> Granted, this isn't optional GC, but does D really give you that? Don't you lose the entire ecosystem and stdlib with -asBetterC?
-betterC is not the only way to avoid the GC in D, just the most extreme. The original motivation for -betterC was to ease porting C code to D. Walter has used it for that to port a good bit of his old C code over. But it's also suited for the space in which the blog author is using it, and some people just prefer it. You always have access to the existing C ecosystem, but there are people writing -betterC libraries in the D ecosystem. And as more people use it, I expect that space will grow.
-betterC is not the only way to avoid the GC in D, just the most extreme. The original motivation for -betterC was to ease porting C code to D. Walter has used it for that to port a good bit of his old C code over. But it's also suited for the space in which the blog author is using it, and some people just prefer it. You always have access to the existing C ecosystem, but there are people writing -betterC libraries in the D ecosystem. And as more people use it, I expect that space will grow.