"The End of Native Code" (OT: Programmer's mentality).

[Georg Wrede]

Dave wrote:
> pragma wrote:
>> So I have to say: you guys rock.  Remember, slashdot users pretty
>> much hung D from the yard-arm on not one but two articles about D.
>> What I saw today was a
...
> 
>> subtle, but noticable shift in this attitude.  The word finally
>> seems to be getting out.
> 
> In this particular case, I think some (many?) C++ coders are kind-of
> spotting the writing on the wall (they and/or C++ needs to change)
> but rightly see that "going whole hog" into things like Perl, Python
> and/or Java for every type of application is not the way to go
> either.

I'm starting to think that today almost all C++ coders (and quite some 
of the gurus too) are secretly getting seriously fed-up with C++.

More and more they see this or that thing in some other languages done 
better, smarter, more reliable, etc., and a lot of those things are "so 
near" of being implementable in C++, if it just weren't for this or that 
backward issue, code compatibility, or the murky gotcha that simply 
precludes it. Or for the "old farts" who get to decide stuff.

Some of the adverse reaction towards D is from annoyance for having 
recognized the above. Kinda sour grapes. Especially when "depressingly 
many" of their peeves are fixed in D.

Now seeing that we obviously thrive and prosper (and quite possibly 
might prevail), there will be a stampede towards D, real soon now. IMHO, 
it'll be like with Linux, where it went unknown by most for years, 
slowly gaining momentum, and then just "overnight" became a household 
word, globally. Boom! Including "suits", the illiterati and Moms.

The stampede is pending. One of the biggest hints to this is that today 
it's un-cool to not "know all about this D language", even if you 
haven't actually tried it yet.

I sure hope Jan Knepper's servers won't melt down that day. <g>

<Deep voice> I have a Dream! </> Right after the stampede, IBM or 
somebody else is going to start supporting D! Borland and the FSF would 
too, but the former is too f***ed up internally and the latter is lead 
by an individual, whose, ehh, personality details preclude this. What a 
shame.

In any case, it will be an entity whose point of view lets them see the 
good in D, with many of its current and future implications -- and who 
at the same time has the resources to tackle the *gaps* we have. 
(Certain areas of development and attention, resources in library design 
and implementation, broad intimacy with multiple hw+os architectures, 
pure clout, actually employed programmers deployable, publicity 
resources, and industry visibility.)

_That_ ought to scare Walter. ;-)

But I'm talking an entity here who is capable of lifting Walter from 
essentially a DIY guy (no offense!!!) to a King. I'm talking king here 
like Linus Torvalds, who still has the last say, works with it if/when 
he pleases.

The King has the say, this benign entity gives the resources, and the 
King doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to, like (I'm assuming 
here) writing the boring parts of library code, designing and 
implementing the web presence of D, orchestration and administration, 
fine tuning license details, creating packages for all architectures and 
flavors, writing inter-language convenience code and libraries, 
developing astounding language tools only possible for D, writing 
professional quality documentation, properly reviewing and polishing the 
specs, ...

--
A fanatic, with reason