Ok, I was wrong. C++ is hard.

[Orgull]

My face is melting off...

I've switched to Stephen Prata's "C++ Primer Plus" and I'm up to chapter 6, "Branching statements and logical operators". It seems clear enough when I read it, but doing the programming exercises is a whole different ball of wax. I just spent two hours doing two dinky little punk-ass console programs I could have done inside of five minutes with DarkBasic or BlitzBasic.

My head feels like a pumpkin in a microwave.

I so badly want some hard liquor right now.

[VynlSol]

My head feels like a pumpkin in a microwave.

Just reading that makes me want to go take some Advil.

[Knightshade Dragon]

That isn't inspiring me.  I have to take C++ for my last two classes...I've been putting it off for a while. Hopefully I can avoid the pumpkin-head syndrome...

[Graham]

C is much easier than C++ IMO.  The way that it flows is so much different.  Granted, I started with Pascal as a programming language, which was much simpler.  I think that if you are able to start in C/C++ and focus on OOP, then you'll be able to do better than starting off in a different language and move to C++.

[the Nightbreeze]

I'm surprised. I'm not in the programing industry at all, but C++ has been kicking the rump off of programming students for ten years that I have seen now.  I wonder why it hasn't gone the way of FORTRAN yet

[The General]

Just use mugen and be happy  

[Jancelot]

I had most of my college course in C++ and it was a tough one.  But once I got used to all of the clean up, etc. it wasn't so bad.  Then again that took me 4+ years to do it.  I still enjoy VB and C# much more though just because they "wipe their own asses" when it comes to alot of the dirty work.  But it's great if you really want to get down to the raw power of the system without going down to the assembly level.

[Orgull]

Ok, now I remember why I'm sticking with C++.

I made a test program in Blitz and duplicated it in C++. The program prints "Hello" 1000 times.

I used exactly the same method in both languages, a for loop, to acheive the effect, the I measured how long the loop took.

Blitz3D = 284 milliseconds : C++ = 140 milliseconds.

'nuff said. Back to my book

[Belgedin]

C++ sucks. D is the future.

=) Seriously, though, C++ isn't that hard, it is just hideously designed. That said, D is easier, mostly because it is so clean; the comparison isn't even funny. I started porting everything to D the day I found out about it, my 2D Engine, my Compiler/VM, even my old utilities that worked perfectly. I did a clean sweep. Hopefully I'll never have to look back.

I really hope D starts to catch on everywhere, C/C++ need replacing.

I'm looking forward to starting a 3D engine in D, it'll be my first "D from the ground up" project, its a beautiful thing.

Anyone who has to study C++, do yourself a favor and atleast do a little D on the side =D

[RedJak]

C++ really is not bad.  Like any language you just have to figure out the important rules (the obscure ones will always be in a reference book). If you have any questions feel free to throw them out here.

[Scott]

Like RedJak said, C++ is not very bad.  Once you figure out one good language, like C++, the rest fall in line.  I've never been very impressed with any of the 'basic' languages, like visual basic though.

Right now, most shops around here have switched to Java and C#, both of which are quicker to code then C++.

[MrZubbleWump]

I agree C++ is a bitch and when I use it I'm really coding using a C style.  You are also correct that VB is a pig compared to C.  I use VB to code all of my GUI stuff and then call my C++ routines to do all of the work.

I never heard of D and I'm going to check that out now. I think we all love the language that we first became skilled in.  In my case it's COBOL and I still use it do simple file manipulation today.

[Belgedin]

D: http://www.digitalmars.com/

I really love it. If Microsoft made an optimizing compiler for it, it would blow C++ out of the water. Note, however, that D is not slow even with the current tool chain.

[kathode]

"In C++ it's harder to shoot yourself in the foot, but when you do, you blow off your whole leg."    — Bjarne Stroustrup.

[Semaj]

I love c++... I hate Java and all its horrible horrible aspects...

[Koz]

I love c++... I hate Java and all its horrible horrible aspects...

That's funny because I prefer Java about a million times more than C++.

[Semaj]

All i did when I started out was Pascal, and C/Fortran and C++.... it wasnt until like my third year of college I hit Java, so I was brought up different than you.  I have a hard time following java sometimes because you can do damn near anything and Java will cover for you.

C++ is all about discipline.  Do things in the proper order, make sure you do garbage cleaning etc.  To me its a better language to learn on since it promotes more solid coding techniques.

[jonsauce]

I started out with C++ so I didn't think it was that bad.  That said, I seem to catch on to other languages faster than my co-workers who learned Visual Basic and COBOL in college.

[Qbe]

I've spent time studying both C++ and Java over the last 5 years, and I definitely prefer C++.  My first language was C (using Prata's C Primer Plus), and C++ has a much cleaner feel to it than Java.  I don't necessarily WANT all my programming to be forced into OO mode, and I don't like Java's high resource needs.

So, lately I've been studying C++ and hoping to make a go of it (the book Accelerated C++ is a good one for those who already know how to program, but it's very dense)  But this week I'm going back to school and guess what the official programming language is?  Yep.  I'm back to Java.

[Koz]

I've spent time studying both C++ and Java over the last 5 years, and I definitely prefer C++.  My first language was C (using Prata's C Primer Plus), and C++ has a much cleaner feel to it than Java.  I don't necessarily WANT all my programming to be forced into OO mode, and I don't like Java's high resource needs.

So, lately I've been studying C++ and hoping to make a go of it (the book Accelerated C++ is a good one for those who already know how to program, but it's very dense)  But this week I'm going back to school and guess what the official programming language is?  Yep.  I'm back to Java.

Java is an easier language to learn if you're coming off no knowledge of programming languages. It's also more OO-oriented than C++ (or at least more explicitly so), which is why most universities teach it.