6: Mainline

There are two principal reasons to learn C++:

• The productivity of C++ programmers generally exceeds the productivity of C programmers. Hence, C++ programmers are in demand.
• The supply of powerful off-the-shelf C++ software modules, both free and for sale, is increasing rapidly. The supply of off-the-shelf C modules, most of which you can incorporate into C++ programs, is already huge.

Also, because C++ is the most widely used object-oriented programming language, you often hear programmers debate the merits of other object-oriented languages in terms of advantages and disadvantages relative to C++.