D programming language
Hacker ApprovedRanked 56 of 163 programming languages by recommenders
A systems programming language with strong compile-time features and C++-level performance, free to use. Critics cite complexity, tooling problems and a small user base.
A systems programming language with strong compile-time features and C++-level performance, free to use. Critics cite complexity, tooling problems and a small user base.
34 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 29
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 29 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Performance competitive with C++
“D, use dmd for fast development workflows, gdc or ldc for the ultimate performance”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “How to speed up the Rust compiler in September 2026” “If performance is the deciding factor, probably use Rust, Zig, Nim, D, etc.”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 in “Notes by djb on using Fil-C” “Nim and D are very much performance-competitive with C++”
Comment from 18 Nov 2025 in “Ion: Modern System Shell in Rust” Strong templates and compile-time features
“With D modules, imports, static if, manifest constants, and templates the macro processor can be put on the ash heap of history.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Zig Libc” “In D it's generally clearer because comptime operations are distinguished with such things as static if”
Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “Dependent types and how to get rid of them” “a language whose template experience is much better than C++'s”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “The Gamma Language” Good language and compiler
“D is a good language. You chose well.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “G Lang – A lightweight interpreter written in D (2.4MB)” “its compiler is beautiful”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Zig by Example” Sensible C-inspired design choices
“D following suit with tying its char, wchar, and dchar to UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 is commendable.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “C++26: Trivial infinite loops are no longer undefined behaviour” “got most of the lessons learned from C right”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Go: Support for Generic Methods”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Complex, feature-heavy design
“they seem just as complex as c++”
Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “Why is Zig so cool?” “it fell into the trap of adding to many features”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “Why is Zig so cool?” “it was already too complex for my taste”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Why we built Lightpanda in Zig”
Other programming languages people recommend
The four most recommended other programming languages, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 163 programming languages, rankedWhat people said
35 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“OOP is fully optional, and that's how I want OOP in any language”
“same can't be said about Zig / D.”
“languages like D, Go and C# have to keep shipping their own implementations”
“nim/D both support garbage collection and non garbage collection”
“D, use dmd for fast development workflows, gdc or ldc for the ultimate performance”
“D following suit with tying its char, wchar, and dchar to UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 is commendable.”
“I dont know Rust, I dont know D, I dont know how to use Vulcan.”
“look how few developers use D.”
“better than how either C++ or D handle it”
“then why should I not use Rust, Go, Zig, D, C, V, Ada, C++, Nim, Swift, Kotlin Native, Haskell”
“I made my own agent in d-lang”
“It will be even more concise in other languages like D.”
“unified function call syntax in D”
“its compiler is beautiful”
“got most of the lessons learned from C right”
“I have mixed feelings on D”
“see OCaml, Delphi, D, or C# AOT”
“I love how Zig, D and Rust do exactly what you say”
“many have C++ like capabilities, besides having a GC. D, C#, Swift, Nim”
“With D modules, imports, static if, manifest constants, and templates the macro processor can be put on the ash heap of history.”
“D is a good language. You chose well.”
“D does not have that issue.”
“Nim, Zig, D, all have `-run` argument and can be used in similar way.”
“Languages like D [0] or Rust [1] get this right.”
“You can do high level or low level whenever you need it.”
“a language whose template experience is much better than C++'s”
“it was already too complex for my taste”
“D is very nice if you like C, but there are a lot of problems with the project and the tooling”
“D has native C++ interoperability built into the compiler”
“D without a GC is very limited”
“Nim and D are very much performance-competitive with C++”
“In D it's generally clearer because comptime operations are distinguished with such things as static if”
“they seem just as complex as c++”
“it fell into the trap of adding to many features”
“If performance is the deciding factor, probably use Rust, Zig, Nim, D, etc.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.