In article <70ppc3$572$1@newnews.global.net.uk>,
paje@nospamglobalnet.co.uk says...

[snip]
> My opinion, for what its worth, is that C++ as a language is excellent, but
> needs to ally itself with a 'standard' or recommended way of completing
> other tasks such as GUI, database, file manipulation etc.... in a controlled
> manner. The idea that 'the language solves everything' is misplaced. Are we
> to ignore the issues of say, multi-threading, or should we acknowledge that
> these are everyday problems and look for ways to help solve them.

Unfortunately, it's too late :)  C++ is a system language, not a 4GL. If
you need the facilities of a 4GL, pick up PowerBuilder or some such
animal.  C++ is similar to C with respect to terseness and the flexibility
to create any ol' darn application or system. This is why we have so many
third party tools - to supplement the language.
[snip]

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I am a great fan (and mediocre programmer) of C++ and have enjoyed seeing it
mature through the 90's.

I am delighted by the development of the STL and other important topics
which address the problems programmers face day-to-day.

However I am frustrated by how the problems of platform-independence and
real-world applications are largely ignored in the C++ community. Part of
the problem may be the view that 'this is C++' and 'that is not a language
feature'.

There are a huge number of 'platform independent' and platform-specific
GUIs, file manipulation tools ... the list is endless, maybe that's the
problem.

The trouble is this misses the point that people are not C++ programmers,
they are solving real-world problems and so have to do more than that.

I look at developments on other languages (e.g. Java, python, TCL) which all
have their problems, but which are all trying to resolve both language AND
OS SUPPORT issues.

Maybe that's too much to hope for and these others will fall by the wayside,
but maybe programmers might get fed up with to find the holy grail of a
working multi-platform solution in C++ and look elsewhere.

My opinion, for what its worth, is that C++ as a language is excellent, but
needs to ally itself with a 'standard' or recommended way of completing
other tasks such as GUI, database, file manipulation etc.... in a controlled
manner. The idea that 'the language solves everything' is misplaced. Are we
to ignore the issues of say, multi-threading, or should we acknowledge that
these are everyday problems and look for ways to help solve them.

[ I can picture the committee members grimace at the very thought. ]

I'm not suggesting that the standard's committee take it upon themselves to
develop these other areas, but rather try to supervise, collate and advise
on these issues. It's too big a task to hope to incorporate every
programmer's problem into a c++ library, but there are probably a few major
topics where guidance may save a lot of man-hours.

It is beyond the remit of the current standard, but without it we'll all be
struggling with the same issues whilst Java et al. quietly catch up and
possibly overtake us.

It could even be that all this is indeed purely an OS problem, and when one
OS rules the world...... well, life will be duller!!!

I can accept that a lot of people here want this forum to focus exclusively
on THE LANGUAGE. So rather than waste too much of your time can I ask for
suggestions where this issue may be better addressed.

I am deliberately posting this to comp.lang.c++ and comp.std.c++ (moderator
permitting!) as I think the two distinct audiences will both have a valid
opinion. Apologies to any that have to put up with reading it twice.

Paul Baxter


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