Ian Ollmann (iano@apple.com) on 7/6/10 wrote:
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>I just want a WYSIWYG programming language
>that is portable between multiple ISAs.
>

Back in the day, C used to be derided as a portable assembler. Today, the unportable assembler dialects have changed so much that C no longer matches them as well as it used to.

At the same time, the spectrum of available platforms seems to have consolidated somewhat. A C program that assumes 32 bits integer width and two's complement representation is more portable today than it used to be (even after the 64 bit transition).

Unfortunately people are forgetting that "portable assembler" was a strength of the language, not a weakness. So they try to evolve C into the direction of higher level, more abstract design patterns rather than follow the low level evolution of the hardware.

It is time for D (the real D, not the one that already exists :-). Backwards compatible in spirit, not in syntax or features.