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Programming in Languages Other Than C++: Cheap, Dirty Thrills

  • Jan 3, 2003
Phillip Culliton exposes his throat in this diatribe about the advantages of the only truly "cool" programming language: C++.
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I Want To Hate C++. Really!

I don't know about you, but I've wanted to hate C++ ever since I first read Bjarne Stroustrup's The C++ Programming Language way back in my late teens. I have reason to believe that others felt this way as well. As represented by the book, C++ really didn't have a whole lot going for it. The examples were all templates, the book was not really approachable as a book per se, and generally, when I needed to refer to it, it left me in a vaguely homicidal mood. At one point, I remember snapping at a college friend who mentioned vectors. (He deserved it.)

Of course, anyone who has written code in C++ while others (to remain nameless) in the same department coded in VB—and who has then destroyed those others' pride and dignity with overwhelming speed at development team meetings—knows that C++ is, quite simply, the one and only "cool" programming language. There is no language faster, more flexible, or more capable than C/C++, with the exception of Assembly, which suffers from some pretty serious issues, leaving C/C++ the disputed winner.

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