I've come to a point in my career that had me rephrasing a whole bunch of things that I took for granted. This means that if I were to put that same question to myself, it would have been changed to "Is there anything that I hate less than C++?"
As you probably remember, I think that programming just plain sucks. But it is true that C++ is an elegant and pretty language to look at. It's easy to fall in love with it, as I once did. There was a time when I too thought C++ would become my de facto programming tool to the exclusion of anything else. But the fact is that C++ clashed with my career in a big way. It's lack of a principled GUI library (for the obvious reasons, of course) was its downfall. I could never bring it successfully to my jobs as a plus on my resume. And the market always demanded more for Windows-based business oriented software, forcing me to stay on its path. And then the .Net/C# combination happened and that just buried C++ for good as a viable desktop programming tool. I eventually sidelined C++ to an hobby. But the problem with that is my character switches hobbies as someone changes a shirt. The only exception being gardening. And so, if I were to program C++ today, I would have to go back to reading books and tutorials off the web.
And so, what I am saying is that liking it has got nothing to do with it. Be prepared for a change and keep studying all those other languages you have been). C++ may be conceptually pretty, but the matter of fact is that you will require these days to enter a specific job market to make use of it. And there's currently a very low demand for it. Which makes C++ pretty on the inside, but frankly ugly on the outside.
If you do want to remain faithful to it and pursue a career on it, then I suggest a CS course (not a SE one) and be sure you do it on a respectful university. No girlfriends during that time and friends can wait also. Get the best possible marks. Then, you might get a chance at the growingly restrict professional C++ market.
I still like C++ structurally. I think that is a well designed language, notwithstanding some criticism. But honestly the language has much less professional value these days, no matter what those language ranks try to tell you. Liking it is only going to be a distraction in your life if you can contain that feeling.
Originally Posted by MutantJohn
