Keeping Up

Sparticus

I've been killing time by looking through a bunch of different projects on CP and started wondering: how does everyone keep up on all of the different advances in programming? Also, what is everyone's opinion on C#? I'm hesitant to take any time to learn it . . . mostly because I keep hearing "as easy as VB", or "like Java". Is it as powerful as everyone seems to suggest?

-Michael Anderson-
完成の円

Daniel Turini

Sparticus wrote: Is it as powerful as everyone seems to suggest? No, it's more powerful as everyone seems to suggest. :cool: I see dumb people

Christian Graus

Sparticus wrote: how does everyone keep up on all of the different advances in programming? There are no real advances, just different takes on the same ideas. C# is only hard to learn if you don't know C++, Java or VB. They essentially all do the same thing, the power of .NET is only apparent if you use a plug in that gives you a programming language which actually *differs* from C++ in it's paradigms. Although VB contains much nastiness, and little power, my point is just that the basic OO structure is essentially the same, once you go to VB.NET. If you have anything to do with the web, not learning C# is to make yourself obsolete. If you don't, C# is currently a toy, a mere plaything to while away your spare time. Writing fat client apps in C# is still an act of foolishness IMO, the current iteration of C# lacks much that a modern programming language should have, and currently there is a lot of noise, but little substance from Redmond on the arrival of the features I for one continue to seek. Their late arrival will do much to obsfucate their usefulness. But ASP.NET in C# is without a doubt the sexist thing I have experienced for some time. The only hard bit is maintaining a presentation layer that does not contain your business logic. C# makes it so easy to blur those lines. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002
C# will attract all comers, where VB is for IT Journalists and managers - Michael P Butler 05-12-2002
It'd probably be fairly easy to make a bot that'd post random stupid VB questions, and nobody would probably ever notice - benjymous - 21-Jan-2003

Marc Clifton

how does everyone keep up on all of the different advances in programming? There's nothing really new, it's just packaged differently. I read the articles and on-line mags to stay in touch with the capabilities, but I don't bother really learning anything in depth unless I'm personally interested in it or it looks like something my customers might benefit from. Is it as powerful as everyone seems to suggest? As a language goes, I think C++ is a lot more "powerful". C# isn't as fun as C++ because it's so dang safe. I haven't had any major complaints about the language though, except that interfaces are a poor solution to the whole issue of multiple inheritence. .NET framework is, in my opinion, a considerable improvement over MFC, although like MFC, it can sometimes really get in the way. For example, to my great annoyance, some really useful classes that wrap XML facets are sealed! God knows why, I have to implement the dang thing myself now. Marc Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"