I heard somewhere that Microsoft will be focusing their efforts on C# rather than C++ for the .NET platform. I can see signs of this being true because of the GUI designer that was available for C# but not C++.
So I would like to know if C++ in .NET is dying and if it will continue to be second to C# in the future.
i think YES , its dying , actually it already died ;) , coz there arent lots of people who use it , they use whether c++ or c#. see this
Managed C++ never really got to be what MS thought it would be. C# could do (nearly) the same thing, with a lot more intuitive and user-friendly syntax.
Apart from that, C++/CLI will not be left unsupported for a long time, as it's the easy way to create interop between .NET assemblies and native C++ assemblies. That's about all it's used for though (I'm sure there's a 0.001% of C++/CLI developers out there who disagree :P ).
If you are targeting the .NET framework in application development then yes C++ CLR is a second class citizen compared to C#. C# was specifically designed as the language for .NET framework meanwhile C++ CLR extension is there to allow developers to bridge native and managed code.
However do not confuse C++ with C++ CLR (C++ .NET is the same thing...). C++ is alive and well in areas such as the kernel, games, high-performance and server apps (e.g. SQL server) all of which are unlikely to change. On the other hand most .NET 'GUI stuff' won't use C++.
C++/CLI is just the way Microsoft attracts native C++ developers to .NET. It was like a intermediate layer between native C++ and C#, but I'm pretty sure that developers prefer to choose either native C++ or C#.
Microsoft will not let C++/CLI die, at least in near future, however, without community support, C++/CLI will not be able to grow.
In this generation, not growing means close to dead.
I'm afraid it is.
The reason for this is not C# (which doesn't bring anything special and although it's a new language it doesn't lead in new language features but merely copies features of others - generics).
It's mainly because the first attempt of MS to enable C++ for .NET platform - Managed C++ - was a disaster.
After this they hired Herb Sutter, C++ guru, which made fantastic job designing Managed C++ replacement callled C++/CLI.
Why and how much C++/CLI design is superior to Managed C++ design you can find out by reading A Design Rationale for C++/CLI written by Herb.
By the way, Herb made vc compiler one of the best standard-conforming compilers for Windows after years of it being the worst one in regard to standard conformance.
I don't think it's necessarily going away, but the reason for using it almost always comes down to whether or not you need the performance benefits that come with it. If C# can do the same thing at 90% of the efficiency of C++, isn't that really good enough?
No. It was born dead. It always has been treated as a second class citezen with no vitality roadmap.