DMD needs branches

[Chris Miller]

I'm sure this was brought up in the past, but DMD definitely needs stable  
and unstable branches.

-v1 doesn't cut it. My code is compiled with -v1 and still breaks with new  
DMD versions.

Each new DMD version is bug-ridden. This new one 1.011 is pretty bad!

How am I supposed to let others use my code when there's no stability in  
the compiler? They update their compiler and report to me "your code is  
broken"; well, no, DMD is broken.

I have a ton of code that doesn't work on any of the new DMD compilers; I  
have to use an old pre-1.0 compiler, because the recent compilers are  
bug-ridden. Some bugs get fixed, but even more get added.

I'm sure a lot of you out there have similar experiences. Speak up now,  
please!

With each new release I get more and more frustrated with D. There's no  
stability! I know you want more and more features, but how can I keep  
using a language like this?

-

I know, I know, report bugs. This doesn't cut it. Reporting bugs is hard  
as hell and time consuming. I need time to report bugs. Now I have to  
either restrict use to specific compiler versions, which people don't  
always know about and report their issues back to me, until I remind them  
they need to downgrade their compiler (which isn't always an option if  
they need bug fixes), or I have to rush to fix my code to workaround such  
issues and report bugs. If there was a stable branch, I could get the code  
working with the unstable branch at a reasonable pace.

-

D 1.0 means nothing. The 1.0 release was a huge flop. I think it could  
have done so much better and retained more users. We need some stability  
and to try the big release one more time. "D 1.1 release 'whoops, got it  
right this time'" (hopefully).

Also, the documentation should probably clearly state differences between  
versions, perhaps even with the words "unstable" near the things not in  
the stable branch. (Safe to ignore 1.0 since it's pointless.)

-

I've had all this in the back of my mind for quite some time and I've  
tried to be patient about it. I'm not trying threaten anyone, but I don't  
know how much longer I'm going to put up with D with its current methods.  
Note that I am probably one of the oldest D users still using it.

-

Thanks for your time.

- Christopher E. Miller
www.dprogramming.com
miller[] on #D freenode.