UK C++ Jobs (Question)
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I anticipated that this might happen eventually, which is why I moved to .NET a few years ago. I suspect you've found that many of the C++ jobs that exist also ask for additional skills such as .NET? Sign of the times. You have to have several skills going simultaneously to keep up, whether you want to or not.
Kevin
Hi Kevin, I also thought it would happen (just not so quickly) - luckily I've got some .NET experience, mainly VB.NET but been using C# for a while now. Time to get the C# book out again :)
Jonathan Wilkes Darka[Xanya.net] [My Code Project Articles]
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It just surprised me how quickly C++ seems to have died (in terms of the job market) and how quickly C# has grown. I hoped C++ had a good future but now I'm not so sure. regards,
Jonathan Wilkes Darka[Xanya.net] [My Code Project Articles]
C and C++ actually had a great run. These languages were the hot ticket from the 80s up through the late 90s. I think the changes in the job market you're noticing are due to a couple of things. First, in the past 5 or 6 years the .NET stuff has become firmly established as the current darling language of the business world, and with that comes a diminished importance for C++ skills (at least from a job market perspective). However, an even bigger issue is the fact that those of us who got into the game back in the C/C++ days were early adopters of geekness as a popular career choice (i.e. one that didn't require white lab coats and pocket protectors). Our high demand was due both to the exploding tech market and the fact that it was still only a borderline mainstream career. Fast forward to 2008. The web has been in the public consciousness for over a decade, PC programming for two. With the web comes a much lower barrier to entry for a dev job. Additionally, with two decades of PCs ruling the earth, pretty much the entire planet has decided that programming is what they want to do for a living. Even without an economic downturn, simple laws of supply and demand will dictate that you're going to have to scratch and claw a little more to carve out your place in an overpopulated job market, particularly if C++ is the only trick you have in your bag. On the positive side though, there's never been a better time to be an old dog. When the market is flooded with beginner and junior programmers, those who have a firm grasp on the architecture (and know how to get things done in the business world) will always have the edge. You wouldn't believe how many recruiters hit on me, even in this market. All of which is to say that in a C++ market, you can leverage not only the skills you have, but also your years of experience in low level technologies and the everyday business of meeting deadlines. And if you're enthusastic about mentoring those who don't have the road behind them that you have, you'll find much enthusiasm among companies and teams who are eager to benefit from the battles you've fought.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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Hi Kevin, I also thought it would happen (just not so quickly) - luckily I've got some .NET experience, mainly VB.NET but been using C# for a while now. Time to get the C# book out again :)
Jonathan Wilkes Darka[Xanya.net] [My Code Project Articles]
Jonathan [Darka] wrote:
mainly VB.NET but been using C# for a while now.
Syntax aside, it's all VB under the hood. :)
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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It just surprised me how quickly C++ seems to have died (in terms of the job market) and how quickly C# has grown. I hoped C++ had a good future but now I'm not so sure. regards,
Jonathan Wilkes Darka[Xanya.net] [My Code Project Articles]
C++ isn't dying it's just that it makes more sense to develop business apps in .net. Hell, as much as I dislike basic as a language I thought it made more sense to develop internal business apps in nonsense that is vb "back in the day." Just off the top of my head I can think of multiple domains where .net and other managed code is not even considered and C++ or strait C is the real way to go.
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C++ isn't dying it's just that it makes more sense to develop business apps in .net. Hell, as much as I dislike basic as a language I thought it made more sense to develop internal business apps in nonsense that is vb "back in the day." Just off the top of my head I can think of multiple domains where .net and other managed code is not even considered and C++ or strait C is the real way to go.
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Chris Austin wrote:
C++ isn't dying it's just that it makes more sense to develop business apps in .net.
C++ is dying in the areas where it shouldn't have been used in the first place. I was always surprised to see all these questions on how to use ADO form VC++/MFC and the popularity of Chris Maunder's grid control. Why on Earth would you use C++ to connect to a DBMS, fetch data and print a report, even in 1990's? If you don't like VB, there was always Delphi. What we are seeing now (and the Unix people saw it in mid 1990's when Java appeared) is that C++ is moving to the areas where it belongs: system, embedded, games, high-perf, graphics...
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Chris Austin wrote:
C++ isn't dying it's just that it makes more sense to develop business apps in .net.
C++ is dying in the areas where it shouldn't have been used in the first place. I was always surprised to see all these questions on how to use ADO form VC++/MFC and the popularity of Chris Maunder's grid control. Why on Earth would you use C++ to connect to a DBMS, fetch data and print a report, even in 1990's? If you don't like VB, there was always Delphi. What we are seeing now (and the Unix people saw it in mid 1990's when Java appeared) is that C++ is moving to the areas where it belongs: system, embedded, games, high-perf, graphics...
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
I was always surprised to see all these questions on how to use ADO form VC++/MFC
I couldn't agree more. It always struck me as the wrong tool for the job, even when I was doing it.
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
If you don't like VB, there was always Delphi.
Loved it. I was just speaking in terms people around here seem to relate to :)
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Chris Austin wrote:
C++ isn't dying it's just that it makes more sense to develop business apps in .net.
C++ is dying in the areas where it shouldn't have been used in the first place. I was always surprised to see all these questions on how to use ADO form VC++/MFC and the popularity of Chris Maunder's grid control. Why on Earth would you use C++ to connect to a DBMS, fetch data and print a report, even in 1990's? If you don't like VB, there was always Delphi. What we are seeing now (and the Unix people saw it in mid 1990's when Java appeared) is that C++ is moving to the areas where it belongs: system, embedded, games, high-perf, graphics...
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
What we are seeing now (and the Unix people saw it in mid 1990's when Java appeared) is that C++ is moving to the areas where it belongs: system, embedded, games, high-perf, graphics...
I agree.
Kevin
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Can't speak to life on your side of the pond, but I can certainly confirm that the C++ market in the US has diminished dramatically over the past few years. These days it's all about .NET and the web, with C++ skills being little more than a convenient addition to your resume for the most part. Like a lot of C++ guys, I spent a number of years grumbling about having to work with more primative languages. However, the other day I was working on a C++ toolbar that talks to a Sql Server db via a C# web service. A couple of times tasks came up, I looked at how much C++ code I'd have to write and said, "Screw that. I'll write 5 lines of C# and then just make a web service call." At that point, I heard a little voice in the back of my head say, "Gotcha!" :-D
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
I'll hold off jokes about your statements on the correlation between C++ and hairy chests. :-D
Cheers, Vikram.
The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray.
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I'll hold off jokes about your statements on the correlation between C++ and hairy chests. :-D
Cheers, Vikram.
The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray.
:laugh:
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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Having been made redundant (finish at the end of June) I have started looking for a new C++ job. There seems to be a distinct lack of C++ jobs at the moment, not sure why (maybe too many have moved over to C#) but there is definately a shortage of jobs at the moment. Is anyone else experiencing this ? regards,
Jonathan Wilkes Darka[Xanya.net] [My Code Project Articles]
modified on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 9:09 AM
You should work where I do - our IT is so backward that the standard Windows install (and this is probably for 10-20,000 PCs!) doesn't include any .NET framework. Thus, our PC software development (where I work, anyway) is C++ or VB 6. As I still have some self-respect left, it's C++ all the way... To be honest, with a smattering of different libraries (STL, Boost, libxml + prototype Boost.XML wrapper, WTL) I'm probably at least as productive for my target applications as I would be in C# - I don't do too many GUIs and those I do do make use of reusable WTL mixin classes I've developed over the years. And even if we did do .NET, I'd probably want to use F#[^] rather than C# or VB.NET. But then I'm fortunate enough to have freedom to choose the technologies I use.