Rogue Wave, which specializes in C++ tooling, has just released results of a brief survey of 300 respondents that it conducted showing that C++ still matters. Over 60% reported that they would continue enhancing C++ apps, rather than migrate to some more modern or trendier language. And while a quarter of the sample said they planned replacing one or more C++ with Java or .NET apps, over 90% planned to continue maintaining other C++ programs in their portfolios.

But Rogue Wave’s survey was kind of a non-answer to a conclusion that software development organizations are rapidly arriving at: that there is plenty of life beyond what were supposed be the de facto standards, Java and .NET (primarily C# and VB.NET). 

Recent Published Accounts (especially promoted by Microsoft) point to a “language renaissance” emerging out there, which you could sort of construe as a backlash to the perceived consolidation Java/ .NET consolidation. In fact a hallmark of Microsoft’s .NET framework was opening up to third party languages that would support .NET’s Common Language Runtime (CLR).

Of course, you could still characterize the result as C#/VB.NET and the seven (or whatever number) dwarfs. But if you listen to Greg DeMichillie, analyst for Directions on Microsoft and formerly a founding member of Microsoft’s C# language team, the recent addition of IronRuby “has helped kick off a dynamic language revolution with the .NET Framework.” It provided the impetus for the new Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR), an extension that adapts the CLR to support the new wave of web dynamic scripting languages.

So results from the Rogue Wave survey confirmed that C++ is going to remain part of the programming mix – at least among Rogue Wave customers.

Unfortunately, Rogue Wave muddied the waters a bit because of the fact by labeling the study an “Enterprise SOA Survey,” as the survey only dealt with SOA in passing. It reported that 60% of respondents whose companies were implementing SOA have already, or are in the process of service-enabling C++ apps, while 36% are looking into it. Big deal. SOA is known as an architecture that can be used to rejuvenate legacy. For instance, there is an active market of IBM and third party tools to enable some of the most ancient code there is in the business world: CICS. So that conclusion is hardly earth-shattering.

Patrick Leonard, Rogue Wave VP of engineering and product strategy, rationalized the SOA headline under the fact that SOA enables interoperability between apps written in different languages.

The fact is that while C++ is not a terribly trendy or developer-friendly language, when you absolutely need speed or a highly compact code footprint, C++ is often your best choice. Clearly, organizations are not rewriting C++ apps for the heck of it. IT budgets are too tight to allow that kind of nonsense.

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