jasonpowers.net

The TIOBE index managing directory, Paul Jensen, was recently interviewed by Dr. Jobbs.  The question posed was regarding C and C++ losing ground in the top programming languages being used, in which he claimed they were simply because they did not have better memory management and automatic garbage collection like C# and Java.  

Just because C and C++ do not have such memory management does not mean that will no longer have a place in the industry.  C has been around for ages and is still being used to write new code.  Have you heard of LINUX?   The Linux kernel is written in C.  Does this mean Linux is losing ground also, because it will eventually lack developers that know C?   C++ code is found everywhere, including most of the computer games that are being enjoyed today.  Does this mean those games are losing ground as well and should be rewritten in Java or C#?    You also mentioned that Python replaced Perl on the index because Python was object oriented.  Your group needs to research that a bit more as Perl also has an object oriented structure now.

 While I like coding in C# and Java, I seriously doubt they will dominate the market completely.   Not only due to maintenance of legacy applications, but also because speed and overall performance is superior to automated memory management, especially when such memory management is still available in C and C++, if the programmer is able to implement it correctly.  You will need a bigger bullet than garbage collection to kill off these languages.  

 On a side note, are you sure that the level of web presence a programming language has on the web is truly indicative of its actual usage or value to the industry?   I wonder if I were to post thousands of videos on YouTube  showing how to write code in C++, if it would “regain” its position on your index?  Bah.

I recently modified the security scripts that are analyzing attacks against my home network and decided to see if any of the systems that were brute forcing me had websites.  I wrote a small port scanner in Python and let it rip… several had HTTPD running.   I browsed to one in particular, which happened to be a French shipping/transport company.   There were hundreds of order information PDFs and packing slips scattered throughout the site.  Complete with customer names, addresses, what they had ordered, etc.   If their customers new about their lack of security, I’m sure they would go out of business.

 Being the nice guy that I am… I didn’t retaliate with an attack of my own.  Because I realized that the owner’s of this website had no clue what was going on.   The site appeared to be an unauthorized web server that contained company information.  My guess is, someone in the shipping department thought they were technically inclined and wanted to track the shipments by uploading the slips to a centralized server, which appeared to have been bought and hosted outside of the company.   To bad the system administrators forgot to secure such important content.

 I discovered their official company website… and contacted the info and abuse staff to let them know that they may need to re-evaluate their security policies.  I wrote the message in English, but translated it into French as well.  For starters, they have business sensitive information in public view.  Not to mention the fact that this particular server is probably a nest from which attacks on other servers are staged.