I've recently gone back to looking at D and like what I see.
I've mostly been looking at it on Linux where it seems efficient
and stable.
However the project I'd really like to use it for is on windows
(x86-64 but if at all possible I'd like to compiler for x86 as
well). But my experience on windows has been poor.
What I want to build is a 3d opengl graphics application.
Performance is fairly important. My experience on Linux is that
DMD is a great compiler but if you want decent speed you need to
use GDC or LDC. (And from looking at the generated code, which
backs up that opinion...)
The problem I have is that I can't see to find a decent, stable
platform on windows. I installed DMD and visual D and it works
well enough. And it's great for trying stuff out, but I worry
about speed of produced code for my application. The website
front page tells me that I can run GDC but search all I can and I
can't find any kind of installer for windows, only for Linux. I
managed to find and install LDC, and that mostly, somewhat works.
Except that half the time the compiler crashes with a stack
trace, and sometimes it just hangs. Occasionally if I move and
rearrange the code it will manage to compile it. There are also
worrying comments on the LDC web page about how "Most programs
work just fine" and "Several unit tests still fail" and stuff
about it relying on stuff from visual c++ in order to work that
make me seriously doubt it's stability and correctness.
I'm like an honest opinion... Am I wasting my time trying to do
this project in D on Windows? I'll continue to use and support
the language but I don't want to fight a losing battle and end up
having to move away anyway...
Is there a stable LDC, or is there possibly something wrong with
my install? Is LDC sufficiently working to use for "production"?
If there a GDC port to windows at all? It seems there is, but if
there is it's well hidden...
