Conspiracy Theory #1

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

retard wrote:
> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:47:46 -0800, Bill Baxter wrote:
> 
> 
>> It seems to me that MS expects C++ to go the way of FORTRAN and
>> COBAL.  Still there, still used, but by an increasingly small number of
>> people for a small (but important!) subset of things.  Note how MS still
>> hasn't produced a C99 compiler. They just don't see it as relevant to
>> enough people to be financially worthwhile.
> 
> Even the open source community is using more and more dynamic languages 
> such as Python on the desktop and Web 2.0 (mostly javascript, flash, 
> silverlight, php, python) is a strongly growing platform. I expect most 
> of the every day apps to move to the cloud during the next 10 years. 
> Unfortunately c++ and d missed the train here. People don't care about 
> performance anymore. Even application development has moved from library 
> writing to high level descriptions of end user apps that make use of high 
> quality foss/commercial off-the-shelf components. Cloud computing, real-
> time interactive communication, and fancy visual look are the key 
> features these days.

This is a valid comment, but if I were to speculate I'd say this is more 
of a blip than a consistent trend. We're running into a multi-layered 
wall of processor frequency issues, thermal issues, and power issues, 
that force us to reconsider splurging computing power.

Today that reality is very visible already from certain spots. I've 
recently switched fields from machine learning/nlp research to 
web/industry. Although the fields are apparently very different, they 
have a lot in common, along with the simple adage that obsession with 
performance is a survival skill that (according to all trend 
extrapolations I could gather) is projected to become more, not less, 
important.


Andrei