Choosing a language
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I don't know if it's just me, but I'm seeing less and less C++ jobs becoming available. I'm currently in the process of learning it and I wanted to know if I should continue or not. I know I probably should, and will, but that's beside the point.
Which language will be best suited for the future? This is not for game programming, just programming in general, and i am sorry for such a vague question. It does seem though that C++ is more or less the standard... I don't know if C++ it's becoming obsolete or what.
C#? Python?
If you're trying to find a job, honestly, languages are one of the last things you should worry about.
Professionally, I've worked with x86 ASM, C, C++, D, Java, C#, Python, Perl, Fortran, Lisp, VB6, RPG, Smalltalk, Ada, as well as a few in house languages.
Are all these on my resume? Of course not. Do I actually know most of these languages well. No. But that's the nature of work. More often than not, you end up getting placed in jobs to do work with something you have little to know experience in, and have to end up learning it.
The big factor in getting a job, keeping a job, is that you know the principles of what to do, and how to accomplish it. And that you can pick up work regardless of the language, and learn the language well enough should you not know it previously, that the job gets done.
Besides, the one good thing about knowing an obselete language, is that believe it or not, many companies have lots of legacy code that they can't or won't upgrade, which means, the few people who understand the languages have a leg up when it comes to salary negotiations.
Professionally, I've worked with x86 ASM, C, C++, D, Java, C#, Python, Perl, Fortran, Lisp, VB6, RPG, Smalltalk, Ada, as well as a few in house languages.
Are all these on my resume? Of course not. Do I actually know most of these languages well. No. But that's the nature of work. More often than not, you end up getting placed in jobs to do work with something you have little to know experience in, and have to end up learning it.
The big factor in getting a job, keeping a job, is that you know the principles of what to do, and how to accomplish it. And that you can pick up work regardless of the language, and learn the language well enough should you not know it previously, that the job gets done.
Besides, the one good thing about knowing an obselete language, is that believe it or not, many companies have lots of legacy code that they can't or won't upgrade, which means, the few people who understand the languages have a leg up when it comes to salary negotiations.
Honestly the degree to which you need to be proficient with C++ for a job is completely dependent on the industry.
web based stuff: not very important usually
games: typically it's the language of choice so you better know it
other CS jobs: you'd have to find out.
But certainly the games industry is almost entirely C++ and starving for qualified engineers (the big studios anyway)
-me
web based stuff: not very important usually
games: typically it's the language of choice so you better know it
other CS jobs: you'd have to find out.
But certainly the games industry is almost entirely C++ and starving for qualified engineers (the big studios anyway)
-me
python. i was learning c++ but since switching to python development/learning time has been slashed.
Honestly? VB(yes, VB) and Java. At least from what I see, that's what they ask in most jobs these days. You might want to learn C# also. Exception is of course the game industry, where C++ seems to be dominant.
Python is wonderful for learning, but how many jobs are there for it? Not much.
Why not? Especially since you have professional experience with them, why not include them in your resume?
Python is wonderful for learning, but how many jobs are there for it? Not much.
Quote:
Professionally, I've worked with x86 ASM, C, C++, D, Java, C#, Python, Perl, Fortran, Lisp, VB6, RPG, Smalltalk, Ada, as well as a few in house languages.
Are all these on my resume? Of course not.
Why not? Especially since you have professional experience with them, why not include them in your resume?
Learn to program in any language, then worry about needing to know specific languages. You'll find that once you've learned one language it'll be significantly easier to pick up additional languages as required, excepting of course languages that are significantly different (learning a functional language often challenges people for example).
Don't try to guess what future trends will be and choose a language based on that. Choose a language which has plenty of learning materials available (perhaps you could look into some sort of class in your local area?) and which you think you'll be able to learn and use it to learn the fundamentals of programming. Then go out and get some languages that you think will be helpful for the industry in which you're working.
Since you're already learning C++ you may as well continue for now. You can always learn additional languages in future, but while it may or may not continue to be the language of choice in any given field of programming knowledge of C++ will never be useless to you.
Don't try to guess what future trends will be and choose a language based on that. Choose a language which has plenty of learning materials available (perhaps you could look into some sort of class in your local area?) and which you think you'll be able to learn and use it to learn the fundamentals of programming. Then go out and get some languages that you think will be helpful for the industry in which you're working.
Quote:Python is wonderful for learning, but how many jobs are there for it? Not much.It is seeing increasing usage actually, but again this isn't a good reason for learning it unless you can already program and are applying for a specific position. As a language that's generally very nice to learn with Python would still be an excellent choice to start out with, making the transition to C++ or C# or x-current-language-of-choice that much easier to apply for a specific position.
Since you're already learning C++ you may as well continue for now. You can always learn additional languages in future, but while it may or may not continue to be the language of choice in any given field of programming knowledge of C++ will never be useless to you.
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