C / C++ Jobs

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About a year ago I went back to software development after about 7 years doing other things. I took a web development job, because those are plentiful and the job was appealing. I enjoy web development, but I've also always been drawn towards lower level computing. Is there anyone here who does C or C++ programming professionally? If so I'd like to hear about how you got into it, because I think I'd like to give it a try at some point.

This is exactly what I do!

I do have an undergraduate degree in computer science, and in my Operating Systems class we worked on this educational OS called Nachos which was my first exposure to C++. As a musician though, I got really interested in writing DSP algorithms and I started writing delay and reverb plugins in JUCE. This helped me get C++ under my fingers in a domain that I actually understand.

Though if you have no experience in C/C++, I will suggest something controversial: learn Rust instead. I'm not saying "C/C++ is dead", it certainly is not and there are still plenty more jobs in those than Rust. What Rust does do well is it forces you to write code that isn't awful and unsafe, which is very easy to do when starting in C/C++. It also has an amazing book, The Rust Programming Language (often referred to as simply "The Book") which is available for free online.

More than anything, if you're like me and learn best when working in a problem domain you care about, ignore absolutely everything I have said up until this point and follow that! You want to understand operating systems? Play around with Linux or *BSD source code. You like music? Do what I did and write some plugins. You like building physical things? Build a dog feeder with an Arduino or something.

The world is your oyster. If it's getting a job you want, I suggest building cool things, then finding some creative way to show a company you respect and want to work for what you've been doing in your free time.

Safe travels! Let me know if you have any more specific questions

I programmed in C/C++ for years, but it's been difficult to get a job in for the last decade. It's been sidelined to jobs like embedded systems or IOT and isn't used much for other things anymore. Languages like Rust and C# are typically replacing it in some areas. Even though some AI libraries are written in C/C++, most end up using Python for developers to work with them. I happen to prefer working with C/C++. I use it in my job when I need to code something because I can prototype quickly with these languages. Others typically find other languages faster for them to work with and pick up. Guess that's one reason there are so many languages in use these days. If you're interested in practicing with your C/C++ skills, there are plenty of Free, Libre, Open Source projects out there that could use volunteers. It's easy enough to find a project written in C or C++ and send in a patch for a bug or feature addition. I keep my C skills up-to-date by working on various FLOSS projects. You can do web development with C/C++. There are options such as web toolkits, fastcgi and web assembly. With Android, there's an NDK that lets you work with C/C++. Plus, C/C++ libraries such as SDL and others, let you develop for a wide variety of platforms including desktop, mobile and web assembly. You can do pretty much whatever you can do with other languages in C/C++. Most people just prefer to choose other languages these days.

Thank you both for your very interesting replies. You've given me a lot to think about and research. I'm glad to hear you've both been successful in your areas of interest.

Also, sorry for my slow reply. I got wrapped up in some things and didn't make it back here for a while.