thrown into a backend project as a backend dev with a language I don't know, how fucked am I?
The title itself is a recipe for disaster. Also this is a semi rant.
Yesterday I was informed that I will have the honour to implement the core functionality - which is an interface layer to use the driver of a very expensive hardware shit - of the software I’ve been working on as a frontend dev.
There are two possibilities for the language: C++ or C#. The one that was proposed/imposed is C#, which I know nothing of, while at least I have some hobbyist experience with C++; when asked if I could take some time to familiarise myself with C# I was basically laughed in the face, saying I will learn on the field and at least some of them have some experience with it.
Should I insist to go with C++, or is that an even worse idea in an already fucked up situation?
You have copilot? You'll be fine if so, just throw down comments for what you want it to do and tweak it when it doesn't compile.
Please do not follow this advice. For one, copilot is terrible in general. For two, using it without being able to vet the codes correctness is a recipe for disaster.
I concur. I took the free trial and was not impressed - most of the time the suggestions aren't any better than LSP autocomplete.
And if I asked it to implement something or let it autocomplete part of (say) an expression, it tends to go tits-up completely. (Which is especially odd considering I use languages with abundant static context - It's not like JS where the type of a function parameter is "who the fuck knows until runtime.")
Spend your $10 a month on supporting OSS devs/projects.
I think that was the joke?