Did I pick the wrong langauge?!

[sabret00the]

Originally Posted by Andreas

I've seen quite a few comparisons/benchmarks, and the differences weren't exactly thaaat huge.

Not going to debate on OOP, as I might have slightly different opinions

debate it, i'll get the popcorn and watch

Originally Posted by filburt1

No, but they can be used for the same tasks in Windows at least.

C++ is a horrible language, especially if you're coming off another horrible (for different reasons) language like Visual Basic. Learn Java or C#.

i'll probably read a book on java or c# after i finished reading my php5 book that's collecting dust.

but what would you recommend outta the two and for which reasons?

[Chris M]

Originally Posted by Michelle

C++ isn't object oriented???
We have a subject called "Object oriented programming" in the univerisity I go and it's mainly C++!

filburt said C++'s implementation is crap when compared to Java or C#

Not that it wasn't OO

Chris

Well, I'm looking to learn things that will benefit me in the future. (Ie. College and jobs) I guess it wouldn't hurt learning C++...

[Wayne Luke]

Originally Posted by corriewf

It is amazing how much is done with C.

You'll find that most commercial applications are still coded with mostly C and maybe a smattering of C++ tossed in. I know a lot of the games sold today are done in C mostly still.

[Wayne Luke]

Originally Posted by filburt1

OOP (classes) are great and what every modern language (which excludes C++) use. C++'s implementation is a piece of crap, especially given the language can be used as mix of procedural and object-oriented. Java and C# require everything to be object-oriented.

Of course.. For one, the C++ ANSI standard is not followed very well. You have Visual C++, GTK, etc... Everyone has dipped their hands in the pot and "optimized" the honey. You have people releasing libraries that don't follow conventions and redo what the OS is supposed to instead of letting the OS handle things. This is why it takes forever and a day to port an application from one OS to another, why there are UI consistency issues in ported applications and a whole mess of other problems like memory leaks, buffer over/under runs and just things being a royal pain in the patookus.

With Java and C#, you don't have that as they are controlled by a single entity. Companies with long histories of developing and providing development environments. They have taken what works in C++ and fixed what is broken. They have learned from the mistakes of the past to provide languages that are closer to being truly cross-platform.

However, if you do learn C/C++ then you have the basis for future languages. Combine this with some good coding practices (comments, logical naming, freeing objects explicitly, etc...) then you can easily have a fulfilling lifelong career. If you go to a development house with just Java and C# on your resume today, you will have a hard time getting a job. Might change in 5-10 years but then there will be a new flavor of the month language that comes along.

That said, I am personally teaching myself C# right now. Did C/C++ programming for 10 years, went to school for that but it is time for me to move on. C# fits the bill for my personal development project which is maintaining one or more stores (online and offline) from a central location over a VPN connection.

[filburt1]

Nicely put, Wayne. I agree with every bit.

sabe, I would learn Java, then C#. C# is a bit harder to learn given it still borrows some concepts from C++ like explicitly making methods virtual. There are also a lot of IDEs for Java (Eclipse is the only one I recommend now) whereas for C#, there is only one major one: Visual Studio.net.