The IT world never stops speculating about the future of the programming languages. This is to decide what technology to apply in the new projects and which one to focus on in your career. Choosing the wrong path can be a deadly mistake both for a company and a personal development of a programmer. Today we are going to talk about C++ – is it still a trend or already a wrong path?
Overview
C++, created in 1979 by a Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup, has recently lost some of its popularity. It is not, however, because of being replaced with newer technologies. It is rather because of the shift in popularity of specific projects.
Nowadays, the internet is ruled by web and mobile apps. And unfortunately for C++, it doesn’t have any application in those fields. Although it is indeed possible to write a website in C++, it wouldn’t be as efficient as using PHP, JavaScript, or even ASP.NET for bigger applications. The same happens in case of mobile applications, where Java has no equal. Even considering the, less and less popular, desktop programs – C++ would be beaten by Java or C#. Writing the software in C++ would be more complicated, which means bigger chance for bugs, let alone the sheer pleasure of programming.
Does that mean C++ has no future at all?
Applications
Although there’s no place for C++ among the biggest trends of the internet, many people are not aware of its importance “under the surface”.
C++’s biggest advantages are big efficiency and speed. It can also easily optimise huge amounts of data. That’s why it is most often applied in big, robust applications such as servers, where data processing is crucial. What is more, its efficiency reduces the energy usage, which make it a great language for mobile devices.
In fact, some of the software giants of all times are based on C++. It is the main technology in case of Microsoft, Oracle, Mozilla, Opera, PayPal, Evernote and Linkedin. And it is partly used in the code of Amazon, Facebook, SAP and Adobe.
The above list is very impressive, yet it is only the beginning. Google still applies C++ in some fields of its search engine. Most importantly, Google Chrome was primarily written in this language. Being extremely popular among users all over the world, Google required high performance and big stability, which are the main characteristics of C++.
Finally, C++ is present in most of the operating systems, such as Windows or iOS; and some of the high budget AAA games, such as Grand Theft Auto or Metal Gear Solid.
Summing up
Based on the above we can surely say C++ is far from its end. Although it is not among the most trendy technologies anymore, it is still irreplaceable in most of the applications named above. In fact, the TIOBE index for May 2017 places C++ on the 3rd place.
