C/C++ is like the bread and butter of programming. Almost all low-level systems such as operating systems, file systems, etc are written in C/C++. If you wish to be a system-level programmer, C/C++ is the language you should learn. C++ is also widely used by competitive programmers owing to the fact that it is extremely fast and stable.
C++ also provides something called STL - Standard Template Library. STL is a pool of ready-to-use libraries for various data structures, arithmetic operations, and algorithms. The library support and speed of the language make it a popular choice in the High-frequency trading community as well.
- A galore of compilers and libraries to work with [C++].
- Eases accessing blocked or hidden objects by other programming languages [C].
- Faster execution of programs than most programming languages [C/C++].
- Forms the basis for understanding more complex programming languages [C/C++].
- Language of choice for multi-device, multi-platform app development [C++].
- Offers a great degree of portability [C].
- Procedure-oriented language with a group of function modules and blocks. These make debugging, testing, and maintaining the programs easier [C].
- Programs are more efficient and easy to understand [C/C++].
- Rich function library [C++].
- Runs close to the system hardware and hence, offers a low level of abstraction [C/C++].
- Support exception handling and function overloading [C++].
- Wide variety of application domains, such as games, GUI applications, and real-time mathematical simulations [C++].
Difficulty level: Easy to moderate to learn. 3 out of 5.
Job opportunity: Moderate! 3.5 out of 5.
C:
During the 1960s and 1970s, every cycle of the CPU and every byte of memory was expensive. Dennis Ritchie, a Bell lab engineer, has developed a procedural, general-purpose programming language that is compiled directly to machine language during the 1969 and 1973. C programming offers low-level access to memory and gives full control over the underlying hardware.
Over the years, C became one of the most used programming languages. Besides, C is arguably the most disruptive and influential programming language in history and has influenced almost all other languages on this list.
Although C is often criticized for its accidental complexity, unsafe programming, and lack of features. Also, C is platform-dependent, i.e., C code is not portable. But if you want to make the most use of your hardware, then C/C++ or Rust is your only option.
3 Key Features:
- As C gave low-level access to memory and compiled to Machine instructions, it is one of the fastest and most powerful programming languages.
- C gives full control over the underlying hardware.
- C is one of the Programming languages of the Language i.e., compilers of many other programming languages like Ruby, PHP, Python have been written in C.
Popularity:
C is the oldest programming language in this list and has dominated the industry for 47 years. C has also ruled the programming language popularity ranking more than any other language as clear from TIOBE’s long-term ranking history.
Job Market:
According to Indeed, there are 28K job postings for C developers in the USA, which make C the 6th most demanding programming language. In terms of salary, C ranks 6th with Java:
Main Use Cases:
- System Programming
- Game Development
- IoT and Real-Time Systems
- Machine Learning, Deep Learning
- Embedded Systems
C++:
Bjarne Stroustrup has worked with Dennis Ritchie (creator of C) in Bell Lab during the 1970s. Heavily influenced by C, he first created C++ as an extension of C, adding Object-Oriented features. Over time, C++ has evolved into a multi-paradigm, general-purpose programming language. Like C, C++ also offers low-level memory access and directly compiled to machine instructions.
C++ also offers full control over hardware but with the cost of accidental complexity and does not provide language-level support for memory safety and concurrency safety. Also, C++ offers too many features and is one of the most complicated programming languages to master.
For all these factors and its platform dependency, C++ has lost its popularity to Java in especially enterprise software development and Big Data domain in the early 2000s.
C++ is once again gaining popularity with the rise of GPU, Containerization, Cloud computing, as it can quickly adapt itself to take advantage of Hardware or Ecosystem changes.
Today, C++ is one of the most important and heavily used programming languages in the industry.
3 Key Features:
- Like Java, C++ is also constantly modernizing and adapting itself with changes in Hardware or Ecosystem.
- C++ also gives full control over the underlying hardware and can run on every platform and take advantage of every kind of hardware, whether it is GPU, TPU, Container, Cloud, Mobile devices, or Microcontroller.
- C++ is blazingly fast and used heavily in performance-critical and resource-constrained systems.
Popularity:
C++ is the second oldest programming language in this list and ranked 4th in the TIOBE programming language ranking:
Job Market:
Indeed has ranked C++ as the 4th most demanding programming language with 41 K job posting. Also, C++ developers earn $108 K per annum, which places it in 5th place.
Main Use Cases:
- System Programming
- Game Development
- IoT and Real-Time Systems
- Machine Learning, Deep Learning
- Embedded Systems, Distributed Systems.
