Inherent code performance advantages of D over C?

[ed]

On Wednesday, 11 December 2013 at 03:33:47 UTC, Walter Bright 
wrote:
[snip]

>>> The issue is convenience of writing C code in D vs C.
>>
>> So you're trying to say that it's easier to write C code in D, 
>> rather
>> than in C?
>>
>> I thought this thread was about the inherent advantages of D 
>> over C.
>
> I was referring specifically to Dicebot's post as ancestor:
>
[snip]

I am finding C is much easier and more pleasant to write with DMD.

At work we're forced, under duress, to write C. I just got a new 
project with a loose deadline so I thought I'd do a crazy 
experiment to make it interesting...
(NOTE: I say "under duress" but I secretly like C/C++, especially 
C++11/14.)

I'm writing my C code with DMD. When tested and tweaked I do a 
final compile with C compiler (test once more) then commit for 
our QA to pick up.  Occasionally I'll compile with the C compiler 
to ensure I haven't leaked any D into the code and to minimise 
the #include fixups at the end.

Currently this is about 20 C-(D) files with approx. 12,000-15,000 
LOC. I doubt this workflow would scale much further, although it 
doesn't look like becoming an issue yet.

My experiment is a success IMO. My C code is much cleaner, safer 
and more maintainable because of it. Yes, I know I could write C 
like this without DMD ... but I'm lazy and fall back into bad C 
habits :-)

I now advocate that students should be taught C programming with 
the DMD compiler :D


Cheers,
Ed