How promising is the change of profession to a C ++ developer?

Question

Career in IT

I must say right away that the moped is not mine.
Situation: there is an acquaintance aged 30+ who worked in another field (physics, scientific research), and was laid off. His specialization is narrow, it is almost impossible to find a similar job. I am only superficially familiar with development, a little matlab experience.
Therefore, the person decided to change his professional activity and started studying C ++. A little more than a year has passed, the book has been read and several courses have been taken. Learned the basics, plus enough SQL for development.
And so, looking through the vacancies for juniors, the understanding comes that this knowledge may not be enough.
There is also the suggestion that C++ is a narrow and shrinking market where there is little infusion of new developers and competition among old and experienced ones.
Therefore, the question arises - do you think it makes sense to delve into C ++, or, better, go to a newer and more fashionable language? Of interests - mathematical analysis, statistics and related industries, but there is a fear that without experience, the chances of finding a job as a junior tend to zero.
In general, the question is - what do you think - where is it better to go and why?

Answer 1

Change of profession. How to become a programmer after 30/...

who worked in another field (physics, scientific research), and was laid off

one call was not enough, and the person

started learning C++

in which there is much less work than in any other "newer and more fashionable language".
By the way, these languages ​​are not "fashionable". They just need business. Finding a job in some PHP is easier than in C++.

Answer 2

And what is the language here?
It's not the language that makes a programmer a programmer.
Although C++ is a separate story, but after a year of studying this language plus related areas (computer architecture, networking, etc.), you can easily switch to any other language. Thus, the language itself is secondary, and more important is the ability to write understandable (for others) code, document it, know programming approaches and practices, styles, paradigms, mathematics, algorithms, etc. Plus, you can google something like "programmer skills" to understand what is required other than the language.
In general, there are two extreme options (and the truth is somewhere in the middle):

1. If the problem is to survive , then you need to focus on gaps in knowledge and skills. And, as I said above, it's not just AP. Perhaps, it will be important in such a situation to download soft skills , that is, the ability to work in a team, communicate, negotiate, achieve mutual understanding, and simply present yourself. This also includes an understanding of trends, so your question, in theory, will disappear by itself.
   
2. If the margin of safety is large, and the problem is to find a job that a person will do all his life, then you need to look at what a person likes to do. After all, over time, you can become a professional in any field. And in any case, it will give a normal income. But it is important to do what you love, so that there is motivation and happiness from work and professional growth in it.
   

Answer 3

I am only superficially familiar with development, a little matlab experience.
Therefore, the person decided to change his professional activity and started studying C ++.

The worst decision that could be made, I speak as a physicist by education who left in C ++. Firstly, C ++ is a terribly crutch and complex language, which is impossible to learn in 1 or 10 years (provided that there is a family and other concerns), although if you bot non-stop, then you can in 15 years. But knowledge of the language is not basic, you also need to know patterns, version control systems, all sorts of development styles (fp, oop) and the subject area. Since this is C ++, you also need to know stl, boost or Qt. There are no vacancies in pure C++.

There is also the suggestion that C++ is a narrow and shrinking market where there is little infusion of new developers and competition among old and experienced ones.

- absolutely right.

In general, the question is - what do you think - where is it better to go and why?

Java - after C ++ will seem like paradise (in terms of language). In the post-Soviet space, it is well paid, there are many vacancies. You master Spring, Hibernate in courses and go to Junior, in 3-4 years the salary will be higher than that of 70% of C++ developers.

Answer 4

I used to work as a C++ programmer.
The whole question here is what code to work with. If with my own, then C ++ is more convenient, I personally don’t know the language. But working with someone else's C++ code is incredibly difficult.
The difficulty is that the cause of the error is quite difficult to find, and working with someone else's code is, in 90% of cases, exactly the search for errors.
The second point is the speed of writing programs. For example, what can be written in Python in 4 days, in C ++ will take two weeks in time.
There are tasks in which one cannot do without C++, but these are not large projects, but as a rule, not very large programs - libraries, utilities, drivers. And this kind of code has been used for decades - once written, debugged and never returned to it.
So, of course, you need to know C++, but real programs are written in scripting languages. On the same Java, Python, C#.

Answer 5

If a person has good mathematics, physics, then learning C ++ is quite promising. Complex code about modeling physical systems, robotics is often written in C ++. Knowledge of the language and programming in such tasks is secondary.
Writing websites, especially the front with such a background, can quickly become quite boring.
You can look at Python with ML. It is also very close in terms of interests, and the demand is huge.

Answer 6

To eat - learn the basics + fashionable language (php, js, java) and work.
Or, starting from previous scientific experience with physics and mathematics, you can study English, neural networks / machine learning / blockchain / smart contracts / working with large amounts of data. Now it is also fashionable, and there is every chance to go to work abroad :)