r/AskComputerScience • u/Mission-Maize8454 • 3d ago

C++ or Java?

Which programming language has the most return on investment? Impact on real world systems, and is more rewarding? I have minimal programming experience and working on AS in CS.

5 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/donaldhobson 13h ago

C++ is infamous. Java is merely outdated and mediocre. https://yosefk.com/c++fqa/

Unfortunately C++ is used in quite a lot of places. But also, C++ is 2 to 3 languages crudely nailed together. Most C++ developers only know a fraction of the language. Not always the same fraction. This means there are multiple mutually incomprehensible dialects of C++, each using some obscure features while avoiding others. So if for some reason you do want to learn C++, you need to pick which dialect you wish to learn.

Rust is nice, rust is perhaps the closest language to a cohrent sane modern version of C++. Python is ok, it's a fairly inoffensive scripting language. Zig is interesting for it's low level simplicity, more a modern C. Haskel is abstract and elegant in it's own way.

What are you wanting to do with a programming language?

1

u/Mission-Maize8454 12h ago

Hi, robotics, program real world intelligent systems that are helpful and make a difference, I don't want a skill set that's automated by AI like I think software development is.