements. As a long time D user, I can tell you that you kids 
have it much better than we did back in the day.

So things will get easier with time. Pre-D experience is what 
determines the degree of difficulty in getting started with D 
right now. For example, programmers who are comfortable with the 
command line, particularly when using C or C++, tend to have few 
difficulties with the toolchain. I'm hoping that the recent 
creation of the D Foundation will create opportunities to make it 
easier for /anyone/ to hit the ground running with D.