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C++ Criticisms Mobilize Fan Base
By Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
Article Date: 2008-10-23
C++ is under attack, and instead of some random individual, well-known programmer and author Eric Raymond is the person conducting it. We'll cover his assessment, then, along with some of the numerous rebuttals and an overall effect that's surprisingly positive.
First off, an overview: Raymond announced on his blog that he and Rob Landley are writing a paper called "Why C++ is Not Our Favorite Programming Language." They agreed, "C++ is an overcomplexity generator. It was designed to solve what turned out to be the wrong problems; as a result, it lives in an unhappy valley between two utility peaks in language-design space, with neither the austere elegance of C nor the expressiveness and capability of modern interpreted languages."
Also, "The layers, patches, and added features designed to lift it out of that valley have failed to do so, resulting in a language that is bloated, obfuscated, unwieldy, rigid, and brittle. Programs written in C++ tend to inherit all these qualities."
Raymond is looking for evidence and stories supporting these premises, so contribute them if you feel like it. But he's open-minded enough to seek arguments, too, and we expect that's more where your interests lie.
If you've got all sorts of time on your hands, read or skim through the 125 comments that have collected so far following Raymond's post. A whole lot of them defend C++, and pretty much every one keeps the conversation intelligent and polite. Elsewhere on the Web, an OSNews blurb has collected 101 comments on the subject, and Matthew Smith wrote a 2,800-word blog post with 57 comments of its own.
So, valid or not, Raymond's complaints seem to have stirred up more support for C++ than could be seen at any other time. Keep an eye out for his paper, which may either change some minds or further strengthen feelings of loyalty.
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.
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