The D programming Language !

penguinblotter writes in a journal article: "Soon, Walter Bright is scheduled to release version 1.0 of the D Programming Language. D is a systems programming language. Its focus is on combining the power and high performance of C and C++ with the programmer productivity of modern languages like Ruby and Python. Special attention is given to the needs of quality assurance, documentation, management, portability and reliability. D has appeared on Slashdot a few times before, and Walter has continued to add more and more features. Most Slashdot community comments in these articles have been offered on feature X or spec Y without reading through the extensive D newsgroup archives. It has been here over the past seven years where extremely gifted and experienced programmers hashed out discussions and arrived at excellent implementations of all the ideas discussed."

For those with a C/C++ background, D offers:

* native code speed
* extremely fast compilation times
* garbage collection (although you can manage your own memory if you want)
* OOP - by reference only, easy initialization, always virtual
* cleaner template metaprogramming syntax, more powerful templates, as well
* built-in dynamic and associative arrays, array slicing
* versioning (no preprocessor madness)
* link-compatibility with C
* nested functions
* class delegates / function pointers
* module system

For those with a C#/Java background (a shorter list, but one with big wins):

* similar syntax
* No virtual machine or interpreter
* built-in unit testing and design-by-contract

These two comparison sheets can go into more depth on how D stacks up against other languages.

From D's creator:
For me, it's hard to pinpoint any particular feature or two. It's the combination of features that makes the cake, not the sugar, flour or baking powder. So,

1. My programs come together faster and have fewer bugs.
2. Once written, the programs are easier to modify.
3. I can do (1) and (2) without giving up performance.

Get your compilers and start hacking D!

* DMD (Digital Mars reference compiler, Windows & Linux, x86)
* GDC (GCC front-end)