C++ interop - what to do about long and unsigned long?

[Walter Bright via Digitalmars-d]

On 9/11/2014 8:39 AM, Sean Kelly wrote:
> Is C++ interop really that important or is it another one of those "if D had
> this, *then* I would use it!" dismissals.  C interop is clearly crucial.
> Operating system interfaces are written in C, and not being able to call C
> functions is hugely limiting.  But C++?  I honestly can't envision a situation
> where I would actually care about C++ interop.  Is this truly a blocker for some
> people?  Like an actual, honest blocker and not just a false flag?

C++ was adopted because one could gradually ease into it from C. This will never 
be true for C++ => D, but many people have reported it was nearly impossible to 
transition to D for them because they had engines, libraries, whatever, in C++ 
and it was just not reasonable to wrap them with a C interface. So they just 
stayed with C++.

Considering that some of them spent some significant effort trying to do it 
suggests it is an honest blocker (and I've seen plenty of false flags).

Interestingly, D's "competitor" languages do not offer any migration path from 
C++, and some are even poor at hooking up with C code. Having a better story 
with D offers us potentially a huge advantage.