What is the preferred console output method in modern D?

Question

Most of the D language tutorials I've seen use printf to output text to the console, but that can't be right. I know that D provides direct access to the C/C++ libraries, but shouldn't D's console output function be used instead? What is the preferred method for outputting text (formatted or otherwise) to a console window?

Answer 1

Within the module std.stdio, you'll find write and friends: writeln, writef, and writefln.

---

write just takes each argument, converts it to a string, and outputs it:

import std.stdio;

void main()
{
    write(5, " <- that's five"); // prints: 5 <- that's five
}

writef treats the first string as a format-specifier (much like C's printf), and uses it to format the remaining arguments:

import std.stdio;

void main()
{
    writef("%d %s", 5, "<- that's five"); // prints: 5 <- that's five
}

The versions ending with "ln" are equivalent to the version without it, but also append a newline at the end of printing. All versions are type-safe (and therefore extensible).