C# - How powerful?

C# - How powerful?

• Jehan Badshah

  "Just like it's easier to buy a bigger pair of pants rather than lose weight, it's easier to go from C++ to C# (my opinion); than from C# to C++. Learning C# may make it easier to learn C++, but it will probably chaff; alot...."
  
  Yeah but that's not his problem. He Doesn't know either, and learning C++ is a pretty hard when you have little to no understanding of OOP or prgramming in general. You might chaff a little when going from C# to C++, but you will be slamming your face into a wall learning C++.
  
  
  
  

• BLiTZWiNG

  I agree with most of the arguments on here.
  
  I started with Java because it was really easy to learn, and fun! But seeing the power of C# and the growing number of developers and the syntax similarity to Java, I decided to switch over. I'm glad I did, I LOVE C#, it really is fun once you get in it. The .NET 2.0 classes are great to work with. Now that i've had some time in C# I'm trying to get a grasp on C++. I like the way Jesse Liberty explains things so I bought Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days.. maybe not the best, and it has a lot of repetitive info, but i'm getting the hang of it. So far.. I still think C# is my #1, but who knows later
  
  
  

• stack888

  plus .NET/C# is now an industry standard language...alot more jobs have been opened
  
  

• akira32

  Yelnik wrote:

  Well I would really prefer to learn C++, but it seems that is the only programming language Microsoft didnt put "Absolute beginners guides" for.

  I don't blame them! In my opinion (and I say this as somebody who loves C++), C++ is a bad choice for "absolute beginners". Of course it's possible to write bad code in any language, but C++ makes it particularly easy for you. I've been working with C++ for years and I still manage to write inefficient or incomprehensible code a little more often that I'd like to admit.

  Visual C++ is wonderful once you're comfortable with it, but if you're trying to learn both C++ and the Windows API or .NET architecture, you face an awfully steep learning curve -- there's quite a bit you need to know or at least be able to copy/paste/tweak just to do something "simple" like display a window on your screen.

  
  
  

• Leon Mayne

  I find it a pretty clunky language, not as clunky as c++ but not far off.
  

• Antonio Zaba

  We all have to start somewhere and C# is not as powerful as C++ but it is easier to learn.
  Previously I would of said just learn C (module based and unmanaged) or Java (Object Orientated and Managed) as they have free compilers, but with the introduction of the free express edition it opens a whole new kettle of fish.
  
  Have a go at programing some example programs in C#, it will teach you some methods and standards. These forums are excellent for getting help however difficult the problem.
  
  
  

• Uzum4ki

  A language is really only as powerful as the libraries that come with it (or you write yourself).

  C# has some really powerful libraries which in some cases are better than that available for C++. On the otherhand, C++ is really cross platform (Windows/Unix/Arm/Symbian etc) whereas C# is less so (I know about mono and .gnu, but they are a bit behind the Windows platform).

  You can get something running very quickly using C#, but get more control (and easier mistakes) with C++.

  
  

• Salman Maredia

  Well I would really prefer to learn C++, but it seems that is the only programming language Microsoft didnt put "Absolute beginners guides" for.
  
  

• arioule

  Yelnik wrote:

  Well I would really prefer to learn C++, but it seems that is the only programming language Microsoft didnt put "Absolute beginners guides" for.

  
  
  Hey listen you should really learn c#, it's really alot of fun. And the great thing is that there is an amazing amount of free stuff to get you started. Like you said there is no absolute beginners guide for c++, and there is for C#. Along with the begginers videos there is the game programming video set for C# which i'm guessing they don't have for all the other languages. There is just so much for it out there. The syntax is easier then c++ but very similar, if you learned c# first you will have no problem learning c++ at some point. I believe that c# is a GREAT introduction to OOP and programming fundamentals. Infact I have had a much easier time learning c# then when I tried learning python! I'm not an experienced programmer, but I have had experience with learning of a few languages including basic, vb, python, and c++, and by far this has been the best experience so far, I think it has to do with the amount of resources available for free that has helped, but regardless it has been pretty smooth sailing.
  
  

• Michael Tripp

  Yelnik wrote:

  Well I would really prefer to learn C++, but it seems that is the only programming language Microsoft didnt put "Absolute beginners guides" for.

  There may not be any plenty of resources for C++. However, I would suggest C++ is the perfect launching pad for learning an OOP language! In my experience, u will learn the conepts of OOPS in C++ and u will start feeling the same in VC++. Ofcourse, the learning edge is quite distant between MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes - can be said as the earlier version of Microsoft VC++) and the current VC++.Net, but it could be learnt on some serious good effort and a little support.

  Hold on, the above statement was just to clarify that VC++ is not too difficult to learn. You have some obvious advantages that are stated above. And above all, once you master VC#, it implies that u have also learnt the .Net language!!! That means, but for the syntax, all the other functionalities of .Net are universal across all the languages supported by .Net. An example I can give u is to connect to the database and buffer the data, we use the class called 'DataSet' across all the languages. It wont differ for language to language.

  So dont miss to learn C#, that offers wonderful adapdability and amazing reliability!

  Cheers,
  Venkat

  
  

• allison_h

  Just as 'C' replaced assembly, and C++ replaced C, I suspect C#/JAVA will replace C++. The question isn't how powerful is it, the question is how powerful do you need it. There are things that you can do in C++ more easily than in C#, but those things are probably the minority. The future is C#/JAVA. I love C++, but I too must adapt. Do I love C#/JAVA..., not yet, maybe with time. Efficiency of execution is lost (Please don't blast me with statistics, I too can site statistics to support any argument I wish) but does that loss of execution efficiency matter as compared to the productivity gain at implementation.

  How powerful is C# If it lets you do what you need to do quickly, that's very powerful. If there's some low-level work that you could do more efficiently in C++, then that's very powerful. There's no definitive answer; just use the right hammer for the right task.

  As far as learning C++ easily after learning C#..., I don't think that's the case. For one thing the grammar is more..., complex. There are also memory management issues that must be addressed in C++ (I'm assuming they meant unmanaged) that you don't have to address in C#. Just like it's easier to buy a bigger pair of pants rather than lose weight, it's easier to go from C++ to C# (my opinion); than from C# to C++. Learning C# may make it easier to learn C++, but it will probably chaff; alot....

  
  
  

• Margaret H

  If you want to learn C++, the best tutorial I can suggest is the second edition of "C++ Primer" by Stanley Lippman. The third edition tries to be too many things at once. The second edition will tell you 'almost' everything you need to know about C++.

  Windows programming, if that's what you want to do, is better covered by other books. I liked Jeff Prosise's "Programming Windows with MFC" second edition, but obviously it covers the 'old' way of doing things.

  For MFC programming another good reference is Mike Blaszczak's "Professional MFC with Visual C++ 6". Note the 'Visual C++ 6' but MFC hasn't changed that much; and there's not an updated edition (I'm aware of at least).

  If you want to learn C#, I wouldn't recommend "C# Primer" by Lippman, because it's a little disjointed. I can't really recommend a C# book, maybe someone else can give you a pointer there.

  Hope this helps.

  
  
  

• ron nash

  depends what you want to do. C# is pretty powerful I believe but to do low level stuff, C++ would be what you really need.

  C# is really a - hard to describe - more of a "high" level language. Perhaps not the best words to use. Pretty much anything could be done in C# - again depends what you want to do.

  you can create mobile applications, web services, interact with SQL, create ASP.NET websites, P/Invoke into WIN32 API, create desktop applications also, do remoting, use other SDK's/libraries, interact with Office....

  
  
  

• Reta

  Hey if your still wanting to learn visual c#,

  Get this book ' Sams teach yourself visual c# in 24 hrs 2005' by James Foxal.

  You get 24 hrs worth of lessons but it takes a few weeks to get through it.

  Its very comprehensible, 50$ Aust to me its got a value of priceless in my book archive.

  hope this helps.

  I have been using visual C# 2005 for a couple of months now and its a very powerful language " Hight level" No not really, even though its a design the UI then code it, this enables you to concentrate on the code to be very strong and robust.

  Visual c++ as i understand it is create every thing then define it to how the UI should look.

  take this senario,

  would you rather grow grass seeds in order to mow a lawn,

  or go and cut some already long grass

  depens how you looks at it some would see it as un nessesary but some would want a custom cut , if u can follow.

  well that all I can do.

  p.s

  VB is sod in comparision. get the book take a look and go at it then tell me if u got success

  titan_Experience@Hotmail.com

  
  
  
• C# - How powerful?