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Software taketh away faster than hardware giveth: Why C++ programmers keep growing fast despite competition, safety, and AI (herbsutter.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org to c/programming@programming.dev

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To put C++’s growth in context:

Compared to all languages: There are now more C++ developers than the #1 language had just four years ago. Compared to Rust: Each of C++, Python, and Java just added about as many developers in one year as there are Rust total developers in the world.

Whoa. That are some carefully selected numbers. It is like saying that I am earning much better money than my 16-year-old nephew (who just finished school), and that, because my job is installing and servicing coal stoves and coal stoves are still used in large part of the country, the coal stove industry is in a totally healthy state.

Hmm. Sounds like C++ is losing ground to Rust - which is much younger - fast.

Especially considering that according to the Stack Overflow surveys, young programmers tend to get into C++, but experienced developers clearly prefer Rust.

Of course, C++ isn't going to dissppear. It will continue to be used for a long time, especially in old, mature code bases. But the same is true for COBOL. And very few new projects use COBOL. In the same way as some scholars and archeologists need to know Latin, but very few publish research or write new books in Latin - even if it was the language of science just a couple hundred years ago.

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[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

This is all about:

1 - existing ecosystems (eg. tooling)

2 - existing code bases

3 - existing dev skills

It is also a trick of absolute vs relative numbers. Rust can be growing at a MUCH faster rate and still add fewer developers annually than C++.

The C++ line will go up, peak, and then go down forever (probably never to zero)

This is just like saying China is adding more coal power plants. True. But at the rate solar is growing, that will not be true for long. And once the absolute number lines cross, the old tech decline will be as steep as the new tech rise was.

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Exactly. We all have learned in the pandemic that fast relative growth from a small starting value can have practical consequences very quickly. There are of course a lot of new languages that have appeared over years, and never became relevant. But a new, efficient systems language like Rust, and the fact that it is accepted for the Linux kernel is a very significant new development.