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D - D sounds great

reply Aaron <arh14 cornell.edu> writes:
I just read over the spec and I'm *very* excited about D.  I'm a Java
programmer (no, not applets, but real heavy duty enterprise stuff), and
have gone from being a skeptic to being extremely impressed with Java. 
The performance hit is *well* worth the portability, the ease of
debugging and creating "correct" programs, and of course the vast (and
very well designed) core library.  I have always wanted a native
Java-like language, and wondered why nobody really was interested in
making a native Java compiler (ok, there are a few here and there),
because the language itself is really nice.  I now see that D fulfills
this.  It takes all the backwards compatibility and bizarre cruft out of
C++, and marries it with features of Java that aid and simplify
programming and debugging.  Most of the D spec is a litany of Java
features - garbage collection, single inheritence, interfaces,
compilation unit based name spaces...the keywords and terminology are
also mostly identical.  D does add a feature that I've admired in Object
Pascal, which is "properties" (although it does it in a different way),
which is also a nice way to skirt non-first class, or half-class objects
(arrays, etc.).  I was waiting for something to fill the gap between C++
and Java, and D appears to do this beautifully.  I'm convinced that most
of the Java library can even be implemented quite nicely for D (the
syntax is *so* similary Java-to-D ports should be really
straightforward).  (I happen to think that the Java class library does
"simply and efficiently implement common, basic file I/O
operations."...it's very much like the C++ library in terms of classes
hierarchy).

So when does the compiler come out ;)

Aaron Hamid
Cornell University
Aug 24 2001
parent reply "Walter" <walter digitalmars.com> writes:
Aaron wrote in message <3B865A5B.FC094575 cornell.edu>...
I just read over the spec and I'm *very* excited about D.  I'm a Java
programmer (no, not applets, but real heavy duty enterprise stuff), and
have gone from being a skeptic to being extremely impressed with Java.
The performance hit is *well* worth the portability,
One of my design goals for D is not to have a performance hit.
 the ease of
debugging and creating "correct" programs,
Yes!
 and of course the vast (and
very well designed) core library.
That will be a problem with D, at least initially.
  I have always wanted a native
Java-like language,
 and wondered why nobody really was interested in
making a native Java compiler (ok, there are a few here and there),
because the language itself is really nice.  I now see that D fulfills
this.  It takes all the backwards compatibility and bizarre cruft out of
C++, and marries it with features of Java that aid and simplify
programming and debugging.  Most of the D spec is a litany of Java
features - garbage collection, single inheritence, interfaces,
compilation unit based name spaces...the keywords and terminology are
also mostly identical.  D does add a feature that I've admired in Object
Pascal, which is "properties" (although it does it in a different way),
which is also a nice way to skirt non-first class, or half-class objects
(arrays, etc.).  I was waiting for something to fill the gap between C++
and Java, and D appears to do this beautifully.  I'm convinced that most
of the Java library can even be implemented quite nicely for D (the
syntax is *so* similary Java-to-D ports should be really
straightforward).  (I happen to think that the Java class library does
"simply and efficiently implement common, basic file I/O
operations."...it's very much like the C++ library in terms of classes
hierarchy).
I think D has a lot to offer that Java doesn't have. See the FAQ: www.digitalmars.com/d/faq.html#q7
Aug 24 2001
parent "kaffiene" <kaffiene xtra.co.nz> writes:
"Walter" <walter digitalmars.com> wrote in message
news:9m5t27$21n4$3 digitaldaemon.com...
 Aaron wrote in message <3B865A5B.FC094575 cornell.edu>...
I just read over the spec and I'm *very* excited about D.  I'm a Java
programmer (no, not applets, but real heavy duty enterprise stuff), and
have gone from being a skeptic to being extremely impressed with Java.
The performance hit is *well* worth the portability,
One of my design goals for D is not to have a performance hit.
 the ease of
debugging and creating "correct" programs,
Yes!
Without enforcing exception specification, there will be one important area in which D has *less* power than Java to create correct programs. Peter.
Aug 26 2001