But partial template specialisation is required in C++ as it is a statically-typed language. More modern and dynamic languages just use duck typing.

And it’s the same for functors. They have been introduced in C++ to give the language a Functional feel. But it’s still tough to do higher order programming in C++.

You’ll agree that C++ is very tough to learn (not to say to teach) properly now as it is so complex.

* Professionals use what works best

* C++ still remains a serious contender for application development, now and for many years to come.
* D is new and has not yet proven itself.
* Therefore, D groupies cannot [yet] throw dirt at C++.

* Academic programming is a world apart from commercial programming. Academics marvel at the latest; professionals use what works best.

* most people find C++ too complex.
* some people like C++ though
* C++ is not a good language for beginners
* C++ is being replaced by other languages in the business world

In a way, I find C++ fascinating. I fell in love with it in 1996 and I used it a lot. I wrote a lot of programs in C++. And I used C++ to write part of an application around 1998 which has been bought by Dassault since. I even used C++ at DCDM Consulting.

When STL was invented by Stepanov and Lee, I also fell in love it that. I remember downloading the documentation for SGI’s website.

I had the first edition of Stroustrup’s book (in French). I bought the latest edition when C++ was normalised in 1999.

And then Shock and Horror, I realised that my beautiful C++ has changed into a committee-designed language. I couldn’t understand 50% of Stroustrup book (and as I’ve said, I’m not stupid). Who understands partial template specialisation? What protected inheritance used for? What is a functor? How come it ins’t a closure? etc. etc.

C++ was fine. But now it’s passé…

Oh well. I guess that, being a researcher at University, I don’t care about 24-years old languages but rather care about new languages which will potentially rule the world in 5 years. This is one of the joys of my current work!

p1 = mismatch(vi.begin(), vi.end(), li.begin(), not2(less())); // not not < means <

this line to the neophyte means total gibberish. but if code is poetry, this is one mighty fine verse. Of course you need the whole poem. But it does make sense.
Gibberish as it seems, it actually does something. That’s the whole beauty of it..

i really type too much.

@Eddy Young
The keyboard I’m using right now predates the 286. actually, it was salvaged from a 8088 system. The keys are mounted on hard springs. Anything to reduce digit movements is worth considering.

about pointers, I’m not a big fan of them but i manage to use them when i need to.
now D is a new language. emphasis on new. It may stem out from C++ but it’s still supposed to be new. So there are bound to be different things. If the people who developed D come from backgrounds where they use both python. There’ll probably be bit of both in D.
foreach is useful for looping through arrays. especially if you don’t know much about the array in question.

Problems may not exist for you. but they may be real for others.

hehe. It’s kinda tough to be one sided in a discussion eh? At some point you don’t really have any real argument aside from the firm conviction that you are totally in the right.

I’ll help you a bit:
@ the funny D Person trying to stuff us C Persons with that silly D thing. Stop it at once. We were here before you. We’ve been trudging hairline deep in C++ doodoo for longer than any of us care to remember and we are very fine with our current situation, thank you very much.

We do not approve of you trying to give a “powerful” programming language to total novices. We don’t want them in our little club!

p1 = mismatch(vi.begin(), vi.end(), li.begin(), not2(less())); // not not actually does something. That’s the whole beauty of it..

Granted C++ is heavy. It need higher intellect to even partially grasp its beauty. It’s said that the majority of students in UoM have poor grades when C or C++ programming is involved. But those who do figure it out will probably have their ego hurt if came along an easier language that would allow more of the less gifted to do what they do without having to toil up the learning curve.

And at some level, it feels that making things easier lowers the standards. And those who would have been the cream of the crop are relegated to being just the somewhat above average.

But hey, give D a chance. It’s too early to be talking of major faults.

@Mr Meetoo.
actually, no one in the world understand the whole of C++. not just Mauritius.

ps. on my previous comment, guido refers to Guido van Rossum. I usually have no memory for names but i remember this one for some reason.

I type too much.

It makes no sense to claim that anyone fully understands C++. First, it’s specified by an ISO committee. No single person (even in the committee) holds all the knowledge about the language, so it would be ambitious to find an outsider who knows it fully. Secondly, the language itself is simple, but the libraries around it are not; the same holds true for all modern languages that rely on libraries.

No, I’m not talking about “old” C++. The anecdote I used was to tell that there are surprisingly more people that you would expect who work with C++ in Mauritius. My first encounter with them was about 10 years ago. Since then, I’ve been coding in C++ on and off, including the ISO C++, which admittedly I did not have to know the whole of it. C++, in its core, remains mostly the same.

As I said, I have Bjourne Stroustrup’s book, but not the special edition. I thought that was the definitive book, as it is very comprehensive. I don’t see the point of having a second book, if I have the one from the original author of C++. But, if I had to learn about the changes in the ISO C++, I’d pick up a book for this.

1) I am not saying that you are stupid, but I maintain that you are wrong to jump on the Next Big Language bandwagon.

2) I am still a Mauritian. And, proud of it, too. Maybe you are confused by the use of “your own people” in my response; just to make it clear, that includes me.

I may be completely wrong here, but I sense that as a long-time student and present lecturer, you have not had the chance to do much programming in a commercial environment. Personally, I have been programming since about 1991 (GW-BASIC on a 8088). I have done so professionally for the past 10 years. During this time, I have deployed exactly eight *new* applications. This may sound few to some, but during your career as a programmer, you do not actually release new applications that often, as most of the time you are maintaining existing ones.

It’s not so obscure if you understand a minimum of C++.

P159: Rather than explain it in words, let me explain in the almost-universal Java language.

int cmp2(Object p, Object q) {
return ((User)p).dept – ((User)q).dept;
}

P393: Ain’t C++ great with its support for multiple inheritance?

To be honest, I’ve only ever used “using” to access classes and methods under namespaces, but from this code extract, it appears that by using “using” we can access A::f and B::f as members of class AB. The hiding part is out of context, as we don’t know the method signature of A::f(char).

P523: Again, out of context, so it is not possible to easily identify what this is supposed to do.

However, all these examples are in the book to describe advanced features of the language, not the kind of thing you’d write in your typical application.