Is C++ worth learning?

[Kizzi]

I used to program in C,
I've read a book on learning C++ a year ago,
What I want to know,
What programming language would you recommend I learn,
Should I go back to C++ (and C),
or is something like Java or C# more suitable today,
and for the future?



Kizzi

[Kizzi]

Tomorrow I'm going to buy a C++ IDE,
and give myself the goal of mastering C++ in a year.
Can I say who's compiler I'm thinking of buying?
Borland Builder 6.
I won't give up my day job though!



Kizzi

[alexander]

Ok, C++ is worth the while, trust me, C is good, C++ is better, there's loads of new things, concepts, ideas, ways to design things, etc.

Can I say who's compiler I'm thinking of buying?

!!!BUYING!!! but they are free in both sences of the word, borland compiler isnt too bad, microsoft one stinks to say the least, I'd recomment dev c++ (http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/dev-cpp/devcpp4.zip for 4 or http://www.bloodshed.net/dev/devcpp.html for the 5 beta) its gcc based and is pretty excellent...

as to my recommendations for your further language studyLhttp://www.bloodshed.net/dev/devcpp.html: Python, Perl( 6, hopefully comes out soon ) and PHP, they are similar enough and Lisp if you'd like my reasons why, dont hesitate to ask

[Qfwfq]

Originally Posted by Kizzi

or is something like Java or C# more suitable today,
and for the future?

Learn these if necessary, AFTER having learnt C++ properly!

Coffee especially can be good for finding jobs, going from C++ to it is downhill. Just after I did, I had only done a bit of stuff in Coffee, I was given the task of teaching Coffee to a colleague that had always worked only in COBOL and within 3 weeks she was helping a team on a project in Coffee.

[Kizzi]

I'll try downloading the devcpp4 this weekend?

The shop only had Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0,
but I prefer borland,
so I came away with Zilch.



Kizzi

[alexander]

Microsoft? Visual? C++? 6.0? that to me just sound like a long oxymoron, the reason you'd want to use a gcc based compiler is because gcc is used and is the main ingredient in Linux, it is the most developed compiler and has been fine tuned for years and years (nevermind the updates that they release every now and then) (its also free and open source, so its a win win there)

[Kizzi]

Yesterday I downloaded DEV-C++ 4.9.9.2 from Bloodshed.
It looks good,
Haven't had a chance to play with it yet.
Got one or two other things to do first.

I tried a live CD of mandrakesoft on my new PC,
but things didn't work out,
it didn't run as expected,
so I think I'm stuck with XP.
Nevermind.



Kizzi

[alexander]

Well, i dont know why you'd go with mandrake to start with, ins by far not the best or easiest to work with distro (assumung that is what you are looking for) if you want to Give linux a try, you should download Knoppix (knoppix.net), they have worked a lot to get their live cd to be almost perfect. If you'd like to play around with an easy linux, you should install Ubuntu (ubuntulinux.org)

[rockytriton]

from my experience, borland builder is crap. If you use it with a very large project, it will crash a lot.

[Kizzi]

I downloaded these electronic books : Thinking in C++ Vol 1 & 2 by Bruce Eckel. I'm currently working my way through the first volume....The first chapter read already!

I might try and get my hands on a Knoppix CD. Downloading would take too long on my dial-up perhaps and I would no doubt run into trouble getting the download to become a live CD! I did have a quick peek at the FAQs but didn't (quickly) see what I was after. I'll take another look this weekend.

I've also got "Teach yourself programming in 21 days" by Jessie Liberty. This seemed a good book when I read it last year. I should of kept up the practice...I'd be a good programmer by now if I had!



I might find an area to specialize in. Do you think neural networks could do with another C++ programmer, or has it all been done?

Kizzi