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last time I used C++ was back in 1996 and my conclusion was that is a horrible language with even more horrible libraries like MFC which made me quit it for Del

by kilon 11y ago

last time I used C++ was back in 1996 and my conclusion was that is a horrible language with even more horrible libraries like MFC which made me quit it for Delphi. 20 years later on, being mainly a python dev and lately working with lisp and smalltalk, I decided to go back to C++ because I will be using Unreal Engine heavily for making games. So I was eager to see what have changed in the mean time and whether that would change me my belief that C++ is the worst language I ever used . After several tutorials, text books, learning the new features in C++ 11 etc, my mind has changed. C++ is a horrible language trying to get better. Beyond the usual crap and total disregard of good design that this language and its libraries exhibit , it does not fail to suprise me something like fstream.good() to detect that the file has not reach its end , its just blows the mind. But C++ is a necessary evil in my case, so the torture continues.

pjmlp 11y ago
As someone that went Turbo Pascal/Delphi => C++ as Borland lost touch with the developer community, the biggest problem to replace that necessary evil is getting newer languages into OS vendor SDKs. On my case, if the language is not part of the SDK, usually it no use discussing its use with the customers. At least C++ is way safer than C, if one cares to use its features.
- kilon 11y ago
  There lies the problem, C++ reigns king in making games and many other area of coding. The language may be horrible but there are ways to avoid the horrible stuff and use some libraries that are far better design. Nowdays for example I would use something like QT which is very well made, to avoid MFC. Thats the issue with offering an alternative to C++, its not enough to offer a better design language you also need to replace countless of C++ libraries that very capable , mature and very well established. Hence why there is no true C++ replacement out there beyond Java. Delphi was awesome in countless diffirent ways but just lacked the library support to make it as popular. But at the time was as popular as python is nowdays with around 1 million developers and Borland C++ had 2 million. However at the same time VB had around 6 million and Visual C++ much more than that. C++ is way safer than C but also way more complex. Which comes as no surprise why C is the go to choice for small libraries. Frankly I rather go C++ as well.
  - pjmlp 11y ago
    At work we migrated from C++ to JVM and .NET languages around 2006. So where we get to use to still use C++? Interfacing with hardware, COM libraries, JVM/CLR agents and lately portable native code across mobile OSes. Someday using Rust, D, Go, Swift will be an welcome option, but they aren't there yet, at least for the type of customers we work with.

by kilon 11y ago

pjmlp 11y ago

As someone that went Turbo Pascal/Delphi => C++ as Borland lost touch with the developer community, the biggest problem to replace that necessary evil is getting newer languages into OS vendor SDKs. On my case, if the language is not part of the SDK, usually it no use discussing its use with the customers. At least C++ is way safer than C, if one cares to use its features.

kilon 11y ago
There lies the problem, C++ reigns king in making games and many other area of coding. The language may be horrible but there are ways to avoid the horrible stuff and use some libraries that are far better design. Nowdays for example I would use something like QT which is very well made, to avoid MFC. Thats the issue with offering an alternative to C++, its not enough to offer a better design language you also need to replace countless of C++ libraries that very capable , mature and very well established. Hence why there is no true C++ replacement out there beyond Java. Delphi was awesome in countless diffirent ways but just lacked the library support to make it as popular. But at the time was as popular as python is nowdays with around 1 million developers and Borland C++ had 2 million. However at the same time VB had around 6 million and Visual C++ much more than that. C++ is way safer than C but also way more complex. Which comes as no surprise why C is the go to choice for small libraries. Frankly I rather go C++ as well.
- pjmlp 11y ago
  At work we migrated from C++ to JVM and .NET languages around 2006. So where we get to use to still use C++? Interfacing with hardware, COM libraries, JVM/CLR agents and lately portable native code across mobile OSes. Someday using Rust, D, Go, Swift will be an welcome option, but they aren't there yet, at least for the type of customers we work with.