which language should I select?

[mehdi62b]

Hi experts,
I know C# and .NET somewhat(and also a little C++)
but I dont know exactly which language I should select and go on,
my purpose is that I want to be able declare my Structures and algorithms personally...(not by using default classes in .NET or MFC)
for example I want to work with pointers ...I think C# could not fit me ...
could C++.NET be a suitable choice?
(I'm a student and want to learn new languages (like .NET)but teachers teach me C++ or pascal!)
I'm confused here and I dont know which language I should select?
I need some advise,
please guide me.

[indiocolifa]

C# is very easy to use and quick to develop. You don't get memory leaks and so on (unless you want to use unsafe pointers).

C++.NET is extremely powerful, I recommend it , altough the syntax for using .net is horrible (this will change in C++ 2005, try Visual C++ 2005 express beta which is free! if you want)

http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/visualc/

[mehdi62b]

so I will use C++.NET but for making my data structures like Linked List and arrays I think I should use managed C++?

[indiocolifa]

the read advantage of C++.NET is that you can mix your structures. You can use the managed Hashtable from the .net framework with your own pointer-based, linked-list.

Altough I don't know the performance of the .NET complex data structures, I think, from reading the www, that is very good.

But consider that you can still program the data structures by your own and still get Windows FOrms, which is a FAR better way to develop desktop apps than MFC.
Just my 2 cents

[indiocolifa]

also, consider what kind of application you are going to develop. I thnk c# is a good alternative to managed C++ if you want ultra fast application development. I use C++ only for critical apps now (mixed with managed code, of course).

Alternative is to develop the non-critical parts of an application in C# and develop some high-speed DLLs with C++, that's another point of view.

Another 2 cents!

Regards
Hernan Di Pietro

[mehdi62b]

Thanks for your help(and your cents :D)
I got everything I need.