Re: web-based software & OS programming

From:
"Victor Bazarov" <v.Abazarov@comAcast.net>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Mon, 1 May 2006 00:46:11 -0400
Message-ID:
<07udnbxQJpoMD8jZnZ2dnUVZ_s-dnZ2d@comcast.com>
arnuld wrote:

 1st of all, i searched last 12 years archives of comp.lang.c++
because i have some problems. i got some help but not satisfied as i
did not get solution specific to my problem.


And you wouldn't. c.l.c++ is about the _language_, not about the areas
and disciplines where C++ is used. We do not discuss applications of
C++, since there are way too many. They usually have their own forums.
Like for your web-based whatever, try 'comp.infosystems.www.authoring'.
Or 'comp.software-eng'.

In the end, searching
archives is a boring & very time-comsuming task BUT it really helps.
actually i have posted this question onto some other newsgroup too but
i am posting it here too because C++ has fascinated me. here is my
question:

i have 2 goals & want to go with one:

1.) i am interested in writing web-based softwares . i want to make
one thing clear that i do not want to become a webmaster or
web-designer/developer.


But you will have to. That's the trick. And the dilemma.

i want to write *web-based software* like
VIAWEB of Paul Graham, (www.paulgraham.com/road.html). do you really
think that C++ is good for that?


Just about as good as anything else.

2 thing are here:

    1. when Paul Graham sold VIAWEB to YAHOO, they rewrote it in C++
but i did not find any
       other example using C++. i have found people using <ruby on
rails> <zope> etc.


And plenty of other languages that fit the bill...

    2. for this kind of software, will i get a job learning C++?


Pure C++ knowledge will only get you a job doing language-specific tools
like compilers or memory managers or debuggers/profilers. For any other
kind of software you're better off learning the actuall application area
rather than any language in which the job can be done.

2.) Is C++ useful in OS programming. i have found nearly all the
examples using C?


Yes, it's about as useful as C (if not more). There are reasons why you
didn't find much of C++ used there, but they are not topical here.

3.) i am very much interested in doing OS programming (i want to
contribut to HURD/L4
     development). is OS programming is a lot more difficult than
writing web-based software
     or difficult than anything else?


Yes, usually more difficult. The degree of difficulty varies dramatically
depending on which parts of Web development you compare with which parts
of OS development.

    question is: can i make some money by doing OS programming?


There is no answer for it in c.l.c++. You need to ask in a newsgroup
dedicated to OS programming. Try something with 'kernel' in its name.

4.) can i make some money (in a job) by using C++?


I don't know. Can you? I mean, you ask to make a serious leap from
your statements of what you want to do to judging your abilities to
learn C++ and idioms and paradigms that it uses. By looking at sheer
numbers of programmers who nowadays work with C++ as their major tool
and make living developing some software, I'd venture a guess that on
*average* it is possible. But trust me when I say that I've met people
who were either incapable of, or not interested in, holding a job like
that, and who moved to VB or other things eventually, and after a while
simply abandoned programming altogether. Don't get me wrong, I am not
judging them. They are fine folks, and they are good at what they do.
But they are not C++ programmers/engineers. Will it be your story?
My crystal ball is malfunctioning today, so I can't really tell.

i know companies
want 2 years of
    experience. that's the learning curve to C++.


You sound like you've already gone through your two years and probably
think that there is nothing left to learn. Or, maybe, you haven't got
a clue as to how long it's going to take *you* to get up to speed in C++
and you're using somebody else's estimates about the learning curve.
Well, in either case, you're probably wrong.

Do take my views with a handful of salt, though. I use C++ in my job,
so I must be biased. I've been involved with C++ for more than a decade
now, and I still don't consider my studies complete. Besides, on top of
everything else, the language keeps changing! Who woulda thunk?

Best of luck in finding your answers!

V
--
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