Java v C++ - Poll coming up

[OwlHoot]

Poll coming up. I'd like to learn either Java or C++, and am interested to know what peoples' informed judgement, or baseless prejudices, are in favour of one over the other in relation to the contract market now and in the future.

I couldn't give a stuff about their relative technical merits and all that techie stuff, except in so far as these may affect their flexibility and continuing use.

[voodooflux]

C# - a good marketable skill (or as good as can be expected at the moment).

[minestrone]

When I moved from C++ to java about 10 years ago my boss at the time said "oh that java stuff will never take off". I know his team all do Java now as the applications that they integrated with all moved their APIs to Java.

Java is just a more mature development language with more options as to how to use it.

I'm sure there will always be C++ jobs out there but really there cannot be many greenfield projects.

Although the issue is you may just be another developer in the heard with java. Nit many people can do C++ these days and there are loads of crappy legacy applications to maintain.

[Purple Dalek]

Lots of bluffers do Java, so the code quality you have to work with is generally very low, and lots of work to fix, but the fixes are easy and you can spend all day fixing stuff.

Lots of head cases do C++, and the code quality is high, but it reads like a mad man made it, so you can't spend so many hours without a break back to reality.

Lots more contracts for Java than C++, but the rates are lower for Java. Yet you can spend more hours in the week fixing Java so the cumulative can be better.

Java is used mainly on data presentation so it doesn't matter too much if it doesn't work quite right and any problems come back really quick. C++ is generally back end and any problems might cause your client to go bust (as has happened to some banks recently).

[voodooflux]

Lots more contracts for Java than C++, but the rates are lower for Java.

The rates for Java with J2EE tend to be very decent indeed.

Java is used mainly on data presentation so it doesn't matter too much if it doesn't work quite right and any problems come back really quick. C++ is generally back end and any problems might cause your client to go bust (as has happened to some banks recently).

I've had the opposite experience TBH - most of the Java I've encountered has been J2EE within backend systems.

[_V_]

C++ is more standalone. Used for embedded low level stuff, device drivers, you name it.

Java as a language is not very saleable without the surrounding J2EE stuff IMHO.

If it were me, I'd focus on C++ as I think there's more variety in the work out there, more niches to get into with it.

[swamp]

C++ is for legacy and specialist stuff. It's a very useful feather to your bow in addition to Java or C#, but I'd say it's impossible to make a career from C++ alone if you're learning from scratch. There are plenty of people with 10+ years C++ who will pip you to any pure C++ roles, and you'll simply struggle to get the few years basic experience you need to even be considered in the first place.

My advice is to learn not just a language but a stack. Your choice is C# with .NET, or Java with Spring and Hibernate (J2EE is dead). C# .NET is probably an easier route as Microsoft have mapped everything out, for better or worse.

[FSM with Cheddar]

C#

[minestrone]

C++ is for legacy and specialist stuff. It's a very useful feather to your bow in addition to Java or C#, but I'd say it's impossible to make a career from C++ alone if you're learning from scratch. There are plenty of people with 10+ years C++ who will pip you to any pure C++ roles, and you'll simply struggle to get the few years basic experience you need to even be considered in the first place.

My advice is to learn not just a language but a stack. Your choice is C# with .NET, or Java with Spring and Hibernate (J2EE is dead). C# .NET is probably an easier route as Microsoft have mapped everything out, for better or worse.

That is the most misleading comment of the day, you obviously know little about the technology stack.

[d000hg]

I've had more interest about my C++ skills than my Java ones, despite using Java in a big IB.

However for freelance work I've done a lot more Java on the architecture side but that was stuff I sought out.

Java is certainly more widely used, simply becasue everyone wants web applications these days, regardless of what is used in desktop apps and non-web server applications.

I don't know J2EE is dead, doesn't this include EJB, servlets and JSP which are all used a lot?

Anyway... C++ might be better for getting sought out by agents when you have 5+ years with it, but if you are learning from scratch I can't see them being so interested. And as mentioned, Java is used everywhere.