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Stroustrup on the Future of C++

/ASCII writes "Bjarne Stroustrup, the father of C++, has written an essay [PDF] on the features of the upcoming C++0x standard. In his essay, he argues that new features should whenever possible go into the standard library and not into the language, but that the language needs to shave of a few rough corners to make it easier to use for novices."

23 of 661 comments (clear)

  1. wait a moment... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    [...] to make it easier to use for novices.
    Doesn't this qualify as blasphemy?
    1. Re:wait a moment... by insert+cool+name · · Score: 5, Funny

      Doesn't this qualify as blasphemy?

      Not when it's God talking.

      --
      Never trust anyone with an id greater than 889388
    2. Re:wait a moment... by Mark+of+THE+CITY · · Score: 2, Funny

      Parent reminded me of the apocryphal objection to COBOL: "But Grace, darling, that will allow anyone to program" where the comparison is to assembly language.

      --
      The clearance system sounds logical. It is not. It is completely arbitrary. -- John Bolton
    3. Re:wait a moment... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      "What!? Isn't that like saying the George Bush is a businessman from Texas? It's technically true, but completely misses the point on what matters."

      I don't know... don't most people prefer to emphasize their accomplishments and hide their failures?

  2. I'm curious ... by The+Mgt · · Score: 4, Funny

    .. as to the pronunciation of 'C++0x'. Any suggestions ?

    1. Re:I'm curious ... by strongmace · · Score: 5, Funny

      See Plus Plus Ox

      ...or you could just shorten it by taking out the plus plus and having C0x which is obviously pronounced cocks

      --
      "If we hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominos will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." -Zapp Brannigan
    2. Re:I'm curious ... by sbb · · Score: 2, Funny

      C++ heXtreme!

    3. Re:I'm curious ... by iabervon · · Score: 4, Funny

      But C0x is an entirely different language (the development version of the successor to C99). If you want to make it easier to say, arrange it as C0x++, which is obviously pronounced "spam".

  3. C++0x? by rerunn · · Score: 2, Funny


    Perfect opportunity to come up with a decent name but nope, geekiness prevails and the best he can do is: C++0x

  4. Re:a 'few' rough edges by lbmouse · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... or MS tried to do? (hint: C#)

  5. Rough corners? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    So, instead of "Array of pointers pointing to array of pointers", can I just write "Gimme those goddamn arrays"?

  6. Re:The future of C++... by th0mas.sixbit.org · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... posts the AC as he thinks to himself, "VB roolz".

    --
    twitter.com/gravitronic
  7. Blasphemy? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 4, Funny

    In no way. If you read the B.S. writings (and I recommend he favor the world with a middle initial) he is always concerned with teachability of a feature, which is pretty understandable when you consider he's an academic.
    Now, what an academic is doing having a successful programming language with real-world applications is another question...

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  8. Re:C++... always the ugly step-kid by jurt1235 · · Score: 2, Funny

    History of java according to IBM:
    Java is based on Smalltalk!, not on C++

    Can not help it, they tell this at the IBM java courses.

    --

    My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
  9. Re:standards are nice by drstock · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Standards are nice, everybody should have their own" That quote always cracks me up.

    --
    My other comment is funny
  10. Watch out you don't get f'ed by MarkusQ · · Score: 3, Funny

    the language needs to shave of a few rough corners

    Yo nee t b carefu whe cuttin corner; i yo cu to fa yo ca reall "f" yoursel ove goo!

    --MarkusQ

  11. Time to reitre C++?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm a first year programming student at an Ivy League school and I've
    just finished my Visual Basic classes. This term I'll be moving onto
    C++. However I've noticed some issues with C++ that I'd like to
    discuss with the rest of the programming community. Please do not
    think of me as being technically ignorant. In addition to VB, I am
    very skilled at HTML programming, one of the most challenging
    languages out there!

    C++ is based on a concept known as Object Oriented Programming. In
    this style of programming (also known as OOPS in the coding community)
    a programmer builds "objects" or "glasses" out of his code, and then
    manipulates these "glasses". Since I'm assuming that you, dear reader,
    are as skilled at programming as I am, I'll skip further explanation
    of these "glasses".

    Please allow me to make a brief aside here and discuss the origins C++
    for a moment. My research shows that this language is one of the
    oldest languages in existence, pre-dating even assembly! It was
    created in the early 70s when AT&T began looking for a new language to
    write BSD, its Unix Operation System (later on, other companies would
    "borrow" the BSD source code to build both Solaris and Linux!)
    Interestingly, the name C++ is a pun by the creator of the language.
    When the first beta was released, it was remarked that the language
    would be graded as a C+, because of how hideously complex and unwieldy
    it was. The extra plus was tacked on during a later release when some
    of these issues were fixed. The language would still be graded a C,
    but it was the highest C possible! Truly a clever name for this
    language.

    Back to the topic on hand, I feel that C++ - despite its flaws - has
    been a very valuable tool to the world of computers. Unfortunately
    it's starting to show its age, and I feel that it should be
    retired, as COBOL, ADA and Smalltalk seem to have been. Recently I've
    become acquainted with another language that's quite recently been
    developed. Its one that promises to greatly simplify programming. This
    new language is called C.

    Although syntactically borrowing a great deal from its predecessor
    C++, C greatly simplifies things (thus its name, which hints at its
    simpler nature by striping off the clunky double-pluses.) Its biggest
    strength is that it abandons an OOPS-style of programming. No more
    awkward "objects" or "glasses". Instead C uses what are called
    structs. Vaguely similar to a C++ "glass", a struct does away with
    anachronisms like inheritance, namespaces and the whole
    private/public/protected/friend access issues of its variables and
    routines. By freeing the programmer from the requirement to juggle all
    these issues, the coder can focus on implementing his algorithm and
    rapidly developing his application.

    While C lacks the speed and robustness of C++, I think these are petty
    issues. Given the speed of modern computers, the relative sluggishness
    of C shouldn't be an issue. Robustness and stability will occur as C
    becomes more pervasive amongst the programming community and it
    becomes more fine-tuned. Eventually C should have stability rivaling
    that of C++.

    I'm hoping to see C adopted as the de facto standard of programming.
    Based on what I've learned of this language, the future seems very
    bright indeed for C! Eventually, many years from now, perhaps we'll
    even see an operating system coded in this language.

    Thank you for your time. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

    1. Re:Time to reitre C++?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Huh? Everybody knows that C++ and lisp were both based on Java which was invented by Microsoft. I admit that C is an exciting language however Java runs in a VM that maintains speed advantages over C by using advanced optimization technologies like 'JIG' and 'JNI'. The greatest thing about javascript is that it works in your Internet Explorer. Absolute fucking genius, why do these computer gurus keep reinventing the wheel when the square one we have works fine.

  12. Shave OFF a few rough corners by lbmouse · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...change the name from C++ to Coo

  13. Re:Dogma by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I sometimes find distributing an extra 30 MB [the .net run-time] a bit inconvenient."

    Please download my new folding bicycle! Its lightweight aluminum frame means it's easily portable and rugged too! when not biking, fold it up and carry it under your arm like a briefcase! The perfect form of personal transportation!*

    * Note: lightweight bicycle application is powered by a Soviet-era nuclear submarine, a separate download.

  14. Re:If you're confused too... by zonx+lebaam · · Score: 2, Funny

    A glimpse at the true power of operator overloading!

  15. Re:"Design and Evolution" mis-titled by Gobelet · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The Design Rationalization and Mutation of C++"

    Actually he thought about it, but the title with the font they just bought wouldn't fit the cover.

  16. Whoa! by James+A.+D.+Joyce · · Score: 1, Funny

    C++ has real-world applications now?

    --

    Ron dies in chapter 9 of book 7.