Slashdot Mirror
Downsides to the C++ STL?
craybob queries: "I'm a developer for a small software group that will soon migrate from using Rouge Wave to using the C++ STL. I just left the week-long Software Developers 2002 conference, where I heard the great minds in software tell us all of the best ways to take full advantage of the STL. (I just wanted to give a quick thanks to Stephen Dewhurst and Scott Meyers) From this I came away with the feeling that this is the Holy Grail of C++. I'm sure these guys are right and that it is great, but the truth is that I'm a skeptic, so what are the downsides to the STL?"
... it isn't Java
*rimshot*
uh... wait,... that wasn't a rimshot... that was the sound of downmoderation... *grumble*
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
You were trolling here...
There is a need for a continum of tools. The fact you are part of the "everyone" who seems to think that a language must be all things to all people is, well, kind of a poor reflection on you not the language.
There are PLENTY of things that C++ isn't "the best choice" for. Primary among those are the projects where you just want to slap something together safely.
The fact that I wouldn't let most people near an industrial band-saw doesn't somehow invalidate the existence and purpose of that device. Yes, people who don't know, or don't care, to learn how to use equipment properly should be laughed at when they get themselves hurt. People who decide to go SCUBA diving withtout training and get themselves killed also deserve what they get.
People who jump into C or C++ without the necessary foundation in "real"(tm) (8-) programming will hemmorage memory and dump core and generally make all sorts of messes. Shame on them and pitty to their employers and all that.
Still, a skilled craftsman with C/C++ can and do make better, faster, and more effective code than an equally skilled craftsman using the safety-net filled scriptirrific languages.
Why do you think Perl and Python are written in C/C++?
[rant]
And to diverge into a rant some, Python is a screwup waiting to happen. Friends don't let friends use whitespace as a control structure. I officially consign anybody who advocates using Python for real work to RPG hell for the rest of eternity. replacing the two characters "{" and "}" with the one character ":" and needing to worry about counting spaces/tabs is no bargan. Yes there are editors that will help you but now your language is dependent on your editor and code that reads identically on paper may do different things in the computer. How dumb is that?
Anybody who recomends Python over C++ because C++ is a "bad" language but Python is a "good" one knows nothing about language theory (spoken or computer languages)
[/rant]
Innocent people shouldn't be forced to pay for inferior software development.
--"Code Complete" Microsoft Press