Why C++ matters?

C++ was the first programming language that I learnt. I really enjoyed doing all the memory allocations and deallocations using pointers. The performance gains by using C++ is significant only when developers do not understand performance optimization techniques in managed languages like C#. A lot of developers do not understand how Garbage collection in .Net works. Well written managed code compiled to native code offers similar performance to C++ in many cases.

Like Vijay, C++ was one of the first languages I learned. While it's not my favorite language, I will never regret learning it. While there are advantages and disadvantages to be found on both sides when it comes to memory management in particular, I think that garbage collected languages will always be at a disadvantage when it comes to performance.

I am excited to see improvements to native languages and their compilers that improve the developer experience, however. In Objective-C, using the new LLVM compiler and a few special compiler switches, automatic reference counting is done by the compiler so all of your memory allocations automatically get deallocated when they are no longer required. This means the developer doesn't have to remember to clean up after their self, and they don't have to take the performance hit at runtime. I'd be surprised if we didn't see this type of thing come to C++ as well.

I became interested in programming after working as a technician in the HVAC field. It's amazing how so many industrial devices and microcontrollers run off of some type of language built off of C or Basic. I wish after attending college I had gone back into that field because it is so diverse whereas now I spend most of my time programming on desktops etc. I had the impression that was the type of environment this article was leaning towards especially after mentioning mobile devices etc. Outside the desktop environment C++ is still a powerful programming language.