2. Why should someone Learn C++ ?

Recently I surveyed Students/C++ Beginners and Programmers good to see above 80% are using C++11 or above C++11.




Also, I am seeing that the popularity of C++ rising quickly. So it really becomes very important to understand Modern C++. Having said that, I get the question from many students why should I learn C++? So before why should I learn C++ Let's see what is C++? How C++ is different from other programming languages. 

What is C++?

"C++ is a language for defining and using light-weight abstractions". It has significant strengths in areas where hardware must be handled effectively and there is significant complexity to cope with. --Bjarne Stroustrup

a) C++ is a General-purpose language that is fit for all domains.

b) Low-level things like C and Abstraction or High Level for Human representing things.

c) High-level abstraction(Human Understanding) efficient enough close enough to the hardware(Machine Understanding) for demanding or resource-intensive tasks.

d) C++ has classes that run as fast as C code.

e) C++ is helping us to write stable code. This means you need not rewrite your code again and again.

C++ Evolved a lot.

Year C++ Standard Informal name

1998 ISO/IEC 14882:1998[27]     C++98

2003 ISO/IEC 14882:2003[28]     C++03

2011 ISO/IEC 14882:2011[29]     C++11, C++0x

2014 ISO/IEC 14882:2014[30]     C++14, C++1y

2017 ISO/IEC 14882:2017[12]     C++17, C++1z

2020 Voted out and will be available in 2021


Why should someone learn C++?

In my opinion, the C++ user base will increase drastically in the future. As you can see when you have terabytes or zeta bytes of data to process in real-time and at the same time you want to use your H/W resource efficiently, with less power consumption, stability C++ could be the obvious choice. With AI/IoT/ML lots of data processing is needed in real-time at the same time providing the required abstraction level to make the programmer's life easy. C++ could be the choice.

More on the performance on the languages you can read Which Programming Languages Use the Least Electricity?

Apart from the things with my personal experience, I found if someone learns C++, it makes it easy to Learn Other Advanced Programming Languages.

C++ Is EVERYWHERE!

Whether you are talking about AI, IoT, Self Driving Cars, Operating Systems, Web Browsers, or Desktop Applications, C++ is everywhere! All the popular web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari are powered by C++.

Moreover, if you are a game lover, you will be surprised to know that many advanced game engines are designed using C++.

The challenge is to write correct C++, Not many resources for teaching pulls it back.

Most people don't use C++ the way it should be used. they use it as either C With classes or Like Java. 

It's not about what all you can do in a language. It's about how you should do things in a language.

So once you use it the way it should be used I am sure you are going to love it the most.

P.S. I am not advocating that someone should only learn C++. But in my opinion, C++ is the language you must have in your resume. It will be definitely a big plus. 

Readers, please provide your comments why do you think you learned C++ and if you have any advice for C++ enthusiasts. 



Location: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3. Template type deduction when template parameter is neither a pointer nor a reference

Image
Motivation for writing, this post is, In the past I interviewed many candidates for C++ and this was one of the topics where I found candidates getting confused with templates type deduction when template parameter is neither a pointer nor a reference. What is a template? As a quick short introduction, In General template, is a ‘pattern’ that is used to create specific instances. Moving from generics to specifics. This means you can generate specific instances by repeating the same pattern again and again for different types of inputs provided. For example, below we have the same presentation template used for C++ and Python-specific presentations for different audiences. C++ Templates In C++ a  template is a class or a function that we parameterize with a set of types or values. We use templates to represent concepts that are best understood as something very general from which we can generate specific types and functions by specifying arguments, such as the element type doub...
Read more

1. nullptr C++

Image
Why nullptr ? what is nullptr ? But we already have NULL why nullptr ? Well the problem is how to distinguish between NULL and 0? we have #define NULL 0. The NULL pointer and an integer 0 cannot be distinguished well for overload resolution. For example, given two overloaded functions The call f(0) unambiguously resolves to f(int). There is no way to write a call to f(char*) with a null pointer value without writing an explicit cast (i.e., f((char*)0)) or using a named variable. Naming NULL Further, programmers have often requested that the null pointer constant have a name (rather than just 0). This is one reason why the macro NULL exists, although that macro is insufficient. (If the null pointer constant had a type-safe name, this would also solve the previous problem as it could be distinguished from the integer 0 for overload resolution and some error detection.) To avoid these problems, 0 must mean only one thing (an integer value), and we need to have a different name t...
Read more