Re: Why is C still being used instead of C++

From: Sam Sungshik Kong (ssk_at_chol.nospam.net)
Date: 09/27/04 

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 18:39:13 GMT

Thanks Thomas and everyone else who replied!
Your explanation (and others' explanations) helped me a lot.

Thomas, I have a question about your final thought.

Let's say...
I have a.c (c code) and b.cpp (c++ code).
I compile them into a.obj and b.obj.
Now they are compatible?
I mean... can they be linked into an executable file?
I wonder what you mean by "coexist".

Thanks.

Sam

"Thomas Matthews" <Thomas_MatthewsSpitsOnSpamBots@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
message news:lwY5d.7229$eJ5.2223@newssvr15.news.prodigy.com...
> Sam Sungshik Kong wrote:
> > Hello, group!
> >
> > I'm reading "Thinking in C++" written by Bruce Eckel.
> > It explains the differences between C and C++.
> > It also mensions how C++ overcomes the shortcomings of C - like
> > type-checking, const (#define), etc. and its great libraries - string,
> > vector...
> >
> > As far as I know, Linux was written in C. (If I'm wrong, correct me)
> > The comparatively young language - Ruby - was written in C.
> > I believe there are many more being written in C.
> >
> > I wonder why C is still widely used even if C++ seems to be better.
> > (I'm learning C/C++ and have no real experiences with them.)
> >
> > TIA.
> > Sam
>
> Ah yes, the X language is better than Y debate (troll topic).
>
> No language is better than any other language. Each has
> its flaws and features. Different languages are suited
> better for different projects.
>
> The C++ language is not better than C. It is just another
> language with different functionality. I knew of people
> that would develop new languages for specific projects.
>
> One reason for the C language's wide use is its portability.
> Granted that Fortran, Lisp and Cobol are also portable, the
> C language allows easier access to hardware then those
> others. Before the C language, there seemed to be just
> the high-level language and assembly. So now we have a
> wide base of users of the C language.
>
> Along comes the C++ language. Many people are skeptical.
> "I already know C, why should I change? What are the
> benefits?" These are the questions I am asked whenever
> I bring up the subject in a lot of shops that program
> embedded systems. There doesn't seem to be much financial
> incentive to switch all the compilers to and teach all the
> employees a new language. The power's that be and the
> legacy projects have decided the language.
>
> I'm using both languages. At work, I can't justify using
> the C++ language for a few language features that we have
> been implementing in C. The C++ language can lead to more
> codespace bloat than C (such as the template feature).
> Embedded systems are notorious for their limited codespace.
> I would like to use it more at work because it has better
> support for encapsulation the C does. Also, they have
> improved the boolean type. But this does not justify
> the cost for switching over.
>
> A final thought: Is there a compelling reason that
> the C++ and C language cannot coexist together and
> C++ must replace C?
>
> --
> Thomas Matthews
>
> C++ newsgroup welcome message:
> http://www.slack.net/~shiva/welcome.txt
> C++ Faq: http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite
> C Faq: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/c-faq/top.html
> alt.comp.lang.learn.c-c++ faq:
> http://www.comeaucomputing.com/learn/faq/
> Other sites:
> http://www.josuttis.com -- C++ STL Library book
>

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Word 2003 VB IDE & VB2005
    ... For a good explanation of this, ... Visual Studio Magazine - Guest Opinion - Office and .NET: ... Very little, if anything, has changed in the language since the ... The most recent one I enjoyed was "Professional Excel ...
    (microsoft.public.word.vba.general)
  • Re: consciousness, was Re: etc.
    ... What constitutes an explanation? ... been writing in a foreign language. ... The basics of conditioning are simple and trivial. ...
    (comp.ai.philosophy)
  • Re: Help Constructing Fictional Cross-Religious Movement
    ... >feature of the explanation of "what's an object?" ... >this is a crucial distinction, and tend to think it's already implied by ... just a subroutine in a language that implicitly makes multiple independent ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Why is C still being used instead of C++
    ... > Your explanation helped me a lot. ... > Thomas, I have a question about your final thought. ... that a new language must replace an already existing ... A language's popularity seems to come and go. ...
    (alt.comp.lang.learn.c-cpp)
  • Re: Darwins principle of divergence - Tautology
    ... so that the Samarin and Goodman explanations do not apply. ... linguists can transcribe my language but seem to terrified ... I would not count that as an explanation, ... Language not used to communicate between people - and the research amongst the Pentacostians shows that they do not understand each other either - is not a language that linguistics can say much about. ...
    (talk.origins)
Loading