in reply to (OT) Where is programming headed?

I don't know where programming is headed (Perl 6?), but I'd like to know where are you headed, w.r.t. programming languages?

Are you trying to brush up your C out of curiosity, or a out of a practical need?

Anyway, C is alive and well, as is it's bigger brother C++. Nowdays, programming in C instead of C++ is similar to programming in Perl without Perl's OO constructs. Anything you can do with one you can do with the other. However, if you insist on not using OO in Perl, you have to forgo many a lovingly crafted module. Similarly, if you stick to C and shy away from C++, you have to forgo a range of powerful language constructs, and ready-to-use libraries such as STL.

Rudif

P.S. The venerable K&R hello.c still compiles under a current C++ compiler (although it draws a double warning) 

#include <stdio.h> 
main() 
{ 
    printf("hello, world\n"); 
}

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'main' : function should return a value; 'void' return type assumed

[download]

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(Ovid) Re: Re: (OT) Where is programming headed?
by Ovid (Cardinal) on Dec 14, 2001 at 03:52 UTC

    My reasons are fairly simple. "C" is a nice letter to have on a CV :) I know some people won't appreciate this, but I was relieved by the dot.com collapse. The market was tremendously overvalued and, like the Japanese bubble economy of the late 80s, early 90s, the bubble had to burst to start allowing the money to flow more efficiently. The downside of course, is summed up perfectly in a brilliant quote that I heard. Someone was asking why people weren't showing up to a local IT schmooze-fest and the reply was "networking with unemployed people isn't very helpful."

    While my company is still kicking along (barely), I don't want to be one of 73 programmers chasing after that lone programming position that opens up somewhere. I'm taking Java classes (sob) and brushing up on my C seems like good sense in this climate. I think my Perl is decent, but I wouldn't count on finding another job with it unless I want to move again.

    Cheers,
    Ovid

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[reply]
      Ovid,

      Pardon me if my answer was slightly on the flippant side. What I did want to suggest is that there is continuity between the K&R C and today's C++ classes, objects, templates, containers, iterators, algorithms, and the like. So, if you feel like C/C++ is written in your future, just take it from where you stopped a few years ago and go for it. Same as you do when you go to tackle some tough job in Perl.

      Where I work, when we interview programmers for jobs, this is what we look for
      - the domain knowledge and experience : software for sci/eng measuring instruments
      - the programming experience : C++, real time, component software
      - the person : do you have courage and curiosity, can you identify and solve problems, can you find nuggets of knowledge wherever they hide - your head, books, vendor doc (yes!), web; do you know the hardships and joys of teamwork?
      Knowledge and experience are minimal conditions, personal qualities are decisive.

      If you meet a prospective employer who is not probing for these qualities, you should probably look around for another one.

      Rudif

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