<p>
[QUOTE=LUKEJDAVIS]
If you read how those numbers are compiled you would probably be impressed with C#
[/quote]
``The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses and third party vendors.‘’</p>
<p>Nope, still not impressed at all.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=LUKEJDAVIS]
seeing how it represents population and the languages above it have been around for 10 more years. The TIOBE list doesn’t measure demand.
[/quote]
It doesn’t need to measure demand. The market will automatically move towards areas of demand, so all the index needs to do is determine those population fluctuations. It is an indirect, but accurate, method of assessing demand.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=LUKEJDAVIS]
What specifically is so “horrific” about C#? Do you even know C#?
[/quote]
No, I don’t know C#, and I have no intention of learning it. The environment I develop in has absolutely no Microsoft machines, so I have no use for it. What I don’t like about C# is:
(1) it requires a virtual machine (a problem that Java shares, but a problem nonetheless), which greatly increases resource usage. While this may not matter in some situations, the software I work with is computationally intensive, so it does matter to me.
(2) many of the classes that are commonly used are non-standard, and result in cross-platform compatibility issues.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=LUKEJDAVIS]
Also, if you were worth your weight as a programmer you would know that the differences between learning C#, Java and C++ are nominal and that it would be great exposure to someone to be able to familiarize themselves with all the technologies.
[/quote]
If you were worth your weight as a programmer, you would know that the differences in the actual implementation of Java and C++ are enormous. The biggest problem with computer science education these days is that graduates have little to no practical experience working with software of practical value. Professors focus far too much on the theory and end up leaving their students high and dry when it comes to skills necessary in the real world.</p>
<p>Just because Java and C++ have similar syntax does not mean that they are similar at all in actual use. For example, if you do not have experience writing computationally intensive applications, you do not realize the performance benefits of C++. And if you do not have experience trying to debug 30,000 lines of spaghetti code, you do not realize how big of a relief it is not to have deal with memory allocation bugs in Java.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=LUKEJDAVIS]
You’re telling him to not even look at a language that represents a massive swath of the market.
[/quote]
I understand that for Microsoft fanboys such as yourself, learning C# is the first priority when starting to program. However, from a practical standpoint, he is more likely to find a job if he knows Java than if he knows C#. Not everyone has time to sit around learning the ins and outs of all the languages.</p>