I researched langauges for a long time before I settled on FreeBASIC.
I came across D.
Strings, arrays built in. More. Fast. Not large executables.
I learned well enough to do some file work, and also to convert a
fairly large forecasting spreadsheet into a correctly working app.
I tried to learn more.
I thought I would spreadsheet the keywords with shortcuts to the help
files.
I quit at over 4500 keywords and separate defined uses.
It is a one-man-show, ten years old, with 10 year old bugs, and no real
bug list. Sure, there is a genius assisting the work, but the fixes are
kloodgey and arbitrary. A thousand 'traits' to modify behavior. Get
real.
Might as well learn C++.
I should update this. D is not what it was, and seems a little more mainstream, now.
But I won't. Check it out yourself.