What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
Hello everyone.
This summer and fall i'll be doing a paid co-op with IBM's Tivoli zSeries team at research triangle park and it seems they use Java/Eclipse for everything and hardly any C++. Problem is, I don't know Java that much and i've mainly been working with just C/C++.
It just makes me wonder how much of the programming do you do with actual C++? Is it mainly just legacey code or what? It just makes me wonder when a big place like IBM doesn't like C++ what companies do like it?
I also found out most colleges will teach your intro to programming and other courses in Java and maybe have 1 course in C++ but my school is just the opposite. Infact it just now is offering a Java class but its for freshman/sophmores and I don't have time to fit it into my class scheduel so I won't be taking it.
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
Not doing much C++ these days, primarily managed code development using C++. Right now I am assisting a major medical equipment manufacturer in creating a system that will allow their field service engineers to access all pertinant records on the equipment via their Palm. Middle tier is WebServices in C# with a SQLServer & SAP backend,
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
sounds very exciting! I was thinking about learning C# because it seems to work so nicely with databases
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
If you work in the games industry you will very likely use C++, especially if writing for Playstation or similar.
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
I won't be doing any game programming it would be fun though but it looks like i'll be either learning java or C# but most likely java/eclipse I guess IBM will send co-ops for training, and pay you at the same time! wee!
thanks for the advice guys!
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
In no particular order, a few of the projects I've done in C++ over the last few years:
Various plugins for AutoCAD & Revit.
Various plugins for 3DS Max 9 (and Viz 2007).
Various plugins for Wavelab/Cubase (audio effects).
OEM image editing tool (some of us can't really divulge who we work for).
Document archive/management tools (system services for Windows server/workstation).
DNC editor/interface application - this is a glorified text editor that automatically matches a 'punch program' written to control a turret punch (a machine you feed in a piece of steel/aluminum 12ft by 8 ft, and it punches out parts according to a program). The 'trick' with this, however, was to automatically adapt a 'punch' program written for one turret to work on another turret. Mates with a SQL database of tools, jobs in the schedule for the manufacturer, etc.
HPGL/2 plot processing/viewer - HPGL/2 is a vector language used to control plotters, typically when printed from a CAD product. The industry producing high speed plots of large format pages (3' x 4' or larger) needed tools to control the plotted output from AutoCAD files and various formats.
That's just a few that come to mind. Several could have been done in Java or C# (not the plugins, though - many of the required a particular version of MS Visual C++).
Oh, and don't judge IBM by one department. They're a huge company with many, overlapping directions all at once. For example, one of the geniuses from IBM invented RISC computing. Bresenham, of the line drawing algorithm, was at IBM at the time (so I'm told).
They have (or had) a considerable investment in AIX (a Unix derivative), which still requires a staff of C and C++ engineers.
Plus, it simply makes sense to me that a trainee type program would bring people in to languages geared toward a kind of population for which that's best suited. C++ just doesn't fit into that kind of thing. A manager or director would require anything for which C++ was particularly suited to be staffed by top notch engineers, and wouldn't want any of them burdened with trainees.
Edit:
I thought I'd add, too, that in the course of a career you'll probably visit several languages or "languagettes" along the way. Just this last month I took a project to help an old friend- it's written in ActionScript for Flash CS3.
That's something I normally just don't do, but you know how it is when two old high school buddies get on in years.
Among the products/projects I've not bothered to list above, I've used C++ to develop products for web services that themselves deploy PHP.
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
The last significant C++ project I worked on was most of summer 2006. A large industrial automation company was cleaning up and re-factoring their product line so that the front end components (both desktop and webbased) could be re-implemented using a combination of C# and VB.NET.
In the C# domainn:
Helped a large insurance company implement a system for reviewing customers initial application for auto insurance. The system contacted the DMV and pulled a copy of the actual drivers record. This was then compared with the customers information, and adjusted as appropriate
Helped a major investment firm update their program for tracking and managing initial puclic offerings [IPO's]. Program was written with an ASP.NET front end.
Helped a major cable company in implementing a system for tracking internal purchases and automatically routine the approvals. Program was in C# and used BizTalk for most of the workflow.
That's just a few highlights......
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
c# or java is the best language to learn. c# is very nice language it really makes database user interfaces, and programming in general very simple in that you just worry about high level details because most stuff is already wrapped up in objects for you. Java is portable and runs on any computer with its VM on it theres nothing else to say. I cant think of anything more important then ease of use and portability that you get with java the only thing u lose is speed due to the vm interpreting it.
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
Hi.
Quote:
Originally Posted by abcdefgqwerty
I cant think of anything more important then ease of use and portability that you get with java the only thing u lose is speed due to the vm interpreting it.
This is not quite correct. Java is not interpreted. Sun's implementation of the VM (together with several others) is based on Just-in-Time compilers (JITs), which is very different from interpretation (specially, regarding performance). Without turning the thread into a different direction... current implementations of some VM's can be very efficient.
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
Quote:
Originally Posted by voidflux
It just makes me wonder how much of the programming do you do with actual C++? Is it mainly just legacey code or what? It just makes me wonder when a big place like IBM doesn't like C++ what companies do like it?
I would say that C++ was the #1 choice for Windows client application development five years ago (though some VB fans might disagree), but things are rapidly going towards C# now.
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
Quote:
Five years ago C++ seemed to be the #1 choice for Windows client application development,
Possibly... A LOT of client applications have been developed in VB.....
I guess it depends on what you mean by "choice" and what type of client applications....
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
I just knew someone would say that and so I had edited my post.
:D
Yes, VB is used a lot as well.
:)
But do people write heavy duty applications like word processors, web browsers, and games in VB ? I thought it was mainly business internal database accessing software (stock control etc).
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
so how do you guys learn these new languages?
Like when do you know it enough that you can just put it on your resume?
I'm a very self motivated person and I love to learn new things but if you don't official take a course on it, and you self teach yourself from a book and doing small applications here and there when do you actually say, Yes I can do this in c# or java or vb.net.
Because over the summer while working for them I am going to have a ton a free time on my hands, so I might as well pick up a new language while i'm at it.
Re: What type of applications are you working on in the real world?
Some answers from a guy who has been doing this for nearly 36 years.....
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so how do you guys learn these new languages?
By spending a lot of time with them. Also by concentrating on the underlying concepts. Translating that to different languages then becomes easier.
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Like when do you know it enough that you can just put it on your resume?
In general, I only list languages that I have spent 1000-2000 hours with, after I feel I have become profecient at them.
