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digitalmars.D - D worth using for large project?

reply NCODA <jastoms gmail.com> writes:
I'm a C++ programmer. For a large project, I have been looking at starting to
use D, but I've found quite alot of problems getting even a sample compiled.
According to the documentation it looks like an AWESOME language, but is D
commercial ready? My concerns are ...

 - no out-of-the-box IDE support in windows
 - this website, the forum search doesn't work! making it very hard to find
information
 - the compiler switches don't work according to samples (eg. -c doesn't have
any affect, and i need it for use the CodeBlocks IDE)
 - compiler gets confused when passing multiple filenames on the command line,
and ends up trying to compile a seperate executable for each file
 - small commercial take-up

I know I'm probably doing some things wrong, but I cannot find any help. Does
anyone recommend using D or not, and is the D community strong enough to fight
through its short-commings?
Oct 28 2007
next sibling parent reply Bill Baxter <dnewsgroup billbaxter.com> writes:
NCODA wrote:

 I'm a C++ programmer. For a large project, I have been looking at starting to
use D, but I've found quite alot of problems getting even a sample compiled.
According to the documentation it looks like an AWESOME language, but is D
commercial ready? My concerns are ...
 
  - no out-of-the-box IDE support in windows
  - this website, the forum search doesn't work! making it very hard to find
information
  - the compiler switches don't work according to samples (eg. -c doesn't have
any affect, and i need it for use the CodeBlocks IDE)
  - compiler gets confused when passing multiple filenames on the command line,
and ends up trying to compile a seperate executable for each file
  - small commercial take-up
 
 I know I'm probably doing some things wrong, but I cannot find any help. Does
anyone recommend using D or not, and is the D community strong enough to fight
through its short-commings?


You say you can't get any help, but this is the first post I've seen 
from you on either this newsgroup or digitalmars.D.learn.  The NG search 
does suck and I don't think you'll get much flack from folks here over 
asking FAQs.

Post specific questions like "why doesn't this work" and I'm sure you'll 
get quick answers from the folks here.  These newsgroups are very 
responsive.

--bb
Oct 28 2007
parent reply NCODA <jastoms gmail.com> writes:
Hey thanks for the responses

Well that answers my community question.

I just discovered the compiler argument problem just then - I was using dmc.exe
as the compiler (auto setup from Code:Blocks)... but it doesnt work. But
dmd.exe does work. So I changed Code:Blocks to work with dmd.exe. 

Does anyone know how to properly get DMD to work with Code:Blocks? I've managed
to get a console app compiled, but no luck with the windows one. I copied the
windows sample from this website, but get these errors

OPTLINK : Warning 23: No Stack 
.objs\test.obj(test) 
 Error 42: Symbol Undefined _D6object6Object8opEqualsMFC6ObjectZi
.objs\test.obj(test) 
 Error 42: Symbol Undefined _D6object6Object5opCmpMFC6ObjectZi

BTW - Does anyone else compile for windows? and what IDE do they use?
Oct 29 2007
next sibling parent Christopher Wright <dhasenan gmail.com> writes:
NCODA wrote:

 Hey thanks for the responses
 
 Well that answers my community question.
 
 I just discovered the compiler argument problem just then - I was using
dmc.exe as the compiler (auto setup from Code:Blocks)... but it doesnt work.
But dmd.exe does work. So I changed Code:Blocks to work with dmd.exe. 
 
 Does anyone know how to properly get DMD to work with Code:Blocks? I've
managed to get a console app compiled, but no luck with the windows one. I
copied the windows sample from this website, but get these errors
 
 OPTLINK : Warning 23: No Stack 
 ..objs\test.obj(test) 
  Error 42: Symbol Undefined _D6object6Object8opEqualsMFC6ObjectZi
 ..objs\test.obj(test) 
  Error 42: Symbol Undefined _D6object6Object5opCmpMFC6ObjectZi
 
 BTW - Does anyone else compile for windows? and what IDE do they use?


It sounds like you aren't linking to libphobos. You can add the path to 
the directory where it resides in the LIB environment variable, and it 
should work. Or I think adding -Lpath\to\phobos to the command to 
compile will work.

Not exactly sure about this, since I don't use D on Windows, and Linux D 
uses a different linker.
Oct 29 2007
prev sibling parent Jascha Wetzel <firstname mainia.de> writes:
NCODA wrote:

 Does anyone know how to properly get DMD to work with Code:Blocks? I've
managed to get a console app compiled, but no luck with the windows one. I
copied the windows sample from this website, but get these errors
 
 OPTLINK : Warning 23: No Stack 
 .objs\test.obj(test) 
  Error 42: Symbol Undefined _D6object6Object8opEqualsMFC6ObjectZi
 .objs\test.obj(test) 
  Error 42: Symbol Undefined _D6object6Object5opCmpMFC6ObjectZi


This isn't a CodeBlocks problem, link is missing a main function here 
(although it doesn't bother to tell you). The /SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS linker 
switch should fix it.


 BTW - Does anyone else compile for windows? and what IDE do they use?


I do. I used to use CodeBlocks, but i found it less effective for D 
development due to it's C/C++ orientation. Especially it's build system 
and code navigation facilities work with D "by accident" rather than "by 
design".
Now i use SciTE with SEATD for code navigation and dsss/rebuild or bud 
for building. Editing a small text file with options turns out to be 
easier and faster than clicking you way through complex dialogs.
I'm approaching the effectiveness that i've been used to from the visual 
studio + visual assist combo i use for C++ development. Regarding the 
build system i've actually surpassed it already, thanks to rebuild and 
bud, which require significantly less configuration.
Oct 29 2007
prev sibling parent janderson <askme me.com> writes:
NCODA wrote:

 I'm a C++ programmer. For a large project, I have been looking at starting to
use D, but I've found quite alot of problems getting even a sample compiled.
According to the documentation it looks like an AWESOME language, but is D
commercial ready? My concerns are ...
 
  - no out-of-the-box IDE support in windows


I agree this is a problem.  However there are many plugins for different
IDEs and there are some D specific editors as well see:

See:
http://www.prowiki.org/wiki4d/wiki.cgi?EditorSupport



  - this website, the forum search doesn't work! making it very hard to find
information


I never use the D website newsgroup search, so I'll let others comment
there.

Speaking of which, are u using a newsreader like Thunderbird? That makes
  these newsgroups so much easier to read/search.  Also theres a web
based forum at:

http://www.dsource.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=a41c5e3b3cd12759c9b887ac53a0dcfb

However the community there is smaller.



  - the compiler switches don't work according to samples (eg. -c doesn't have
any affect, and i need it for use the CodeBlocks IDE)


Can you provide more information?


  - compiler gets confused when passing multiple filenames on the command line,
and ends up trying to compile a seperate executable for each file


Can you proved an example of the commandline your using?


  - small commercial take-up


I think there may be one or 2 small commercial companies using D however
I'll let others field this question.


 
 I know I'm probably doing some things wrong, but I cannot find any help. Does
anyone recommend using D or not, and is the D community strong enough to fight
through its short-commings?
 


I recommend using D, but most of this group will be biased.

You came to the right place.  The D newsgroups are normally very quick
to respond.

There are a lot of people using D.  See some of the D projects at
http://www.dsource.org/projects/

Also there's a live chat #D at irc.freenode.net.

Also if you wish to take D further I'd suggest subscribing to the
D.learn newsgroup.

-Joel
Oct 28 2007