jaeusm said:
I don't think C/C++ is in any danger of dying out. They definitely have their place. However, C# and .NET are easier to work with than C++ and win32.
Visual Basic hasn't died out yet. It has a strong presence in creating business apps. I've never used VB.NET, though, nor have I had a desire to.
As for different languages, .NET supports 19 or 20 the last time I checked. However, C# is Microsoft's baby. They would love to see it choke the life out of Java. Microsoft is making improvements to C# much faster than Sun is improving Java.
Speaking of free IDE's, you can use SharpDevelop for C# and VB.NET. It's very nice.
19 or 20...I only heard of four (C#, C++, VB.NET, J#)
I see what your saying on VB....I just don't think it's nearly as powerful. I had to take two classes in college (VB 6) and though it was easy and fun, I liked the inheirent power that is C++ and Java.
Yes, anything is easier to work with than C++ and Win32
Ya, .NET is MS baby, and they are pedling it pretty hard. I agree that MS is making more changes to .NET, and faster than Sun is making to Java........but let's face it, Java is still very powerful, and I believe they are or have made it open source.
I stand corrected on the issue of IDE's
One point I do want to bring up....why does MS seem to think they own the Standards on everything? VC++ does not follow ANSI/ISO C++ standards, MSXML does not follow W3C XML standards, and IE does not completly comply with web standards as well.
I apologize, this may seem off topic, but I do have a point. XNA....who wants to bet that in two years, according to MS it will be the standard in game development. XBOX 360, MS Windows PC, they are already leaning towards.