I too worked with C++ for years but I haven't for some time. I plan to learn the C++11 stuff and get back up to speed because I hate the feeling of falling behind in a language that really has no competition in the niche it fills.
Here is a somewhat off-topic question for you: what is the job market like for C++? Is it mostly maintaining/enhancing legacy code or is there considerable new code being written in C++?
It's been just more than two years since I was paid to write software. I was a systems programmer. My knowledge is a bit dated. The C++ code I write today is to support IT security research (job) and my own personal interests (hobbies).
When I worked in systems programming (automobile systems research), C++ was very popular in the embedded/systems space. I believe it still is. Many systems people I knew were porting C to C++. Old code was maintained and new code was written. I'd say the break-down was about 50 50. In addition to adding C++ features, maintaining C compatibility was paramount.
I never worked with higher-level applications, but I'm sure that there's a lot of C++ up there too (web browsers, office suites, etc). Maybe even more.
I hate the feeling of falling behind in a language that really has no competition in the niche it fills.
Well, that's no longer true - Rust and Go are two contenders for C++'s "niche". They are still growing, but are already much nicer languages than C++. In some situations Erlang or Ocaml can also replace C++ successfully.
As much as I like Rust, it is in its infancy and it will be years before it gains similar traction, if it ever does. The other languages you mentioned are not in the same category (garbage collection alone excludes them).
Comments
I too worked with C++ for years but I haven't for some time. I plan to learn the C++11 stuff and get back up to speed because I hate the feeling of falling behind in a language that really has no competition in the niche it fills.
Here is a somewhat off-topic question for you: what is the job market like for C++? Is it mostly maintaining/enhancing legacy code or is there considerable new code being written in C++?
It's been just more than two years since I was paid to write software. I was a systems programmer. My knowledge is a bit dated. The C++ code I write today is to support IT security research (job) and my own personal interests (hobbies).
When I worked in systems programming (automobile systems research), C++ was very popular in the embedded/systems space. I believe it still is. Many systems people I knew were porting C to C++. Old code was maintained and new code was written. I'd say the break-down was about 50 50. In addition to adding C++ features, maintaining C compatibility was paramount.
I never worked with higher-level applications, but I'm sure that there's a lot of C++ up there too (web browsers, office suites, etc). Maybe even more.
I hate the feeling of falling behind in a language that really has no competition in the niche it fills.
Well, that's no longer true - Rust and Go are two contenders for C++'s "niche". They are still growing, but are already much nicer languages than C++. In some situations Erlang or Ocaml can also replace C++ successfully.
As much as I like Rust, it is in its infancy and it will be years before it gains similar traction, if it ever does. The other languages you mentioned are not in the same category (garbage collection alone excludes them).