C++ or VB in terms of jobs???

[adamcox]

Hi guys...

I've recently begun learning C++, after learning VB for about 5 years, in which I have become quite accomplished, and felt I should **try** and learn something thats supposed to be better.

However, I've been hearing a lot recently saying that C++ is not needed any more to get a job as a programmer, as which the hardware we have now, there is no difference in the speed, and the only place where C++ is wanted is in games development...
but what does everyone here think?

Should I carry on learning C++, or should I just use VB?

Thanks

[Vlatko]

C++ is not going to die. There is a lot of diffrenece in speed between C++ and VB. And it is not just speed but there are a lot of things that VB can't do and C++ can.

[parksie]

C is still the standard general programming language, more so than C++, although it doesn't hurt to use C++ instead, because it is gaining ground steadily as programmers look for more component-oriented solutions.

(from now on I'll say C to mean C/C++)

C has much greater compatibility (there's simply more code been written) and your skills are platform-transferable to an extent. It still leaves VB in the dust for speed, I mean, as computers get faster, the VB code gets faster, but so does the C

The main bonus is that you get much greater control over your data, via pointers/etc. which you simply cannot do with VB (well, you can, but it makes really horrible code).

I doubt that C will die off any time soon, especially since it's still a large part of Visual Studio .NET

[adamcox]

Originally posted by parksie
I doubt that C will die off any time soon, especially since it's still a large part of Visual Studio .NET

Do you know if C/C++ is much different in VS.NET than in VS 5 or 6? Or is it gonna be quite a radical change, like VB is supposed to be?

[parksie]

You'll still be able to compile normal programs using the API, standard library, and all the rest of it. The compiler and framework have just been extended to support .NET

...at least, according to Microsoft...

[Megatron]

I would think it's the opposite way around. C is better to use than VB. If any language is going to die down between the 2, it would definetly be VB. C is more flexible, smaller, and faster.

Even though our hardware is improving, C programs will always be faster than VB programs.

[Amon Ra]

The thing I love about C++ is the amount of control you have! It is unbeliveble.
VB is nothing compared to c++ in terms of control and power.!!

[sail3005]

Yeah, and VB is something that MS has complete control over, if they want to kill it, they can. However, they cannot kill C.

[gwdash]

i agree with parksie, vb is good for some things, but with c you can do so much with pointers (like casting) and so on.