Is desktop programming still providing employment?
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
vonpik wrote:
So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment?
yes
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
I had to search a while for the message, but I found it. Take a look to this thread[^] there are answers (specially the one of Rajesh) that are very good and maybe will let you see things on other way.
Regards. -------- M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpfull answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
I feel your pain mate, i too learnt C/C++ and got a job(s) in the field for a number of years but noticed the trend of Web Apps coming along and slowly my C/C++ skills where boxing me in rather than given me new opportunities so i sold out an moved to SQL Server and Web based ASP.NET solutions in C#... i now earn twice as much and get head hunted rather than searching around for jobs frantically. although the work is orders of magnitude less stimulating the pay is far better and i guess that is whats counts after you sell out like me. :| On the bright side it is my opinion that C++ programmers are the best and can turn their hand at anything... so you shouldnt have any probs in the long term
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
Be careful not to confuse desktop programming and C++. IMHO, the market for C++ developers is still good. But it (like that for any job) depends on where you live. A cursory search for full-time C++ positions within 50 miles of the Boston yielded 193 jobs[^]. [edit] And 40[^] full-time positions for Qt developers. [/edit] /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
Fake it till you make and get a job doing web development... you'll never look back. I was a C++ developer for 20 years and now I develop C# ASP.NET applications and little pop desktop apps in C# here and there. But my drug of choice now is web development.
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
Yes. I write Qt code for a living for the last 3.5 years before that I wrote MFC code for around 11.5 years (same job). I will continue developing in C++/Qt most likely for as long as my current job lasts.
John
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
People were talking about the 'demise' of COM, and yet look what has happened with Windows 7. Everything is COM! The market has opened up floodgates for opportunities for other technologies like .NET or android development or whatever, because they're easy to learn and *cough* "program" with. However, this does not mean C++ is extinct; the opportunities are "comparatively" less, but it still is there. If you're good in C++, you're likely to get a good job.
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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I feel your pain mate, i too learnt C/C++ and got a job(s) in the field for a number of years but noticed the trend of Web Apps coming along and slowly my C/C++ skills where boxing me in rather than given me new opportunities so i sold out an moved to SQL Server and Web based ASP.NET solutions in C#... i now earn twice as much and get head hunted rather than searching around for jobs frantically. although the work is orders of magnitude less stimulating the pay is far better and i guess that is whats counts after you sell out like me. :| On the bright side it is my opinion that C++ programmers are the best and can turn their hand at anything... so you shouldnt have any probs in the long term
Very well said. and every word of this is true. i myself had same experience. I loved working in C++ but the number of jobs for C++ are far less then asp.net/C# or any web technology.
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
People who understand what's going on "under the hood" will always be needed, and always be a minority. Most people who enter the field are interested in making a relatively high salary and producing a product that can ship in time to keep Marketing happy. But when things don't work as expected, they need people like you to fix them. Their high-level programming languages which can be learned in 24 hours are mostly cut and paste toolkits, and most, if not all, are written in C or C++. They need people with your ability to make new ones and keep the old ones alive. C++ is a powerful and versatile language, one that I wish I'd mastered in all the years I tried. But not being a professional programmer, the Windows bullshit that constantly interfered with learning the language made it too much trouble for zero return to me. I gave up and adopted C#, which I have yet to master, but which is good enough for me to build apps I need in my real work. If I run into trouble, I depend on people like you, here at CP, to help me understand the hard parts. Don't give up on C++; it's far from a dead language and will be a crucial part of the development food chain for years to come. That being said, it wouldn't hurt you to expand your horizons by adding a half dozen other languages to your toolbox. You've already done the hard one, and the rest will seem as child's play by comparison. Find yourself a comfy niche in the current "real world" and establish yourself as the go-to guy for problem solving. You'll probably find yourself becoming the local guru anywhere you choose to work. As an analogy, when I was in school, digital design was new and shiny, so everyone wanted to play in that sandbox. I liked the analog design, with all the hard math and physics that the digital students never learn. I can tell you from 30 years experience that it's trivial for an analog electronics engineer to pick up digital design as needed, but it's virtually impossible for someone trained in digital design to learn analog after graduation. When I graduated, the business world was gung-ho for converting everything in sight to digital, but within a year I was the one in my department, and several others, that people turned to for help when their flip flops flopped and stayed there. My training gave me the knowledge of how the little charges inside their black boxes interacted with each other and the outside world; they only understood the truth tables. It provided me with an accelerated career path, and far above average salary increases, eve
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People were talking about the 'demise' of COM, and yet look what has happened with Windows 7. Everything is COM! The market has opened up floodgates for opportunities for other technologies like .NET or android development or whatever, because they're easy to learn and *cough* "program" with. However, this does not mean C++ is extinct; the opportunities are "comparatively" less, but it still is there. If you're good in C++, you're likely to get a good job.
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
Interesting thread. There are so many developers that left C++ and never even glanced back. If it would not be for MS renewed and pronounced interest in C++ I would be tempted to as well.,, but as long as I love the language and I continue to find highly interesting assignments I think I will stick to it. At least in Sweden there are plenty of jobs for C++ developers., but less compared to number of C# jobs. My cup of tea is life saving mission-/safety-/critical systems and since C++ dominates that area I am OK. What type of companies and products would You like to work with?
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
Yes. My company does mostly desktop apps, though we do have some web and mobile stuff as well. The skills are transferable, anyway. C# is more common than C++ in new apps now, I think, unless you're talking performance-critical or hardware-specific (i.e. games, embedded software, etc). But if you know C++ then C# would be easy to learn. And there is still a lot of development done in C++.
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
I have been a desktop programmer for nearly 20 years. It saddens me, but it is getting harder to find new desktop programming positions. Jobs related to the web and mobile devices are far more common and that trend will likely continue. For whatever it is worth, I would humbly suggest that the safe move on your part would be to emphasize mobile and web programming in your education. It has certainly not been a waste of your time to C++: pointers, objects, inheritance, etc. I mean the OO C++ language, the OS-specific APIs and particular frameworks are less useful. Knowing C++ is a great foundation for learning other OO languages, Java, C#, etc. In general, the more programming languages and technologies you can get on your resume, the better. Fresh from school with no experience, a company looking to hire you will be interested in putting you on entry-level coding, not guru-level stuff. Well, ideally. :-D C++ is a beautiful and precise tool in the hands of a master, like a surgeon with a scalpel. However, many programming tasks do not really require it, so it is cheaper to go with other languages. If you have a start-up and are trying to bring a new idea to market as fast as possible, you want to use the programming language which will get an acceptable version of your product out the door as soon as possible, which often means higher level languages (Java, etc.). Good luck!
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
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C/C++ is far from extinct. I'm still writing tools in it today... The problem with a company writing code in-house is it's expensive, VERY expensive. For example, I wrote an automation tool in in VBScript (dno't ask, it was equirements!) and it took me a little under 2 months to complete. This "little" tool cost my company over $8,000 for me to write. The problem with that?? A lot of code is still being outsourced to cheaper labor. It's coming back because companies are FINALLY finguring out that the money you save up front in labor costs is being spent anyway on reworking the project because of quality and/or requirements being changed or not met, or not met correctly, communication problems with foreign coders, support costs, ... blah, blah, blah.
A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]
Dave KreskowiakDave Kreskowiak wrote:
The problem with that?? A lot of code is still being outsourced to cheaper labor.
Not sure how you got to that from the OPs request, but I doubt the assertion without a specific qualification of what a "lot" is. I can point out that a "lot" of companies don't oursource.
Dave Kreskowiak wrote:
It's coming back because companies are FINALLY finguring out that the money you save up front in labor costs is being spent anyway on reworking the project because of quality and/or requirements being changed or not met, or not met correctly, communication problems with foreign coders, support costs,
Perhaps. But one failure point which is almost universally true is that companies cannot produce requirements in the first place that actually meet the needs of the business. So the outsource firm codes to what they were given and that then fails to meet the needs. And follow ups are inadequately specified as well.
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I think I have breakdown... As you can see on my profile I started to learn C++ in 2006 when second year of my tech high-school class begun. I fell in love with it and I learned it as much as I can, even when the class in school ended. I know C++. I know what's going on under the hood. From the basic types to templates and containers. After I went to University I have break in my relationship with C++, but after all I started to learn Qt to have tool for multi-platform programming. And somewhere in the middle of this I started to looking for some job. And here we have crucial point. As I can see, there is some really huge hype, mostly in US, on start-ups. Today, everything is start-up. Every little idea is becoming start-up. And all that start-ups are mostly web-based applications written in high-level programming languages which (according to the authors of languages) you can learn in 24hours. And if you search for some jobs 90% of companies are looking for web or mobile developer. So, my question is. Is desktop programming still providing employment? Is it worth to learn secrets of such complicated language as C++? Isn't it extinct? I know that there are plenty of problems that can be resolved with using cpp but why I can't find such job offer? Do you know the answer? * Because after High-School I went to Univ. I still don't have professional experience.
Thank you guys, for all your answers, there were very helpful for me. I decided that I will try to find job as cpp programmer and, if someone will hire me, to survive in a company. Also, as a side project, I'm starting to learn more easier and modern language. Thank you once again. It's great to have opportunity to advise older colleagues.