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Pike programming language VS D (Programming Language)

Compare Pike programming language VS D (Programming Language) and see what are their differences

Pike programming language logo Pike programming language

Dynamic programming language with a syntax similar to Java and C

D (Programming Language) logo D (Programming Language)

D is a language with C-like syntax and static typing.
  • Pike programming language Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-15
  • D (Programming Language) Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-09

Pike programming language features and specs

  • Cross-platform Compatibility
    Pike can run on various platforms, including UNIX-like systems, Windows, and macOS, which makes it versatile for developers working in different environments.
  • Built-in Support for Object-Oriented Programming
    Pike supports object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigms, which allows developers to create reusable and modular code structures.
  • Efficient String and Data Handling
    Pike provides robust tools for handling strings and other data types, which simplifies text processing and parsing tasks.
  • Garbage Collection
    Automated memory management via garbage collection helps in reducing memory leaks, aiding developers in focusing more on application logic than memory management.
  • Rich Standard Library
    Pike offers a comprehensive standard library with modules for network programming, cryptography, multimedia handling, and more, aiding rapid development.

Possible disadvantages of Pike programming language

  • Relatively Niche Community
    Pike has a smaller user community compared to more popular languages, which can result in less community support, fewer tutorials, and limited third-party libraries.
  • Less Corporate Backing
    Unlike languages backed by large corporations, Pike may lack extensive development resources and long-term support guarantees.
  • Learning Curve
    For developers coming from more mainstream languages, Pike's syntax and concepts may take some time to get used to, prolonging the initial learning process.
  • Limited Integration with New Technologies
    The slower pace of updates and limited resources might make Pike fall behind in integrating the latest technological advancements and trends.
  • Scalability Challenges
    While suitable for small to medium-sized projects, Pike might pose challenges when used for very large systems requiring advanced concurrency management.

D (Programming Language) features and specs

  • Performance
    D is designed to be a high-performance systems programming language, offering performance comparable to C and C++ through native machine code compilation.
  • Expressiveness
    D features a rich standard library and modern language constructs, such as garbage collection, first-class arrays, and advanced templating, making it easier to write expressive and maintainable code.
  • Memory Safety
    D offers optional garbage collection along with manual memory management. This hybrid approach can help in developing safer applications by reducing memory-related errors.
  • Interoperability
    D can easily interoperate with C API, enabling seamless integration with existing C libraries and systems. It also supports better C++ interoperability compared to other languages.
  • Built-in Unit Testing
    D has built-in support for unit tests, allowing developers to write and run tests as part of the language itself, facilitating test-driven development.
  • Concurrency
    D offers built-in concurrency support with message passing, similar to the actor model found in languages like Erlang, making it easier to write concurrent and parallel programs.

Possible disadvantages of D (Programming Language)

  • Adoption
    D is not as widely adopted as other languages like C, C++, or Java. This limited adoption means fewer libraries, frameworks, and community support.
  • Toolchain Maturity
    While D's compilers and tools have improved over the years, they may still lack the maturity and feature set of more established languages, which can affect developer productivity.
  • Learning Curve
    D's richness and combination of paradigms (such as imperative, object-oriented, and functional programming) can present a steep learning curve for new developers.
  • Garbage Collection
    Although D offers optional garbage collection, its reliance on it for memory safety might be seen as a drawback for real-time system development where deterministic memory management is crucial.
  • Ecosystem
    The ecosystem for D is less vibrant compared to more popular languages, leading to potentially fewer third-party libraries, tools, and resources.
  • Standard Library Documentation
    The standard library documentation can be inconsistent or less comprehensive compared to other languages, making it difficult for developers to fully utilize all features of the language.

Analysis of D (Programming Language)

Overall verdict

  • Overall, D is a solid programming language choice that balances performance with productivity. It may not be as widely adopted as some other languages, but it has a dedicated community and continues to evolve, making it a viable option for various programming tasks.

Why this product is good

  • The D programming language is considered good by many developers for various reasons. It combines the performance and low-level control of C/C++ with the expressive power and ease of use found in modern languages. D offers features like garbage collection, first-class functions, and compile-time function execution, providing both speed and flexibility. Its interoperability with C, the convenience of a powerful standard library (Phobos), and the availability of packages via the DUB package manager make it a practical choice for systems programming, application development, and rapid prototyping.

Recommended for

  • System programming enthusiasts looking for an alternative to C/C++
  • Developers interested in writing high-performance applications
  • Programmers who appreciate modern language features and strong community support
  • Projects requiring seamless C integration
  • Individuals looking for a language that supports easy code maintenance and scalability

Pike programming language videos

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D (Programming Language) videos

D Language Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Pike programming language and D (Programming Language))
Programming Language
29 29%
71% 71
OOP
31 31%
69% 69
Development
48 48%
52% 52
Generic Programming Language

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, D (Programming Language) seems to be a lot more popular than Pike programming language. While we know about 60 links to D (Programming Language), we've tracked only 4 mentions of Pike programming language. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Pike programming language mentions (4)

  • The C Interpreter: A Tutorial for Cin
    I'm sure I remember Pike starting off as a literal C interpreter, but somewhere along the line decided to become it's own 'C-like' language. https://pike.lysator.liu.se Wikipedia seems to imply that it was separated out from LPmud's built-in 'C interpreter' which sounds about right. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • MUD in Pike
    In any other case, I dunno. I just like it cos it's basically LPC being used outside a MUD. Check out the site though, and maybe play with it too. pike.lysator.liu.se. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Hacker News top posts: May 21, 2022
    Pike Programming Language\ (45 comments). Source: over 4 years ago
  • What's the most obscure ACTUAL programming language?
    Pike (Apparently some Opera browser proxy compression server was written in it.). Source: over 4 years ago

D (Programming Language) mentions (60)

  • Ask HN: What is your (AI) dev tech stack / workflow? (June 2026)
    I've spent 2 weeks (2-4h per day) to make D language[1] version of Sciter SDK [2] Choice of AI "tooling" was by accident - typed something like "how to define copy constructor in D for custom structure" in Microsoft's Copilot in Edge browser that gives context for AI. The answer was good enough for me and so I went with it further. [1] D language HQ : https://dlang.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Rue: Higher level than Rust, lower level than Go
    > Mostly, I am not really trying to compete with C/C++/Rust on speed, but I'm not going to add a GC either. So I'm somewhere in there. Out of curiosity, how would you compare the goals of Rue with something like D[0] or one of the ML-based languages such as OCaml[1]? 0 - https://dlang.org/ 1 - https://ocaml.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Pony: An actor-model, capabilities-secure, high-performance programming language
    The D language home page has something similar with a drop down with code examples https://dlang.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Show HN: D++lang – A new systems programming language with Python-like syntax
    What is this? There's a lot of red flags here. * The name "D" for a programming language was taken in 1999: https://dlang.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Koto Programming Language
    >For me the biggest gap in programming languages is a rust like language with a garbage collector, instead of a borrow checker. I cannot agree more that's the much needed sweet spot/Goldilock/etc. Personally I have been advocating this approach for some times. Apparently the language is already widely available and currently has stable and wide compiler support including the venerable GNU compiler suite (GDC). It... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Pike programming language and D (Programming Language), you can also consider the following products

C++ - Has imperative, object-oriented and generic programming features, while also providing the facilities for low level memory manipulation

Perl - Highly capable, feature-rich programming language with over 26 years of development

Nim (programming language) - The Nim programming language is a concise, fast programming language that compiles to C, C++ and JavaScript.

Go Programming Language - Go, also called golang, is a programming language initially developed at Google in 2007 by Robert...

V (programming language) - Simple, fast, safe, compiled language for developing maintainable software.

IronPython - Development