Design Patterns == weakness in language

[Derek Parnell]

On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 17:14:46 -0700, Walter Bright wrote:

> Derek Parnell wrote:
>> On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 16:15:03 -0700, Walter Bright wrote:
>> 
>>> Brad Anderson wrote:
>>>> This might be a bit OT, but I often wonder if D is going to succeed C/C++/Java
>>>> long-term given that it's not abstracting away a majority of known design
>>>> patterns.  Or, maybe that's just D 2.0 and we need to be patient.  <g>
>>>>
>>>> http://newbabe.pobox.com/~mjd/blog/2006/09/11/#design-patterns
>>> I've found that when I translate straightforward C++ code into 
>>> straightforward D code, the size of the (source) code drops 30%. That 
>>> means that D *is* abstracting away commonly used C++ patterns.
>> 
>> (Design Patterns) != (C++ patterns)
>> 
>> Yes, we all agree that D is a lot more efficient than C++ when it comes to
>> source code density. However, that has very little, if anything, to do with
>> "design patterns" as a programming paradigm.
> 
> I think it has a lot to do with it, but I think it's pointless to argue 
> the issue. The issue to me (and hopefully to most programmers) is one of 
> productivity. Are you getting your programs developed faster with D or not?
> 
> I know I'm getting a personal big productivity boost from D - and time 
> is money.

Sorry Walter, I did it again ;-)

I wasn't arguing with you, just being a little pedantic. The concepts of
'design patterns' and 'programming language (syntax) patterns' are not the
same thing, that's all. 

And yes, D is definite productivity booster when compared to C++, as far as
I can see.

I don't think there's much purpose in having direct language support for
'design patterns' as those are very high-level abstractions, however it
would be easier to implement such patterns in D if its syntax patterns were
improved. Such as improving templates and mixins, both in functionality and
usability. Adding language support for full closures and co-routines would
also help. But of course, these should not delay v1.0 ;-)

-- 
Derek
(skype: derek.j.parnell)
Melbourne, Australia
"Down with mediocrity!"
14/09/2006 10:49:03 AM