Is C++ important to know in Engineering?

I am considering taking a course in C++ this summer but I don't know how beneficial it will be to me when I start on Mechanical Engineering this Fall. What kinds of programming should mechanical engineers be familiar with? I know MATLAB, and some Java.

C++ is being used more and more with embedded systems. Even some real-time systems depend on it. Off hand, if you really know Java, I'd say stick with that language until you it becomes more clear. Obviously, it couldn't hurt to know C++. In many cases, I prefer C++ over Java due to the shear speed, fine control it enables, and you can even slip into assembly language if required.

Also, at some point you may encounter Mechanical Engineering simulations. Many of these systems are coded in C++. If you lean more toward the academic and research end, it may come in handy with your Graduate School studies.

Note: BalRog, I didn't know there is a Fortran 2003 standard now; I'll have to take a new look. The last one I used was Fortran '95 and the first was Fortran IV. Fortran does compile very well and can be as fast as C/C++.

rwid and Bronco,

Yes there is a 2003 standard but I don't know much about it. All the fancy math features that I mentioned in my answer have been in the language since Fortran 90. Report It

It's unlikely that you'll ever need to know a programming language as a mechanical engineer.

In the event that your company needs an embedded system programmed or something of that sort, they'll hire someone with a Computer Science degree to do that work

No C++ is useful to Computer Engineers.

Wow, when my younger brother was studying ME in the mid-1980's he DEFINITELY needed to know how to write programs (unlike what some others are saying here). I know because I helped him with more than one of them. But back then he needed to know Fortran, not C++.

Of course, throughout the 1990's and this decade a lot of the big Fortran scientific and engineering codes have been ported to C++ or replaced by C++ equivalents.

And maybe today MEs use packaged math programs like Mathematica or MATLAB instead of writing small custom programs; heck, I know one engineer who says he does matrix calculations using Excel spreadhseets. So maybe you don't NEED it, but I still really think you would have a leg up if you took a course in C++.

Now on the other hand... even if it is "past its prime" modern *Fortran* does have a lot to recommend it:
鈥?Straightforward syntax for higher math, including a built-in matrix/vector addition, dot product, and matrix multiply
鈥?Input and output formats for scientific and engineering notation
and, in general,
鈥?A science/engineering "attitude" about it that you just don't find in other languages.

So you might consider taking a course in Fortran 2003 instead... if you can find one.