Help on programming career path

[adrianjohnson]

Hello.

I have the following programming IDE's at my disposal:

Visual C++ 6
Visual Studio 2005 standard
Borland Turbo C++ Explorer

If I wanted to develop in C++, which would be the best tool to use in terms of:

1. Programming ability - e.g. easiest to use/code in
2. VCL vs. MFC
3. If MFC, then Visual C++ 6 vs. Visual Studio 2005
4. Future job prospects. e.g. do employers mind which is used (as long as it's C++) or do they generally look for a particular variant (such as MFC)?

I personnally don't mind which, as I've used all of the above (in part).

Thanks,

Adrian

 

[Thargy]

adrian,

your question makes sense, but then again it doesn't. In the grander scheme of things, employers will look for solid experience and knowledge, achieved in a commercial environment, over and above particular IDE knowhow. This gives one the ability to use a programming language to provide software which benefits a business, and that's why they employ people.

I am an Oracle geek, and I use TOAD (the industry standard IDE) but that's always been a 'nice to have' and not essential. You could know TOAD inside out,but without any genuine Oracle experience, you'd still be a liability.

Get credible solid experience, using whichever IDE the next employer chooses to deploy. Obviously aim for the most popular wherever you have the choice, but don't turn down a job just because the IDE isn't precisely what you would like.

Regards

T

Grinding away at things Oracular

 

[Glenn9999]

Yes in terms of things, your ability to do the language in question would be paramount (assuming you could break into the industry). In fact, as far as things go, the IDE is probably the last consideration on the list for job satisfaction, ability to do the work, etc. For artificial constraints, usually the ability to follow shop standards for planning, documentation, etc tend to trump anything to do with the programming IDE.

 

[adrianjohnson]

Thanks for the tips.

Anyone use Visual Studio 2005 to create MFC apps, or do most programmers use Visual Studio 6?