Stand in silent tribute for the code which I write use C++.
-
Christopher Duncan wrote:
Although they are to a certian extent separate languages, C++ is in many ways an extension of C.
That is true.
Christopher Duncan wrote:
If you don't understand some of the basics, you're going to make a mess of things regardless of which language you're using, and whether you're using some of the more abstracted features of C++ or you're down to the metal and twiddling the bits.
Not really. It depends entirely on what you're doing. A person who wants to store some strings, allow the user to input them, and spit out the result, on the console, actually DOESN'T need to understand how pointers work, they can use std::string. Anyone with half a brain, no matter how experienced, would use std::string, or CString, rather than TCHAR* anyhow. Of course, the time comes when you need to know what std::string is wrapping for you, in order to progress, in order to use the class intelligently ( to understand the cost of an operation, for example ), and in the end, a C++ programmer will need to understand pointers. There's just no need for pointers to be part of lesson number 2. In the same way, I did a fair whack of MFC before digging in to find out how Win32 works. And, I discovered that I'd learned a lot of it 'by accident', as I made a lot of Win32 calls already in places. So, it was easy to start with a broad, shallow understanding, and make parts of it deeper as time progressed. It was also more productive.
Christopher Duncan wrote:
However, if you're going to make a living at this, it won't be long before you find yourself floundering because you never got a grip on the basics.
Sure - I wasn't suggesting anyone work as a C++ dev without knowing C++ *well*. I'm really talking about the order in which the parts should be learned, by someone who knows they are still learning, and not up to writing production quality code. In the end, what happens is people learn the C way first, and end up using FILE and char * instead of the superior C++ alternatives, because that's what they remember learning.
Christian Graus - C++ MVP
Christian Graus wrote:
In the end, what happens is people learn the C way first, and end up using FILE and char * instead of the superior C++ alternatives, because that's what they remember learning.
Or because that's all the profs taught them. This is the part where I definitely agree.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com