[echelon]

Back when D originally debuted, I couldn't separate it in my mind from C# and Java, despite the fact that you could manage your own memory. It felt like it fit into the same space, yet didn't have a compelling ecosystem. (Competing standard libraries did not help their case!)

That's at least why I glossed over it.

[pjmlp]

Java and C# also offered similar capabilities when D appeared.

Granted on Java side it required sun.misc.Unsafe, JNI or Real-Time JSR, while on C# side, a mix of structs, SafeHandle, MarshalInterop, unsafe and eventually C++/CLI.

So while not as pleasant as D, the cost to drop those eco-systems wasn't worth the cost to switch, and now 10 years later those eco-systems have doubled down on improving the experience for low level coding.

This makes it quite hard to sell D to those potential users.