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Increase of C++ in Community Space
Twenty years ago C++ was introduced as a hot new programming language. Little has changed since. In 1995, Sun Microsystem introduced JavaTM as a “replacement” language. Microsoft(r) soon followed with its introduction of C#. Both spent significant amounts of money convincing developers to switch to Java or C#. Have they been successful? Various reports indicate that the use of C++ is declining. But is it declining in the growing open source community? Looking at Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) the use of C++ has actually increased by 6 times since 2000.
The article "A Travel Through Debian"[1] shows that C++ use is ten times larger than Java. One example is that KDE is all C++. Debian is the most comprehensive GNU/Linux distribution existing today. There is almost no C# code in Debian at all.
Why hasn't Java or C# won more marked share in Free Software development? Until may 2006, Linux distributors couldn't ship Sun's Java together with a Java environment from an other supplier. Only in recent years, Java on Linux fully utilized the graphical library. The performance on Windows(r) was better. However, running C# programs on Mono, a free software clone of Microsoft .NET, you get differences in appearance. These small glitches reduce the end user experience and ties the product to one operating system.
The purpose of joining free software development is to enable more freedom in software, two-thirds of open source developers say. They want platform independence. With the platform limitations still present in Java and C#, it will take time to convince developers to change. C++ gives the broadest platform support for end user applications.
When managers say they have to struggle to recruit C++ developers, they are probably right. It is also a struggle to get C# or Java developers because of the increased need for software engineers in general. But maybe recruiting people from Free Software communities is an additional strategy when there is a need for C++ programmers.
By Knut Yrvin Community Manager – Trolltech ASA [05.09.2006]