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DConf 2019: Lessons from a DSL where all you have is ranges -- John Colvin

The D Language Foundation

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  • Recommended by 2 people: 2 in engineering communities.
  • A classic. People kept recommending it from 2019 to 2022.
  • Presented by John Colvin

Intermediate. Assumes working knowledge.

1.4K views7 years ago2 recommendations

Programming languagesSoftware designLanguage design and type systemsFunctional programming

John Colvin discusses building a domain-specific language around D's range concept and the lessons learned from its use.

Slides available at dconf.org/2019/talks/colvin.html. Ranges are so good, we semi-accidentally ended up developing software in a language where ranges were almost the only feature developed. Inspired heavily (cough cough) by D's ranges, we were able get moving fast with basic data processing before most of the language was complete. Over many months of writing code—including a lot by non-D users and people who weren't at the start active programmers—many lessons were learnt; some sweet, some bitter, some downright perplexing. Overall a picture emerged of what ranges are good for, what they aren't suited to, and what they could become good at given specific language and community attention.

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended by users as an interesting talk on using D in production and designing DSLs for non-technical users.

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