Future of c++

[Zootal]

My apologies if this gets asked/discussed a lot. With c# rampaging through
corporate USA (and other countries), what impact will this have on the usage
and future of c++? I've used both of them a bit. I'm in school, and our CS
program does not use c#, but uses mostly c++ and a bit of java. C# is
relegated ot the CIS programs. Out there in the real world, what kind of a
future does c++ have?

 

[Noah Roberts]

My apologies if this gets asked/discussed a lot. With c# rampaging through
corporate USA (and other countries), what impact will this have on the usage
and future of c++? I've used both of them a bit. I'm in school, and our CS
program does not use c#, but uses mostly c++ and a bit of java. C# is
relegated ot the CIS programs. Out there in the real world, what kind of a
future does c++ have?

C++ isn't going away any time soon.

 

[Mike Wahler]

My apologies if this gets asked/discussed a lot. With c# rampaging through
corporate USA (and other countries), what impact will this have on the
usage
and future of c++? I've used both of them a bit. I'm in school, and our CS
program does not use c#, but uses mostly c++ and a bit of java. C# is
relegated ot the CIS programs. Out there in the real world, what kind of a
future does c++ have?

C++ is platform-independent.
C# is only usable on a limited set of platforms.

Now you decide.

-Mike

 

[Phlip]

My apologies if this gets asked/discussed a lot. With c# rampaging through
corporate USA (and other countries), what impact will this have on the
usage and future of c++? I've used both of them a bit. I'm in school, and
our CS program does not use c#, but uses mostly c++ and a bit of java. C#
is relegated ot the CIS programs. Out there in the real world, what kind
of a future does c++ have?

In 2004, I said Ruby will replace C++.

In 2000, MS said C# will replace C++.

In 1995, Sun said Java will replace C++.

In 1990, MS said VB will replace C++.

In 1985, NeXT said Objective C will replace C.

In 1980, PARC said Smalltalk will replace C.

So, it looks like it's unanimous. C++ will be replaced!

 

[Victor Bazarov]

[...] Out there
in the real world, what kind of a future does c++ have?

Ask not what kind of future the language can have. Ask what
kind of future you can have in the language.

V

 

[Walter Bright]

In 2004, I said Ruby will replace C++.

In 2000, MS said C# will replace C++.

In 1995, Sun said Java will replace C++.

In 1990, MS said VB will replace C++.

In 1985, NeXT said Objective C will replace C.

In 1980, PARC said Smalltalk will replace C.

So, it looks like it's unanimous. C++ will be replaced!

No language ever actually 'replaces' another, after all, C++ hasn't even
replaced C! There's so much existing C++ code out there that people will
always be needing C++ compilers and C++ programmers to keep them working
and up to date.

But C++ is increasingly showing its age in the form of old-fashioned
ways of doing things. This won't bother the older programmers who've
used it throughout their career, but it won't be attracting younger
ones. Back in the 80's when C++ first came out, I remember the
breathless excitement people had with it. I haven't seen much of that
for years about C++.

I do see such excitement for modern languages like D and Ruby, and I
also see a much younger demographic using those languages.

-Walter Bright
www.digitalmars.com C, C++, D programming language compilers

 

[Victor Bazarov]

[..] Back in the 80's when C++ first came out, I remember the
breathless excitement people had with it. I haven't seen much of that
for years about C++.

Back in 1900s when electricity was taking over lighting of the streets,
houses and running machines, there was excitement. I can't say that I
remember any excitement about electric power for years. But where would
our life be without it? That's my take on C++.

V

 

[learnfpga]

I guess I will rephrase his question because I have a similar kind of
concerns as I have recently started dabbling in C++ out of hobby and
future commercial reasons for last few months.
Will getting a decent proficiency in C++ help me learn JAVA, C# or
python more quickly or will I have to start from scratch when I get to
those languages?
I guess the analogy would be if one knows how to drive a car it will be
relatively easier to learn to drive a big Trailer........

 

[Noah Roberts]

I guess I will rephrase his question because I have a similar kind of
concerns as I have recently started dabbling in C++ out of hobby and
future commercial reasons for last few months.
Will getting a decent proficiency in C++ help me learn JAVA, C# or
python more quickly or will I have to start from scratch when I get to
those languages?
I guess the analogy would be if one knows how to drive a car it will be
relatively easier to learn to drive a big Trailer........

It is certainly easier to learn to drive a big trailer if you already
know how to drive some form of vehicle is it not?

Programming concepts are universal.

 

[Zootal]

[...] Out there
in the real world, what kind of a future does c++ have?

Ask not what kind of future the language can have. Ask what
kind of future you can have in the language.

That is to some extant the question. What kind of a future will I have in
years to come learning c++? My current skill set is with VFP, which is a
dead tool. I feel like the old COBOL programmers who can't find COBOL work
anymore. Time to learn something new.

My take is that right now, c# is Microsoft (yes there is an open source/xnix
c# compiler, but how stable and complete is it?). I think that will help you
if you are a Microsoft shop, but for the rest of the world, using c# may not
be an option simply because of the strong association with MS. Given a
choice between a MS exclusive tool, and a universal tool, I'll take the
universal router.

What is D? What is Ruby?

Any comments about the future of using php/perl?

 

[Roberto Waltman]

... With c# rampaging through
corporate USA (and other countries), what impact will this have on the usage
and future of c++? ...
... Out there in the real world, what kind of a
future does c++ have?

From an embedded developer point of view:

C#? What is a "C#"? Is it edible?
How could I identify one if a ever see it?

 

[mlimber]

Zootal wrote:
[snip]

What is D? What is Ruby?

[snip]

Google is your friend. The Wikipedia is also your friend.

Cheers! --M

 

[Walter Bright]

I guess I will rephrase his question because I have a similar kind of
concerns as I have recently started dabbling in C++ out of hobby and
future commercial reasons for last few months.
Will getting a decent proficiency in C++ help me learn JAVA, C# or
python more quickly
Yes.

or will I have to start from scratch when I get to
those languages?
I guess the analogy would be if one knows how to drive a car it will be
relatively easier to learn to drive a big Trailer........

If you really want a leg up, learn assembler. Knowing how the underlying
machine works will help you immeasurably in learning and effectively
using any programming language.

 

[Walter Bright]

What is D?

www.digitalmars.com/d/

 

[Zootal]

www.digitalmars.com/d/

Very interesting. Very interesting indeed. How serious is this effort, how
likely is it that it will take off and achieve wide acceptance? How many are
using it now?

 

[Walter Bright]

Very interesting. Very interesting indeed. How serious is this effort,

As serious as it gets. A lot of people have devoted thousands of hours
apiece to it. Check out the community at news.digitalmars.com.

how
likely is it that it will take off and achieve wide acceptance? How many are
using it now?

It's moved up to #19 now. That means it has quite a lot of activity
associated with it: http://www.tiobe.com/tpci.htm

 

[Victor Bazarov]

As serious as it gets. A lot of people have devoted thousands of hours
apiece to it. Check out the community at news.digitalmars.com.


It's moved up to #19 now. That means it has quite a lot of activity
associated with it: http://www.tiobe.com/tpci.htm

Would you kindly take this discussion elsewhere?

 

[Jack Klein]

My apologies if this gets asked/discussed a lot. With c# rampaging through

^^^^^^^^^
According to http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=rampage:

ram·page
n.

A course of violent, frenzied behavior or action.


intr.v. ram·paged, ram·pag·ing, ram·pag·es (also rm-pj)

To move about wildly or violently.

....and my favorite:

n : violently angry and destructive behavior [syn: violent disorder]
v : act violently, recklessly, or destructively

How very apt, but please don't feed the trolls. Remember language
comparisons are OT here, except perhaps between C++ and C.

 

[Gernot Frisch]

If you really want a leg up, learn assembler. Knowing how the
underlying
machine works will help you immeasurably in learning and effectively
using any programming language.

You ment that cynically, but I agree. If you know about assembler, you
can optimize smal code portions more efficiently. However, if this
really pays these days is another question...

 

[Walter Bright]

You ment that cynically, but I agree. If you know about assembler, you
can optimize smal code portions more efficiently. However, if this
really pays these days is another question...

I didn't mean it cynically at all. As to whether it pays or not, that
depends on if you're willing to settle for second rate or not <g>.