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Closed 12 years ago.
I'm starting C++ programming in my first job. I'm a CS student and I have learn programming in Java. What advice would you tell me to watch out so I don't cause trouble in my new job?
Would you have any advice or references would be appreciated.
(example: I know C++ is more likely to have memory problem than Java)
Thank you very much!
Maybe you already know this, but one common mistake for folks used to Java and learning C++:
Don't use new unless you have to (and you probably don't really have to). In most cases where you want to create an object, you should just create it "on the stack", like ClassType obj;.
Two things:
Get yourself a copy of Effective C++ by Scott Meyers.
Lint your code. This will not only catch potential bugs early in the development process, but also teach you good coding habits (e.g. declaring a method's input arguments as const references). I use PC-Lint for this.
For me, the biggest difference between Java and C++ is pointers, so I would try to get pointers down. Just my opinion.
No two ways about it. You're going to be a menace until you've been bit enough by C++ gotchas to hate the language. I'd recommend trying to write functions and not classes. A lot of people think OOP is great, but really most users want your code to "do" something, not "be" something. Anyways, good luck. :-)
Definitely what Chance said. Memory management is explicit in C++. I had an excellent textbook in college called Deitel C++. It's a C++ Bible.
I would also learn up on the Standard Template Library and Boost.
This might give you some ideas.
Some important excerpts :
Researchers (Bloom (1985), Bryan & Harter (1899), Hayes (1989), Simmon & Chase (1973)) have shown it takes about ten years to develop expertise in any of a wide variety of areas, including chess playing, music composition, telegraph operation, painting, piano playing, swimming, tennis, and research in neuropsychology and topology. The key is deliberative practice: not just doing it again and again, but challenging yourself with a task that is just beyond your current ability, trying it, analyzing your performance while and after doing it, and correcting any mistakes. Then repeat. And repeat again.
And here is how to do :
Get interested in programming, and do some because it is fun. Make
sure that it keeps being enough fun so that you will be willing to
put in your ten years/10,000 hours.
Program. The best kind of learning is learning by doing. To put it
more technically, "the maximal level of performance for individuals
in a given domain is not attained automatically as a function of
extended experience, but the level of performance can be increased
even by highly experienced individuals as a result of deliberate
efforts to improve." (p. 366) and "the most effective learning
requires a well-defined task with an appropriate difficulty level for
the particular individual, informative feedback, and opportunities
for repetition and corrections of errors." (p. 20-21) The book
Cognition in Practice: Mind, Mathematics, and Culture in Everyday
Life is an interesting reference for this viewpoint.
Talk with other programmers; read other programs. This is more
important than any book or training course.
If you want, put in four years at a college (or more at a graduate
school). This will give you access to some jobs that require
credentials, and it will give you a deeper understanding of the
field, but if you don't enjoy school, you can (with some dedication)
get similar experience on your own or on the job. In any case, book
learning alone won't be enough. "Computer science education cannot
make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and
pigment can make somebody an expert painter" says Eric Raymond,
author of The New Hacker's Dictionary. One of the best programmers I
ever hired had only a High School degree; he's produced a lot of
great software, has his own news group, and made enough in stock
options to buy his own nightclub.
Work on projects with other programmers. Be the best programmer on
some projects; be the worst on some others. When you're the best, you
get to test your abilities to lead a project, and to inspire others
with your vision. When you're the worst, you learn what the masters
do, and you learn what they don't like to do (because they make you
do it for them).
Work on projects after other programmers. Understand a program
written by someone else. See what it takes to understand and fix it
when the original programmers are not around. Think about how to
design your programs to make it easier for those who will maintain
them after you.
Learn at least a half dozen programming languages. Include one
language that supports class abstractions (like Java or C++), one
that supports functional abstraction (like Lisp or ML), one that
supports syntactic abstraction (like Lisp), one that supports
declarative specifications (like Prolog or C++ templates), one that
supports coroutines (like Icon or Scheme), and one that supports
parallelism (like Sisal).
Remember that there is a "computer" in "computer science". Know how
long it takes your computer to execute an instruction, fetch a word
from memory (with and without a cache miss), read consecutive words
from disk, and seek to a new location on disk. (Answers here.)
Get involved in a language standardization effort. It could be the
ANSI C++ committee, or it could be deciding if your local coding
style will have 2 or 4 space indentation levels. Either way, you
learn about what other people like in a language, how deeply they
feel so, and perhaps even a little about why they feel so.
Have the good sense to get off the language standardization effort as
quickly as possible.
Related
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Closed 11 years ago.
I am new to Stack Overflow, and new to programming.
I am learning how to program in C++.
My question is not related to specific code, but is about research and learning the language.
What I have learned so far relates to narrow examples of syntax and simple programs which use variables, functions, arrays, etc.
I am wondering if people have or can link to example programs so I can study them.
I'm looking for console programs which:
use variables (int, double, string, etc)
use functions
use arrays use classes with
attributes and methods use objects of that class
reads and writes to a file
validates user inputs, displaying appropriate error messages
and is basically a useful program.
Through Google, I have mostly only been able to find C++ tutorial pages (cplusplus, cprogramming, etc) which deal with each of the above separately, usually in a bare-bones way to show the syntax. I'm looking for something more complex (but not overly so) so I can learn how to combine these things in a meaningful way with the intent of eventually writing programs of my own at the same level.
I've already coded a calculator (though not one that has all of these features; namely it was missing file i/o and I was able to make a basic one which didn't need objects), so I'm looking for something different. I understand console programs are text based and lend themselves well to these kind of programs, so it can be a calculator of another type, as long as it isn't a basic arithmetic one.
People here won't teach you C++. In fact, even a book or Google by themselves won't exactly teach you any language, they are just tools to make your life easier and the studying curve smoother.
My suggestion is to use Google or a good C++ book and write code.. especially write code, otherwise you won't learn anything, you must get your hands dirty in order to learn C++.
cplusplus.com has a few examples.
As #GMan said, you'd be better off reading a book.
Possibly Effective C++ by Scott Meyers, or maybe one in the Beginner\Introductory section.
The best way to improve is to give yourself a task and code it. Use different techniques/paradigms (OOP, modular, etc). Instead of studying programs, try to create them yourself - you'll learn a lot better this way.
The book can guide you, but you must make the journey.
Here are some exercises. You can try solving puzzles, too. CodeGolf.SE is good if you want to have some fun.
I hope you've got an excellent book. :)
That said, I understand the desire to find source code you can read that's larger than toys, but not giant cathedrals of code; perhaps the AppArmor policy parser can be of service to you. It's a little bit involved, because it's a small-language compiler that builds a DFA of a security policy for 'execution' in the kernel when confined programs perform file operations.
You can clone it with bzr: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~apparmor-dev/apparmor/master/ or you can browse the source code: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~apparmor-dev/apparmor/master/files/head:/parser/libapparmor_re/
Supplementing the other posts directing you to various reading, if you are new to programming, I highly recommend starting your venture into programming with Python.
Python is an easy-to-learn programming language that has a LOT built-in and will allow you to start making useful "programs" very quickly.
For example, you can read the entire contents of a text file with a single line of code:
file_contents = open('example.txt','r').read()
I feel it keeps people more encouraged when they can see significant results as they learn. If you are interested, Dive Into Python is a very popular tutorial.
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Closed 12 years ago.
I've barely/rarely used C++ in the past decade, and now it looks like I'll be doing something in it again. I'm looking forward to it, but have to wonder how it's changed since I last used it.
Are there any good / brief web pages, blog posts, or even books on how C++ has changed in the past decade?
Please note this question is regarding the language as well as tools or any additional information about working in C++. Specifically I'm working in Windows, using VC++2008.
While the official standard hasn't changed much over the past decade or so, there are several things of importance that have happened:
while it's not an official standard yet, an upcoming new standard (commonly called C++0x) is 'around the corner'. GCC and MSVC 2010 have incorporated significant parts of that new standard, but I'm not sure how much is in common use.
the Boost library has become a major player in providing additional support for the language - to the point that it was a significant influence on the new standard
'template-based' programming techniques have become much more prevalent, probably overtaking the older 'inheritence-based' techniques of code reuse (this might have been well underway when you last looked at C++ depending on the practives your shop may have been using at the time).
compilers (and in particular Microsoft's) have come a long way in standards compliance
The biggest change is that C++ standard actually works in all major compilers now. Things like member templates used to be iffy.
The language itself has not changed much. However, the best practices and idioms did a lot.
I suggest you take a look at the book "C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices" by Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu to see how modern C++ looks like today.
I think one of the biggest changes is one of mindset: many people have (finally!) realised that templates are incredibly powerful and don't need to be slow, and use of the STL and boost is much more widespread than 10 years ago.
VS2008 comes with TR1, a large addition to std that contains things like static arrays, reference counting pointers, and suchlike. Apart from that, the biggest change is just that the compiler compiles how the Standard defines.
An interesting question as I'm coming up to my 10th anniversary of programming C++ for coins.
My personal view is that I'd be somewhat wary -- but only somewhat -- since I haven't seen it all (though I think I can guess what it's like) -- of paying strong attention to the internet echo chamber. It's true, some people have gone full bore for the modern style of C++, with everything fully template'd up and using modern techniques to get the compiler doing its Prolog thing to best effect. However this is certainly not universally true, and, in the main, the C++ code I see today is very similar in most ways to the C++ code I saw ten years ago.
It would be a good idea to brush up on modern fashions, because some stuff that was somewhat rare ten years ago (smart pointers, regular use of RAII, standard library containers and stuff) is now more common. But unless you are sure that the code you will be working with is festooned with templates and boost and so on, you stand a good chance of working with something that's at heart very much like what you used to work with.
It may be unfashionable to say it, but that doesn't make it any less true: regardless of skill level, lots of people don't care for modern C++. Some, because they don't understand it. Some, because they do understand it. And for some, perhaps "care" isn't even the right word -- they don't even know it exists. And as you might expect these people all code accordingly.
Perhaps I move in the wrong circles, but my experience has been people who don't or can't or won't code in the modern style outnumber those that might do by some vast margin. And those who might do, generally don't, because they're outnumbered. Their code gets rewritten, or ignored, until they start writing stuff that other people can understand. So maybe this is good, or maybe this is bad -- it's hardly relevant, in my view, because the outcome is the same: that if your experience turns out to be anything like mine, you have a good chance of encountering today code that's remarkably similar to what you would have seen in 1999.
P.S. Nicolai Josuttis has written a couple of books that my last employer's resident template expert seemed to like. Also try Modern C++ Design (Alexandrescu) -- probably a bit dated now, but it explains many of the principles. Herb Sutter's Exceptional C++ gives, as I recall from a skim of a work copy, a good overview of some modern techniques without going too nuts on the template front. And of course boost demonstrates all this sort of thing (and much, much more -- then some bonus material) put into practice over a range of compilers.
(Hopefully the above list is not too dated; as my answer might suggest, I have found much less of a need to keep up to date with the latest trends in C++ than I would ever have expected.)
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Closed 12 years ago.
What does C++ add to C?
What features of the language are the Clang/LLVM projects, the parts of GCC that are being written in C++, chromium, and any others all taking advantage of? What features are they avoiding?
Like all sophisticated and powerful things there is a price to be paid to succeed in C++.
You have to be incredibly careful with memory management.
Multi-paradigm capability means you have to be really good at design to avoid making a mess.
Extreme performance requires careful planning and selection of features used.
The ability to circumvent most every language policy requires monumental self discipline.
So if you're sloppy with memory, poor at design, don't need fast programs, or have no self discipline, then please don't learn C++. There is always Java or C#.
meta programming? templates?
like with C you get performance, but the code looks horrible.
with the high level languages you get nice code but there is less flexibility to make the fastest possible code.
with c++ you can do both? you can freely make anything as fast as it could be made in C, but native object orientation, and templates/operator overloading ect makes it so you can write fairly nice looking code too. indeed, you can make it so it is neat and fast.
I have never really found it more of a pain to write stuff in c++ than in a higher level language. the trick is having good libraries.
Because despite academic efforts such as Singularity, there's not a single mainstream OS where drivers can be written in a high-level language.
Note that anything that can be done in C++ can also be done in C, but some things are a lot easier in C++.
Not? I would say it's not worth if you performance is not an issue for you. (Follow the double negatives.)
My two cents:
Although I don't program in Python, I would have to say that Python is probably the best programming language for getting real work done. It's an elegant language, and it has an enormous collection of libraries for doing various things. However, my experience as a user has shown me over and over again that Python is slow (take yum, for example).
I do know Haskell pretty well, and I have to say that it's a friggin' awesome language. Better yet, it is compiled, and its speed is competitive with Java and C++ (though you have to put forth extra effort to get this speed in some cases). However, libraries for things like database access don't always match the elegance of Haskell's base libraries (I'm probably way wrong about this), and they're harder to install on Ubuntu. In my opinion, that's why it's more challenging to get real work done in Haskell than in Python.
Ruby's good for web applications. Other than that, it's slow (though I speculate jRuby or something might be faster).
C++ is far from elegant, and in many cases, elegance is frowned apon. Anyone ever told you to use static_cast instead of C-style casting? Anyone ever told you not to use namespace std;? C++ has a lot of features, but doesn't tend to have many important language features (such as closures, which are formally proven to be the best thing since sliced bread).
Why do people use C++, then? Well, it's performance-focused, making it a good choice when you need speed. It has classes, namespaces, and templates, so it's a good choice when you want better code organization, but still need to use "C" for some reason. Also, it has the Boost library, which I've heard is really good for getting work done.
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Closed 9 years ago.
I ran into this supposed interview of Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of C++.
http://artlung.com/smorgasborg/Invention_of_Cplusplus.shtml
Stroustrup: Well, it's been long enough, now, and I believe most people have figured out for themselves that C++ is a waste of time but, I must say, it's taken them a lot longer than I thought it would...
Interviewer: Yes, but C++ is basically a sound language.
Stroustrup: You really believe that, don't you? Have you ever sat down and worked on a C++ project? Here's what happens: First, I've put in enough pitfalls to make sure that only the most trivial projects will work first time. Take operator overloading. At the end of the project, almost every module has it, usually, because guys feel they really should do it, as it was in their training course. The same operator then means something totally different in every module. Try pulling that lot together, when you have a hundred or so modules. And as for data hiding, God, I sometimes can't help laughing when I hear about the problems companies have making their modules talk to each other.
Is this a hoax? Do any of these points seem true for any of the veteran C++ programmers out there?
You just have to check the Stroustrup's website (the FAQ part) to find that it's wrong - a well known hoax as Judah Himango already pointed :
Did you really give an interview to IEEE?
in which you confessed that C++ was
deliberately created as an awful
language for writing unmaintainable
code to increase programmers'
salaries? Of course not. Read the
real IEEE interview.
It's a well-known hoax.
And no, learning C++ isn't a waste of your time, something that's been discussed on StackOverflow many times.
As mentioned, this is a well-known hoax.
But it does provoke some interesting points. These days C++ is a waste of time, except for when you can't afford to waste time. Less opaquely: C++ is a waste of development time, except for when you can't afford to waste execution time.
From the article titled "The Real Stroustrup Interview" in IEEE Computer Magazine Vol. 31 Issue 6 pp.110-114 (June 1998):
For the past few months, a hoax interview between Stroustrup and Computer has been making the rounds in cyberspace. While we regret the incident, it offers us a welcome opportunity to have the father of C++ share his insights on Standard C++ and software development in general. We can also attest to his continued sense of proportion and humor—he suggests that the fictitious interview would have been a much funnier parody had he written it himself.
As others mentioned, this Interview is hoax.
Well, I am one of the persons who hate C++ and normally doesnt use it, but learning it was definitely not a waste of time. At least now I know why I hate C++ and I understand why other persons use this language and think it is good.
If you want to learn this language to know about its concepts, its benefits and its drawbacks, to be able to read code written in it, and in general to be able to "talk about" it, it is never a waste of time. Same for any other programming language. It will increase your expierience. For example, C++ shows one common way of OOP - a way I dont like, but a way many other people use.
But if you want to learn it because "the people say that it is the best" (as I sometimes read), then it is really a waste of time. Same for any other programming language.
Programmers that feel attracted to higher level languages that take care of memory management and other tasks for them, could feel that C++ is a waste of time.
It certainly is if you can achieve the same goal with another language in less time and with less bug fixing and don't mind the downsides as efficiency.
But I don't regret having learned and spent so many hours coding in C/C++ for it's such a beautiful language and allows you to produce things that not many other languages can.
I mean, don't you want to use the language with which operating systems and compilers are written? that's not a waste of time at all from my perspective.
C++ is far from being a waste of your time. You'll understand valuable concepts that will help you understand many other concepts in different programming languages. I.E.: VTABLE.
There is not a single framework which uses all language features of C++. This introduces a huge inconsistency to the language's ecosystem.
QT is one of the few APIs which I would call a framework (or API for a lot of things):
But it defines own string, own array, ...
What's the point of a "standard" library when no one can use it in a portable and compatible way (from the aspect of interaction with other APIs)?
I know, there is boost, but what is boost compared to an API such as QT? Nothing.
Look at Java: The is the standard Java API, and every "foreign" API uses it, it's all perfectly compatible.
C++ (and Java) probably the best language to learn to understand concepts of OOP.
I remember learning it in college benefited me a lot.
Stroustrup is not that stupid to say that! It is definitely a hoax!
I'm a programmer with 2 years experience, I worked in 4 places and I really think of myself as a confident, and fluent developer.
Most of my colleagues have CS degrees, and I don't really feel any difference! However, to keep up my mind on the same stream with these guys, I studied C (read beginning C from novice to professional), DataStructures with C, and also OOP with C++.
I have a reasonable understanding of pointers, memory management, and I also attended a scholarship which C, DataStructures, and C++ were a part of it.
I want to note that my familiarity with C and C++ does not exceed reading some pages, and executing some demos; I haven't worked on any project using C or C++.
Lately a friend of mine advised me to learn C, and C++ extensively, and then move to OpenGL and learn about graphics programming. He said that the insights I may gain by learning these topics will really help me throughout my entire life as a programmer.
PS: I work as a full-time developer mostly working on ASP.NET applications using C#.
Recommendations?
For practical advancement:
From a practical sense, pick a language that suites the domain you want to work in.
There is no need to learn C nor C++ for most programming spaces. You can be a perfectly competent programmer without writing a line of code in those languages.
If however you are not happy working in the exact field you are in now, you can learn C or C++ so that you may find a lower level programming job.
Helping you be a better programmer:
You can learn a lot from learning multiple languages though. So it is always good to broaden your horizons that way.
If you want more experience in another language, and have not tried it yet, I would recommend to learn a functional programming language such as Scheme, Lisp, or Haskell.
First, having a degree has nothing to do with knowing C++. I know several people who graduated from CS without ever writing more than 50 lines of C/C++. CS is not about programming (in the same sense that surgery is not about knives), and it certainly isn't about individual languages. A CS degree requires you to poke your nose into several different languages, on your way to somewhere else. CS teaches the underlying concepts, an understanding of compilers, operating systems, the hardware your code is running on, algorithms and data structures and many other fascinating subjects. But it doesn't teach programming. Whatever programming experience a CS graduate has is almost incidental. It's something he picked up on the fly, or because of a personal interest in programming.
Second, let's be clear that it's very possible to have a successful programming career without knowing C++. In fact, I'd expect that most programmers fall into this category. So you certainly don't need to learn C++.
That leaves two possible reasons to learn C++:
Self-improvement
Changing career track
#2 is simple. If you want to transition to a field where C++ is the dominant language, learning it would obviously be a good idea. You mentioned graphics programming as an example, and if you want to do that for a living, learning C++ will probably be a good idea. (however, I don't think it's a particularly good suggestion for "insights that will help throughout your live as a programmer". There are other fields that are much more generally applicable. Learning graphics programming will teach you graphics programming, and not much else.)
That leaves #1, which is a bit more interesting. Will you become a better programmer simply by knowing C++? Perhaps, but not as much as some may think. There are several useful things that C++ may teach you, but there also seems to be a fair bit of superstition about it: it's low-level and has pointers, so by learning C++, you will achieve enlightenment.
If you want to understand what goes on under the hood, C or C++ will be helpful, sure, but you could cut out the middle man and just go directly into learning about compilers. That'd give you an even better idea. Supplement that with some basic information on how CPU's work, and a bit about operating systems as well, and you've learned all the underlying stuff much better than you would from C++.
However, some things I believe are worth picking up from C++, in no particular order:
(several of them are likely to make you despair at C#, which, despite adopting a lot of brilliant features, is still missing out some that to a C++ programmer seems blindingly obvious)
Paranoia: Becoming good at C++ implies becoming a bit of a language lawyer. The language leaves a lot of things undefined or unspecified, so a good C++ programmer is paranoid. "The code I just wrote looks ok, and it seems to be have ok when I run it - but is it well-defined by the standard? Will it break tomorrow, on his computer, or when I compile with an updated compiler? I have to check the standard". That's less necessary in other languages, but it may still be a healthy experience to carry with you. Sometimes, the compiler doesn't have the final word.
RAII: C++ has pioneered a pretty clever way to deal with resource management (including the dreaded memory management). Create an object on the stack, which in its constructor acquires the resource in question (database connection, chunk of memory, a file, a network socket or whatever else), and in its destructor ensures that this resource is released. This simple mechanism means that you virtually never write new/delete in your top level code, it is always hidden inside constructors or destructors. And because destructors are guaranteed to execute when the object goes out of scope, even if an exception is thrown, your resource is guaranteed to be released. No memory leaks, no unclosed database connections. C# doesn't directly support this, but being familiar with the technique sometimes lets you see a way to emulate it in C#, in the cases where it's useful. (Obviously memory management isn't a concern, but ensuring that database connections are released quickly might still be)
Generic programming, templates, the STL and metaprogramming: The C++ standard library (or the part of it commonly known as the STL) is a pretty interesting example of library design. In some ways, it is lightyears ahead of .NET or Java's class libraries, although LINQ has patched up some of the worst shortcomings of .NET. Learning about it might give you some useful insights into clever ways to work with sequences or sets of data. It also has a strong flavor of functional programming, which is always nice to poke around with. It's implemented in terms of templates, which are another remarkable feature of C++, and template metaprogramming may be beneficial to learn about as well. Not because it is directly applicable to many other languages, but because it might give you some ideas for writing more generic code in other languages as well.
Straightforward mapping to hardware: C++ isn't necessarily a low level language. But most of its abstractions have been modelled so that they can be implemented to map directly to common hardware features. That means it might help provide a good understanding of the "magic" that occurs between your managed .net code and the CPU at the other end. How is the CLR implemented, what do the heap and stack actually mean, and so on.
p/invoke: Let's face it, sometimes, .NET doesn't offer the functionality you need. You have to call some unmanaged code. And then it's useful to actually know the language you might be using. (if you can get around it with just a single pinvoke call, you only need to be able to read C function signatures on MSDN so you know which arguments to pass, but sometimes, it may be preferable to write your own C++ wrapper, and call into that instead.
I don't know if you should learn C++. There are valid reasons why doing so may make you a better programmer, but then again, there are plenty of other things you could spend your time on that would also make you a better programmer. The choice is yours. :)
Experience is the best teacher.
While you can read about things like memory management, data structures (and their implementations), algorithms, etc., you won't really get it until you've had a chance to put it in to practice. While I don't know if it's truly necessary to use C or C++ to learn these things I would put some effort into actually writing some code that manages its own memory and implements some common data structures. I think you'll learn things that will help you to understand your code better; to know what's really going on under the hood, so to speak. I would also recommend reading up on computer organization and operating systems, computer security, and boolean logic. On the other hand, I've never really found a need to do any OpenGL programming, though I did do some X Windows stuff once upon a time.
Having degree has got nothing to do with C/C++ actually. Now, stuff like big O() estimation, data structures or even mathematical background. For example linear algebra results very useful, even in context that seemingly have nothing to do (eg. search engines).
For example typical error that a good coder, but without any theoretical knowledge, might commit is to try to solve NP-complete problems by exact algorithm, rather than approximation.
Now, why in universities they teach you C/C++? Because it let's you see how it's all working "under the hood". You get opportunity to see how call stack works, how memory management works, how pointers work. Of course you don't need that knowledge to use most modern languages. But you need that to understand how their "magic" works. Eg. you can't understand how GC works, if you got no idea about pointers and memory allocation.
I've often asked this question (to myself). I think the more general version is, "how can I call myself a programmer if I don't know how to kick around a language that doesn't have automatic garbage collection, with pointers and all that 'complex' stuff'?" I've never learned C++ except to do a few HelloWorlds, so my answer is limited by that lack:
I think that the feeling that you need to learn C++ (or assembler, really) comes from the feeling that you're always working on someone else's abstractions: the "rocket scientists" who write the JVM, CLR, whatever. So if you can get to a lower level language, you'll really know what you're talking about. I think this is quite wrong. One is always building on a set of abstractions: even Assembler is translated into binary, which can be learned as well. And beyond that, you still couldn't make a computer out of firewood, even if you had a pair of pliers and a bit of titanium.
In my experience as a corporate trainer in software dev (in Java, mostly), the best people were not those who knew C++, but rather those that took the language that they are working in as an independent space for "play." Although memory management comes up all the time in C# and Java, you never have to think about anything beyond freeing your object from references (and a few other cliche places, like using streams instead of throwing around huge objects in memory). Pointers and all that stuff do not help you there, except as a right of passage (and a good one, I'm sure).
So in summary, work in the language you're in and branch out into as many relevant things as possible. These days I find myself dipping into Javascript though the APIs are supposed to make this unecessary, and doing some stuff in Fireworks while I mess with CSS by hand. And this is all in addition to the development I'm really doing in RoR, PHP and Actionscript. So my point is: focus on abstractions that you need, because they're more likely to be relevant than the lower-level stuff that underlies your platform.
Edit: I made some slight changes in response to jalf's comments, thanks.
I have a 1st class Software Engineering degree and work for a large console manufacturer developing a game engine in a team of programmers all of whom program across a wide range of languages from Asm to C++ to C# to LUA and know the hardware inside out.
I would say that 5% of my degree was useful and that by far and away the most important trait to furthering my career has been enthusiam and self development.
In fact many of the colleagues I've worked with haven't had a degree and on average have probably been the better ones.
I'd say this is because they've had to replace that piece of paper from a university degree with actual working code that they've developed in thier own spare time learning the skills off thier own back rather than being spoon fed it.
My driving instructor use to tell me that I would only start learning how to drive after I pass my test ie you only really learn from the practical application of the basics. A CS degree gives you the basics which if you've had a job programming any of the major languages for 6 months you will already have. A degree just opens up doors that you may not have otherwise - it doesn't help that much once inside the door.
Knowing how the software interacts with the hardware by the sounds of it is the most important area for you at the moment only then does the 'mystery' or 'magic' really disappear and you can be confident of what your talking about else where. Learning C and C++ will undoubtedbly help in this respect as will knowing an API like OpenGL.
But I'd say the most important thing is to find something you have interest in and code that. If you have real enthusiam for it you will naturally learn more low level information and become a better programmer, if indeed that is what your definition of being a better programmer is!
I've been working as a developer with no degree for almost 15 years now. I started with Ada and moved quickly into C/C++, but it's been my experience that there will always be some language that you "have to learn." If it's not C++, it will be C# or C or Java or Lisp. My advice is make sure you're solid on the basics that apply to any language(my best friend as a dev with no degree was the CLR book), and you should be able to move relatively easily between languages and frameworks.
You don't absolutely have to learn C/C++, but both languages will teach you to think about how your software interacts with the underlying OS and hardware, which is a essential skill. You say that you already know about pointers, memory management and so on, which is great. Many programmers without a CS degree lack this important knowledge.
Another good reason to learn C/C++ is that there's a lot of code written in these languages and a good way to learn more about programming is to read other people's code. If you're interested in writing low level code like drivers, OS, file systems and the like C/C++ is pretty much the only way to go.
Do you have to learn it extensively? I expect not.
However it's best to always be learning things that help you look at programming from a different perspective. Learning C or C++ are worth it for the insight into how things work at a lower level. For C and C++ programmers the same thing might be accomplished by learning assembly. Most people won't use assembly in a project, but knowing how it works can be very helpful from time to time.
My recommendation is always to learn as much as you can. If you're not working on a C++ project in the near future I wouldn't be too worried about learning the ins and outs, but it's always good to be able to look at problems from another angle and learning new languages is one way to do that.
Today for the majority of applications, C and C++ can be viewed as an academic exercise: "How can we write programs without garbage collection?"
The answer is: you can, but it's a mostly painful experience. Most of the details of best practices in C++ are related to the lack of garbage collection.
Given the brilliant performance of modern GCs, and the general increase in computing power, even cell phones have GCs these days. And in a platform with a GC, you can always code in such a way as to limit the pressure you put on the GC.
Listen or read SO podcast 44, where Joel plays his favorite song Write in C
Spolsky: Yeah, it's not paying the proper royalties to the Beatles anyway. We'll link to that from the shownotes. Awesome song, Write in C.
Atwood: That's right, Joel's favourite song. Write everything in C, because Joel does in fact write everything in C, don't you, Joel?
Spolsky: I started using a little bit of C99, the latest version of C, which let you declare variables after you written some statements.
...
Without a professional reason (other than the good practice of self-improvement) to learn C or C++, then you should have a passionate side project planned out that you could write in C or C++. Once the going gets tough on the side project, you'll need your enthusiasm and curiosity to take you over the hump (since on a side project, you naturally don't have the motivation of pay or de-motivation of a superior looming over you).
Also, most CS degrees are using Java as their language of choice now. This just proves the point that experience gained in the language of choice and exposure to some of the theory involved in the other classes in the degree is the main benefit for people with CS degrees, and not so much the specific language (though I think the higher they go up the abstraction scale, the worse it is for the students in the long run).
Without a practical reason for learning a programming language it is pretty hard going.
If you can think of particular problems or a specific task which the language is suit for - Then the learning experience is driven by needs, rather than simple academics.
I only just recently switched from VB to C# (1 month ago) while not as significantly different as a switch from C# to C, because I switch for a particular reason I found it much easier to learn. I had dabbled previous without a specific problem to solve, needless to say I switched back
If you have a different style of learning as in self-taught then my recommendation to be a better programmer is to research topics regarding your domain. From bottom to top, slowly climb up the ladder.There is a fairly amount of different programmers, no one will excel in all, so don't start off with that context in mind.
Best of luck to you.
C++ is just a programming language. What you don't have that other students (if they paid attention in class) have is the deeper understanding that comes through studying concepts.
Being a programmer is not and should not be the end goal of any CS graduate. However it is as far as most people get without such a degree.
Here is an analogy: An engineer and an architect both at some point learn to draft buildings using CAD. Also, someone completely untrained can come in and start work using CAD and be very effective. This is a good career and it pays well, but for both the engineer and the architect it is not where you want to be when you are 30.
One value of knowing C is that many other languages including C#, Java, C++, JavaScript, Python, and PHP have their roots in C syntax.
Another value, and arguably more important, is that it will build your confidence. Programmers are a confident group and very optimistic (you have to be confident to think that you can write the equivalent of a 1000 page book without a single spelling or grammatical error). And confidence in your ability to learn and effectively use any language will grow considerably with a pure C application or two under your belt.
So write a non trivial program in C; something that at least reads and writes files, allocates and deallocates memory, and manages a data structure like a queue or binary tree.
Your confidence will thank you.