Any help would be appreciated

[JamesEdwards]

If anyone can help with this I would really appreciate it.

I am a UK based specialist recruiter. I have focused my attention on .Net technologies, however as a company we are expanding into other areas.

Can anyone give me a laymans understanding of C++ and/or Java, e.g. their main usues, how they fit with other technologies, etc.

Please understand that I am an individual who has a genuine interest in understanding the technologies I work with, which allows me to improve the service I can offer my candidates as well as my clients.

Your help will be warmly received.

Thanks,
James.

[Michael_Knight]

C++ (pronounced /ˌsiːˌplʌsˈplʌs/) is a general-purpose programming language. C++ is regarded as a mid-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features.[1] It is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, usually compiled language supporting procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming.

Bjarne Stroustrup developed C++ in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and named it "C with Classes". In 1983 it was renamed to C++. Enhancements started with the addition of classes, followed by, among other features, virtual functions, operator overloading, multiple inheritance, templates, and exception handling. The C++ programming language standard was ratified in 1998 as ISO/IEC 14882:1998, the current version of which is the 2003 version, ISO/IEC 14882:2003. A new version of the standard (known informally as C++0x) is being developed.

[ More info... ]

Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun's Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode which can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture.

The original and reference implementation Java compilers, virtual machines, and class libraries were developed by Sun from 1995. As of May 2007, in compliance with the specifications of the Java Community Process, Sun made available most of their Java technologies as free software under the GNU General Public License. Others have also developed alternative implementations of these Sun technologies, such as the GNU Compiler for Java and GNU Classpath.

Java's design, industry backing and portability have made Java one of the fastest-growing and most widely used programming languages in the modern computing industry.

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[JamesEdwards]

Thanks for that Michael.

What are the benefits of Java over C++ or indeed vice versa?

Is one more 'fashionable' or more commonly used with today's technologies?

How do these technologies fit together in a commercial sense?

What other technologies do they link in with in a typical commercial environment?

Any questions like these would help me greatly to understand that the way that these languages work in the outside world.

As an example: c# and vb.net both fall under the asp.net banner when developing web software, but are also used in winforms when developing windows applications - that is the kind of basic working understanding I am trying to achieve.

Thanks in advance for your help.

James.