Is C++ dying?
Author
Next year at my high school the computer science class will be teaching Java instead of c++. The teacher claimed that c++ is dying. At first when I heard this from my friend I thought no way! c++ is used to code xbox, gamecube, ps2, and GBA games how could it be dying and java be taking over!? But then I just read about how some collage will be removing c++ from its program and teach java next year as well. So what do you guys think/know? Is c++ dying and Java taking over? And if not now what about the near future?
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Programming is confussing!
AIM: Trebor DoD
its not dieing, my teachers said that too. I know java, i can program in it decently. I use c++.
quote:Original post by Digigamer15
The teacher claimed that c++ is dying.
The teacher is an idiot, and likely has no (edit: recent and relevant) professional programming experience.
The Java switch is the academic manifestation of the OOP-whoring that's been reaching a climax for the past few years. Give it time, and it'll settle down. No matter which way it comes out, C++ will most likely emerge as strong as before.
Later,
ZE.
//email me.//zealouselixir software.//msdn.//n00biez.//
miscellaneous links
[edited by - zealouselixir on January 13, 2003 11:35:13 PM]
quote:Original post by Digigamer15
Next year at my high school the computer science class will be teaching Java instead of c++. The teacher claimed that c++ is dying.
Your teacher is wrong but tell him you agree.
quote:
At first when I heard this from my friend I thought no way! c++ is used to code xbox, gamecube, ps2, and GBA games how could it be dying and java be taking over!? But then I just read about how some collage will be removing c++ from its program and teach java next year as well. So what do you guys think/know? Is c++ dying and Java taking over? And if not now what about the near future?
Perhaps one of the reasons of the switch at schools is that Java might be more pedagogical to learn oop and students suffer less.
At my school they''re doing the same exact thing, next year you can''t take any more C++ classes (which is extremely stupid), only Java classes. It''s dumb because we have AP C++ yet only regular Java, so now new programmers will be spending a year less time getting experience. I hate my school with a royal passion though, they do a LOT of stupid things.
Same thing with my school. They model their CS courses after AP College Board, which look at how actual colleges do things (for the most part). From what I understand, they switched from C++ to Java in a lot of the fundamentals of programming type classes. I think this has to with the fact that the professors would rather have their students worry more about learning how to program in general terms than having to deal with the details of a language just to get their programs running. Not totally for sure though, I just read something like this on the AP computer science website when they talked about the switch to Java.
quote:Is c++ dying and Java taking over?
You know those cans of peanuts you can buy, but when you open them up, a bunch of spring-loaded snakes pop out? That's what asking this question is like. I think the answer you'll mostly get here is : "No, C++ isn't dying.", simply because so many of us live and breathe C++ on a daily basis.
From an academic point of view, I can certainly understand why Java is being chosen as the teaching language. It's in widespread use so students get some skills that are applicable to the real world, it's object-oriented from the ground up (no religious wars on this statement, please!) unlike C++ which can be procedural or OO, and it's portable to most any platform so students can write the same code on Windows, Linux, Mac OS with little or no modifications. You also throw out the use of pointers and more advanced (relatively) memory management issues which can make life easier on students that don't inherently grasp a programming language. Sure there are other languages, like Smalltalk, Objective-C, Scheme, Delphi, but none of those has the mainstream usage of Java. This keeps college kids from griping that they're not getting taught a language that's instantly employable.
My $2.00
greg
[edited by - mond on January 13, 2003 11:47:44 PM]
Java is possibly easier to teach because it saves the teacher from the nightmare of managing a full class of newbie programmers all crashing their programs due to mistakes relating to pointers. 
Personally I think that Java has some ugly syntax in places where newbies really don''t need it (console input, for instance - or just the need for a class and all the access modifiers just to get an application to run), but if I personally favour C++ over Java in this regard, this may be a consequence of the fact that I subjectively like C++ better.
Outside of academic environments, the question needs context. Java is good for some things. C++ is good for some things. The areas may partially overlap, but neither is universally better than the other, nor is either language likely to replace the other.
Personally I think that Java has some ugly syntax in places where newbies really don''t need it (console input, for instance - or just the need for a class and all the access modifiers just to get an application to run), but if I personally favour C++ over Java in this regard, this may be a consequence of the fact that I subjectively like C++ better.Outside of academic environments, the question needs context. Java is good for some things. C++ is good for some things. The areas may partially overlap, but neither is universally better than the other, nor is either language likely to replace the other.
I honestly think that C++ isn''t even close to dying. Java is chosen my instructors to probably teach object oriented programming or programming in general because it is easy. I mean imagine having to teach students strings in C++ and then imagine how much easier it is to teach students strings in Java. Not having to worry about pointers and what not also makes Java much easier to teach. I think that it''s just a hype that will eventually settle down. Java is a good language and is very useful for creating applications that work on the internet. But if you are looking for peak performance graphics...Java is the wrong place to be looking.
- Halcyon
- Halcyon
C++ is not dying because you can do things in C++ that are not possible in java. Case in point, my University move from C++ to Java three years ago but have now decided to move back to C++.
Why you ask? Two Reasons:
1. Once you learn C++ it is almost trivial to move to Java coding, whereas the opposite is not true (moving from Java to C++).
2. For some types of programming you simply cannot use Java. For example, Operating Systems is a required class for all CS majors at my University and all programming is done in C/C++.
Why you ask? Two Reasons:
1. Once you learn C++ it is almost trivial to move to Java coding, whereas the opposite is not true (moving from Java to C++).
2. For some types of programming you simply cannot use Java. For example, Operating Systems is a required class for all CS majors at my University and all programming is done in C/C++.
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