Is C and C++ a dead programming language?

I got very lucky and got hired on with a company that's willing to train me as a Web Developer and Programmer. I'm still a freshman in college doing a double major of Computer Programming and Japanese.





I don't know much, yet, about programming, but before going in to school, on my own research, I heard the countless things that could be done with C++ and moreso important because I want to, eventually, do game programming.





Well I got into a HUGE fight with the lady training me because she said that C++ was dead and that the only languages anyone needs, or should learn, are .NET languages (which I'm currently being taught at work, alongside my C and C++ classes)





I dont want to believe that its a dead language or believe in her claim that anything that can be done in C++ can be done better with a .NET language, and that Microsoft (our vendor) doesn't use C++ in anything anymore.





Is it true that the language is dead? I'd like some help, preferably some articles, on the matter. Thanks

Is C and C++ a dead programming language?
If you want to see how valuable a language is, go to hiring sites like monster.com and dice.com. Take a look at how many offerings are using the language.





For applications that are primarily C and C++:


Windows Kernel


Linux kernel


other unix kernel


vast majority of embedded work is in C, with some C++, followed by assembler and other languages. In fact, this is the area I expect to become the biggest arena. As we get more and more small ubiquitous devices, they will need embedded software.





I work in data acquisition software, writing drivers and communication layers. I primarily use C++ and it is not going away anytime soon.





I find learning C and C++ very useful, because it's closer to the hardware and now I understand things like pointers, indirection and memory management much better than if I had just learned C# or Java.





I don't claim that .NET languages or Java are bad. They all have their uses. Mainly it is what you are interested in. It's always good to know more than one language. Still, ignore people with language religion. Anyone who tells you they have the one true path is full of baloney.
Reply:It is extremely flexible in its ability to solve problems from basic buiness applications to complex scientific applications. This wide range of applications make it a popular language in education and the business world.





The C++ programming language is used to develop a wide range of applications. It can be used by any local business to write a program to do their payroll or solve some other business problem requiring a custom built solution. It may be used by a software developer to create a commerical package for a common application like a word processor or an accounts receivable package. It is also used in Government, Miliatary, aerospace and the scientific community. Most engineering majors are required to take a course in C++ programming as it is widely used in engineering applications.
Reply:C++, being an OOPs language, is the successor to C for intensive application (such as games and back-end applications). Incidentally, I believe Microsoft C++ is one of their .NET Languages. Since Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft dropped the .NET nomenclature from Visual Studio, but Visual Studio 2005 (and the new Visual Studio 2008) supports C++, Visual Basic (which has becomes more fully Object Oriented) which are suitable for compute intensive game programs and back-end service services which run on a server to support light web-browser based applications written in C# , J#, JScript and ASP.NET.





The Web-browser based applications has to be light-weight because many PCs are low power for financial reasons, and most laptops are low-power for long battery-life. This put a lot of load on the server applications supporting the web-based applications (like network games). I think Google is pushing a business model where the user pays a monthly fee to use the storage, server-based programs and compute power of their servers.





Bottom line seems to be there should be lots of need for both type of programming languages.
Reply:C and C++ are NOT going anywhere anytime soon. You may use other languages for certain things but you will need C and C++ skills for a long time to come. The person training you is obviously living in a Windows only world. At my last company we used primarily various flavors of UNIX for image processing. Every time someone brought up using Java or some other language to do the work, we'd code it up and the customers would complain that it was too slow. I currently work in real-time processing and we stick with C and C++ due to the speed required, etc. Game programming will definitely require a good knowledge of C and C++.
Reply:She is right, web applications are hot right now but only in the business world I believe. Doing work through Windows default IE web browser is better than having to install executables and then hoping each machine will work with it. I honestly think web applications function better with SQL as well.
Reply:First of all, good for you for sticking up to the teacher :)


Second, you are right and your teacher is dead wrong. In today's world, the only place where you won't need to know C or some variant of it is if you're doing web programming, or writing apps for phones or pdas. Just about every application on your computer right now was coded in C. That your teacher believes C is dead is just ridiculous. You're right about having to know C for game programming. No other language comes close to the power that C has for low level/hardware programming. Modern games have to hook into graphics cards and make lots of system calls, and if you don't know C you're going to be running at 2 frames per second.
Reply:Im a computer science major and i had to take C and C++ , i will say that they are the best and more comfortable and easy prog languages i ever study.
Reply:What she is on about with console applications is rubbish, using QT alongside C++ is amazing you can make awesome interfaces she probably didnt get that far into learning C++ she did hello world and deciede to go back to her protective windblows machine, if C is dying then why is it still used to make 90% or more of todays OS's she is loopy show her what you can do with C++ and that should shut her up