I have a lot of respect for Herb Sutter--his articles on difficulty of multiprogramming are worth study by all. But there is an element of Kool-aid in his comments about other languages. Hadoop is written in Java; much of the world is written in C, and in very restricted versions of C++. I say this as one who did 10 years in industrial-strength C++ programming.
If you look at C++ without rose-colored glasses, it is a pretty frightening prospect. Modern C++ Design by Andrei Alexandrescu is a very awesome book, but the fact that there are surprises in it for Scott Meyers should give the student pause.
And to all of you who are beginning programming, you will be better off in the long run if you become proficient in several languages. I predict that in your successful career you will be ahead if you are able to pick up new languages rapidly. Time spent mastering C++ might not be the best use of your learning budget.
If you look at C++ without rose-colored glasses, it is a pretty frightening prospect. Modern C++ Design by Andrei Alexandrescu is a very awesome book, but the fact that there are surprises in it for Scott Meyers should give the student pause.
And to all of you who are beginning programming, you will be better off in the long run if you become proficient in several languages. I predict that in your successful career you will be ahead if you are able to pick up new languages rapidly. Time spent mastering C++ might not be the best use of your learning budget.