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0 pointsSwellJoe8y ago0 comments

I don't know, exactly, but I know with some confidence that C++ has never had significant uptake among ops and systems people. The folks who build systems, run systems, and dip into code on occasion to make the systems run, but not as their full-time job, have never (to my knowledge) fallen in love with C++. They probably all know some C, Perl, and Python...maybe not a lick of C++ (except the "C" part).

I think C++ may just be too rich a language to be a part-time thing. I think Rust might have the same problem (though I'm finding it easier to read than C++, it doesn't seem to be afraid to require a lot of learning time from its developers). But, I'm willing to entertain other theories.

For whatever reason, Go seems to have very quickly entered that category of language that systems and ops people are comfortable with.

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vishvananda8y ago

I agree that rust will have an adoption problem amongst part-timers. Rust code is unreadable until you spend a few days with it and writing it requires a week or two of wrestling with the borrow checker.

In contrast, one of the reasons I'm a big fan of go is it is extremely easy to read for almost anyone. People pick it up very quickly.

graysonk8y ago

I can only speak about my own experience as an ops person, but C++ always just felt off to me for some reason. I tried to learn and use it for about 6 months and I always felt like I was so bogged down in minutia and standards.

C let's me focus on the underlying system and it is what Linux is written in, Python is quick to write and has great libraries, and Go is amazingly easy to pick up/read.

C++ always felt like it was more so a language designed for programmers who love code than something that lets me focus on what I love (systems).

jankedeen8y ago

Better C++ than Go or Rust. Antecedents and track record counts. Young people like the new thing. Go and Rust are capitalizing on that. Learn C. Take the time..it takes a couple years and some pain to learn it and then you will be amply rewarded. These languages (go|rust) are reactive and suffice for some purposes but they really kind of suck in every other possible way.

SwellJoeOP8y ago

I'm old(ish), have worked professionally with C, and I think I have to disagree with you. Certainly, learn some C; it's the language on which all of our platforms are currently built.

But, building new things in C? Nah. I don't see any reason for that. Since C was designed, we've ("we" as in our industry, not specifically me and you) learned a lot and our systems have grown massively in all dimensions. It would be optimistic to assume we don't need different tools 40+ years on.

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