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C euthanasia?

Started by noober Apr 8, 2002 at 3:20 PM 67 replies 3.5k views

Original Post

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:20 PM

I heard from someone on IRC the other day that C is a dying language. I should abandon it and move onto java or C#. I can see that C is dying out. Being replaced by more focused OOP languages because it better organizes the code but is it really truely in fact dying out? Or is the lack of popularity among windows programmers only because they cant handle the cryptic nature of C? and cant do without overloading everything? I dont understand how such a powerful refined language can die out. Please offer comments of explanation. Thanks.

LessBread

558

LessBread

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:36 PM

IMO, C Rocks Hard! - There's power in simplicity!

The core Win32 api is written in C and ASM, the majority of Linux is written in C too.

However, OOP has taken over. RAD has taken over. Not many job opportunities for C coders these days... lots for C++ and Java... MS is pushing C# as the next big thing, half the articles at MSDN focus on C# and dotNet, some think Mono will "save" Linux, I'm not so certain of that (I don't think it needs to be "saved"). I think C# is still too new (and the general rule of thumb with new MS products is to wait for the patched versions). At any rate, there's still time to prepare before the ship of C sinks...

[edited by - lessbread on April 8, 2002 4:42:36 PM]

noober

Author

noober

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:38 PM

Yep, that''s what im saying. It makes me very sad.

Letho

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:48 PM

Why so sad ... i think that C is the base of all upcoming OOP-languages such as C++ and Java, even C#. So it''ll never die ...

TerranFury

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:48 PM

The next logical step from C is not Java but C++.

Arild Fines

138

Arild Fines

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:51 PM

C is quirky, flawed, and an enormous success. - Dennis M Ritchie

Let it die...

Kwizatz

251

Kwizatz

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:54 PM

Whoever tells you C is dying cant write a line of C himself, finds it so hard that tryes to discourage other people from using it in a futile attemp to kill it and never have to learn it himself.

You can quote me.

noober

Author

noober

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:55 PM

For those of you who said C sucks please recomend a good C++ book. I''m not easily swayed to stop learning C and its mannerisms,quirks,and flaws so easily but I will start to pick up C++ too. I just hope I can distinguish between the two as time passes. Just post your favorite C++ book you learned on. Thanks.

i8degrees

Apr 8, 2002 at 3:59 PM

C++ Primer Plus Fourth Edition by Stephen Prata is a nice book! =)

Kwizatz

251

Kwizatz

Apr 8, 2002 at 4:03 PM

C++ is a C subset, its not hard to learn once you learn C however it takes time to drop the secuencial programming habits to move to an object oriented programming model.
If you do know some C a "C++ for C programmers" kind of book is what I would recomend since you wont have to start from scratch.

Null and Void

163

Null and Void

Apr 8, 2002 at 4:54 PM

quote:
Original post by LessBread
Not many job opportunities for C coders these days... lots for C++ and Java...

That''s not completely true for non-PC and non-Application development. Much embeded and low level code (drivers, et cetera) is still (for better or worse, I''m not going to argue

) done in C.

LessBread

558

LessBread

Apr 8, 2002 at 4:58 PM

There''s some books you can whet your appetite with here
http://peter.eluks.com/books/C++/

Dean Harding

Apr 8, 2002 at 5:05 PM

Languages never die - more''s the pity. There''s still millions of lines of COBOL still in production...

codeka.com - Just click it.

zipless

Apr 8, 2002 at 5:22 PM

C will always have its place, well at least in the near future, it is still VERY widely used in embedded systm applications.

Besides, why should it die? It does a job and unless something else comes along that can do it better its in no danger.

/* Ignorance is bliss, then you go and spoil it by learning stuff */

C-Junkie

139

C-Junkie

Apr 8, 2002 at 5:28 PM

laf

C will never die

SabreMan

127

SabreMan

Apr 8, 2002 at 5:40 PM

C''s not dead. There''s thousands of "C++" programmers writing in C every day.

alexk7

Apr 8, 2002 at 5:52 PM

I think C should die.

No, I don''t say that everybody should use C#, Java or other not relly all-purpose programming language! Nor that every program should be object-oriented!

For the purpose of tasks that are currently achieved with C, just use what I call "plain C++". C++ is a better C. It also supports object-oriented, genereric (etc.) programming, but when used just as a better C, it''s just that: a better C!

Just getting rid of macros, unsafe type casting and void pointers mess is just plain good programming and C++ doesn''t add any overhead for these little enhancement.

Templates are great tools to achieve some incredibly powerful things that are slower in C! Just think about C qsort vs C++ sort.

And for those who want to play with toys, C#, Visual Basic or Java are great, but the compilers for these languages will continue to be made by serious programmers using C or C++...

Andrew Nguyen

Apr 8, 2002 at 5:59 PM

C will die. Someday, just not yet.

krad7

Apr 8, 2002 at 6:01 PM

I dont think C will ever die.. most of the system program/low level prg''s (either in windows or unix platform) are written in C and also the size of the executable is smaller than C++, so C will be used in places where u have less memory (pocket pc''s?).. C shouldnt die and will never die..

Slow and steady wins the race.

Arild Fines

138

Arild Fines

Apr 8, 2002 at 6:03 PM

quote:
Original post by alexk7
And for those who want to play with toys, C#, Visual Basic or Java are great, but the compilers for these languages will continue to be made by serious programmers using C or C++...

Actually, the "serious" programmers at Ximian are writing the Mono C# compiler in C#.

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