How much can a language change in ~10 years?

[boettcher]

I picked up this book for 50 cents at a flea market earlier this year. I've barely touched it since then. It teaches C and then goes on to introduce C++ and Java. Sounds pretty cool, right? Problem: It's from like 2000. I was wondering how much something might have changed in the ten years since this version came out. Would it be worth it to learn C the way it was 10 years ago, or is it too different now? I can easily find other (no doubt better) sources elsewhere, but it'd be nice to have a real book handy. It was only 50 cents, so I figured I might as well try it and see if I could get something out of it.

[dejai]

Should cover the basics pretty well. C has not changed much at all which is a good thing and it has been around a lot longer than 10 years. While the tech world zooms ahead language development lags behind it takes almost a decade to write a programming language or at least several years and amendments takes a long time as well. C++ and C have not really changed since 2000 except for the new x0 standard however even that is still in the working and the effect wont be seen for several years yet. So I would not worry about it being out of date. All the code will work because programming languages generally don't break compatibility with older version (unlike python which did for Python 3.0). So you should be safe.

[Falco Girgis]

Dude, I have EXTREMELY kickass C books that date back from the late 70s to early 80s. I have awesome C++ books from late 80s and early 90s. The languages have remained virtually unchanged--a direct result of nobody "owning" the languages. You pretty much can't go wrong with any book covering ANSI C/++.

JAVA ON THE OTHER HAND is a completely different story. Sun Microsystems owns Java. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. Just like C#, .NET, Flash, and other proprietary languages, the companies who own them have complete freedom to change, amend, and rework the language. That's why I will never buy a book that is more than just a few years old for these.

With just a little bit of experience you'll get the hang of which languages/technologies are sensitive to change and which are not. Generally lower level languages are pretty static.

[boettcher]

Alright, thanks guys. I posted this same question on another forum when I first got the book, and the only reply I got said that the biggest problem would be that some of what was acceptable back then might be considered bad practice now, which I kinda understand, but this book seems to be doing just fine compared to other stuff I've found online.

As for Java, I've never been totally interested in learning it, so I probably wouldn't have even touched that section anyway.

[wearymemory]

JAVA ON THE OTHER HAND is a completely different story. Sun Microsystems owns Java. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. Just like C#, .NET, Flash, and other proprietary languages, the companies who own them have complete freedom to change, amend, and rework the language. That's why I will never buy a book that is more than just a few years old for these.

Oracle owns Java.
The Java language designers focused on keeping their public API relevant, but without breaking backwards compatibility. Based on that principal, historical or obscure code should still work, but may not be widely accepted as today's standard. While it's important to acknowledge and be able to achieve backwards compatibility in situations that require it, there are sometimes better and more effective alternatives that should be used when applicable. Reading the book may help with your understanding of the language, but I would take any lessons learned, especially from a 10 year old book, with a grain of salt and a dash of research before applying them to any software recipe.Perhaps one reason that a "proprietary language" like Java is more likely to change than a "lower-level language" such as C or C++, is due to it's extensible API which offers functionality that supports its widely defined, and yet-to-be-defined role in application development. Whereas some tasks in C/++ are offered as independent projects or libraries that offer the specific functionality that you seek, so that you don't always have to roll your own. The rudimentary aspects, syntax, and API or functionality of most languages may rarely change due to the impact it may have on existing software, but most of these APIs will adapt as more efficient and effective ways of accomplishing certain tasks are thought of. Either way, it will take time to learn the relevant APIs for the development of your future projects.

[Falco Girgis]

JAVA ON THE OTHER HAND is a completely different story. Sun Microsystems owns Java. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. Just like C#, .NET, Flash, and other proprietary languages, the companies who own them have complete freedom to change, amend, and rework the language. That's why I will never buy a book that is more than just a few years old for these.

Oracle owns Java.

Goddamn. My Java experience is so out-of-date.

[programmerinprogress]

JAVA ON THE OTHER HAND is a completely different story. Sun Microsystems owns Java. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. Just like C#, .NET, Flash, and other proprietary languages, the companies who own them have complete freedom to change, amend, and rework the language. That's why I will never buy a book that is more than just a few years old for these.

Oracle owns Java.

Goddamn. My Java experience is so out-of-date.

I and that proves the point you just made perfectly