In an interview with MIT's Technology Review, Bjarne Stroustrup talks about "his legacy and examines what's wrong with most software code."
For the uninitiated, Stroustrup is the creator of the C++ programming language, and author of, in my honest opinion, the definitive C++ book.
For the various folks out there who diss C++, I found this bit interesting...
I'm sure that for every programmer that dislikes C++, there is one who likes it. However, a friend of mine went to a conference where the keynote speaker asked the audience to indicate by show of hands, one, how many people disliked C++, and two, how many people had written a C++ program. There were twice as many people in the first group than the second. Expressing dislike of something you don't know is usually known as prejudice. Also, complainers are always louder and more certain than proponents--reasonable people acknowledge flaws. I think I know more about the problems with C++ than just about anyone, but I also know how to avoid them and how to use C++'s strengths.
And then, of course, you don't expect proponents of languages that lost out in competition with C++ to be polite about it. Software development doesn't have that degree of professionalism--though I hope it eventually will. Science is different in this respect: when a new tool, technique, or theory wins out, people see that as progress. In software, contributions by competitors and predecessors are not widely acknowledged, appreciated, or even understood.
Original link via Slashdot.
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1 comment:
I don't particularly like C++ too much myself. But yes, it has its advantages.
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