No, of course not. If your goal is to learn Rust by 2017, go learn Rust. I don't know how this became about Rust anyway, the article is about C++ in 2016.
I also won't disagree that C++ is a baroque language with too many conflicting features, conflicting cultural standards, and general all-around cruft. There's certainly plenty I hate about it, and it's rarely the first choice I'd reach for starting a new project these days.
I'm claiming that if you are a brand new programmer that's remotely interested in HPC, games, finance, search, compilers, databases, or system software and want to build solid fundamentals for a career, learn C++. Because:
1.) It will provide access to jobs in those areas, where you can be mentored by experience programmers.
2.) It will provide access to open-source codebases in those areas, where you can learn the structure and development processes of a large, existing body of software.
3.) It will teach you language concepts that transfer over to other languages.
4.) It will teach you why certain language features didn't make it into other languages, and the pitfalls of using a language that grew by accretion over 25 years, and the many ways that you can shoot your foot off with these language features, and how to debug it once you do.
A very small portion of programming is in the language. Over the course of your career, you'll use dozens of languages - hell, I've only been doing this professionally for 12 years and I've shipped software in a dozen languages. What matters a lot more are the patterns - being able to recognize why you might use a certain technique, and how the same technique manifests differently in different languages. In the fields that it's still widespread in, C++ will open a lot of doors to learn these.
I also won't disagree that C++ is a baroque language with too many conflicting features, conflicting cultural standards, and general all-around cruft. There's certainly plenty I hate about it, and it's rarely the first choice I'd reach for starting a new project these days.
I'm claiming that if you are a brand new programmer that's remotely interested in HPC, games, finance, search, compilers, databases, or system software and want to build solid fundamentals for a career, learn C++. Because:
1.) It will provide access to jobs in those areas, where you can be mentored by experience programmers.
2.) It will provide access to open-source codebases in those areas, where you can learn the structure and development processes of a large, existing body of software.
3.) It will teach you language concepts that transfer over to other languages.
4.) It will teach you why certain language features didn't make it into other languages, and the pitfalls of using a language that grew by accretion over 25 years, and the many ways that you can shoot your foot off with these language features, and how to debug it once you do.
A very small portion of programming is in the language. Over the course of your career, you'll use dozens of languages - hell, I've only been doing this professionally for 12 years and I've shipped software in a dozen languages. What matters a lot more are the patterns - being able to recognize why you might use a certain technique, and how the same technique manifests differently in different languages. In the fields that it's still widespread in, C++ will open a lot of doors to learn these.