D

Introduction

D is static, compiled language influenced by C++. It was created by Walter Bright, author of the first C++ compiler to compile directly to machine code.

D has an imperative core, but is a multi-paradigm language that includes support for object-orientated, functional, and generic programming.

(NOTE: This article will deal with d2.0, the latest but still-in-development version)

Advantages

• Fast language, with performance comparable to C++ while still being garbage collected by default.
• Interfaces well with C libraries, without writing boilerplate or using a foreign function interface, though cannot import headers unmodified - see http://www.digitalmars.com/d/2.0/htomodule.html
• Has a modern module system, no need to write header files or deal with a preprocessor.
• Syntax is familiar to C, C++, C#, Java etc programmers.
• Supports the functional programming better paradigm than other C-like languages, with features such as closures, delegates, transitive immutability, higher order functions, anonymous functions, and the ability to write compiler enforced pure functions.
• DMD, the official compiler, is very fast, typically an order of magnitude faster than gcc for C/C++.

Disadvantages

• Paucity of tools such as IDE's, editor support, debuggers etc compared to more popular languages.
• Documentation is scarce and incomplete (though this is somewhat offset by the knowledgeable community)
• The language is still in development so has some rough edges.
• DMD, the official compiler, has no 64-bit support.

Compilers

• DMD (official compiler) - http://www.digitalmars.com/d/2.0/dmd-windows.html
• GDC (includes support for 64 bit) - http://bitbucket.org/goshawk/gdc/wiki/Home

Roguelike Libraries

Bindings for libtcod - http://code.google.com/p/libtcod-d/

Links

• Official Site
• IRC channel
• D wiki
• another dsource