Re: Java or C++?


<adaworks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:yNl5f.17428$6e1.2854@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "Alan Balmer" <albalmer@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:4qgal1pfc024fset0k61vv0tkp8nr9hrbl@xxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > C++ doesn't force anyone to write unsafe code, and silly analogies
> > don't change that.
> >
> True. C++ does not force anyone to write unsafe code. It does, however,
> make it so much easier to do so. If you are a practicing C++ programmer,
> you realize how easy it is to make errors that are never detected by the
> compiler.

"much easier"? Which language are you comparing C++ to now? C, Java, or
something else?

I find C++ compilers much more helpful than C compilers when it comes to
finding bugs. I migrated from C to C++ four years ago, and it is my
experience that the compiler catches many *more* errors that previously used
to be found at runtime. Many of these errors are silly, like type errors and
uninitialized variables, but I no longer have to track down hard-to-find
runtime bugs on that account, because the compiler finds them for me.

Of course, that may not be due to the change C -> C++, but could be instead
a general improvement in the number of warnings/errors that the compiler
checks for.

However, the possibility of using std::map to express associations between
two related concepts makes it easier and quicker to get a program working
than it used to when I only had C. Having to hand-code such relations in C
invariably leads to bugs at run-time.

> We are talking here about errors that would be detected early
> by a more robust language.

Could you be more specific, please. What errors, what language?

Would you say Java is more robust than C++?

Any language that does not explicitly support the concept of pointers and
(especially) pointer arithmetic would be (much) more robust than C/C++.

-Michael.

P.S. Why are we having this discussion? C++ is a powerful language, and with
all power-tools, some caution is required.


.

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