Comment Re:Good plan. (Score 1) 313
OK so I found this argument amusing but really irritating. Just a few questions and thoughts:
1. Do you do a lot of numerical programming (like, solving PDEs, large linear systems, optimization, etc.)? Not just calculating the normal of a polygon.
2. Have you ever written numerical code in teams consisting of applied mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists?
I know that the engineers I work with would give you REALLY strange looks if you wanted them to learn OCaml. I'm pretty sure the mathematicians would too. C++ is a language all of these people have been exposed to. If you're doing hardcore number crunching you're writing in Fortran, C, or C++. I know of companies that were crippled by writing their libraries/applications by hand in ASM or less popular languages. It's unmaintainable. You loose the person who originally wrote the code and you're totally out of luck. You not only need to find a new bright engineer but one that knows that language well enough to debug someone else's work.
3. Have you ever maintained large numerical codes that require constant change, new features and tweaking?
OO techniques can come in very handy... Sure you can do it in C but you can really start kicking ass with a well defined subset of C++. Need more rope? Expand your subset and point out the features of the language you'll be using to the rest of the team. Is someone writing unmaintainable code? Slap 'em in the face! At the most basic level you have a language that's close to one of your advocated languages: C. You can start there and build upwards slowly depending on the experience of your team.
4. Have you worked on codes that run so long that achieving even a 3% speedup is seen as a great step forward? I'd be more than willing to bet my Intel compiler will run circles around your D compiler. Yes, circles.
5. Did C++ touch you in a bad place when you were a young programmer? Why are you arguing this with such vitriol? Can you not accept that some people _like_ C++ and all the rope that it has to offer? Personally, I have yet to get bit in the ass by C++. From the passion you apply to your arguments I must be a freakin' genius.
1. Do you do a lot of numerical programming (like, solving PDEs, large linear systems, optimization, etc.)? Not just calculating the normal of a polygon.
2. Have you ever written numerical code in teams consisting of applied mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists?
I know that the engineers I work with would give you REALLY strange looks if you wanted them to learn OCaml. I'm pretty sure the mathematicians would too. C++ is a language all of these people have been exposed to. If you're doing hardcore number crunching you're writing in Fortran, C, or C++. I know of companies that were crippled by writing their libraries/applications by hand in ASM or less popular languages. It's unmaintainable. You loose the person who originally wrote the code and you're totally out of luck. You not only need to find a new bright engineer but one that knows that language well enough to debug someone else's work.
3. Have you ever maintained large numerical codes that require constant change, new features and tweaking?
OO techniques can come in very handy... Sure you can do it in C but you can really start kicking ass with a well defined subset of C++. Need more rope? Expand your subset and point out the features of the language you'll be using to the rest of the team. Is someone writing unmaintainable code? Slap 'em in the face! At the most basic level you have a language that's close to one of your advocated languages: C. You can start there and build upwards slowly depending on the experience of your team.
4. Have you worked on codes that run so long that achieving even a 3% speedup is seen as a great step forward? I'd be more than willing to bet my Intel compiler will run circles around your D compiler. Yes, circles.
5. Did C++ touch you in a bad place when you were a young programmer? Why are you arguing this with such vitriol? Can you not accept that some people _like_ C++ and all the rope that it has to offer? Personally, I have yet to get bit in the ass by C++. From the passion you apply to your arguments I must be a freakin' genius.
