Differences Between C and C++ Programming Languages

PrefacePREFACE

1. In 1980, Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup began creating a simulation language that could feature object-oriented programming. At that time, object-oriented programming was a relatively new concept, and Dr. Stroustrup did not design a new language from scratch but built it on C. This is the C++ language.

2. By 1985, C++ began to gain popularity. After years of development, C++ has gone through multiple versions. The joint committee of ANSI and ISO started to establish standards for C++ in 1989. In February 1994, the committee published the first informal draft, and in 1998, the international standard for C++ was officially released.

1. C language: It is a procedural, abstract general-purpose programming language widely used in low-level development. It can be said that C is a subset of C++ since C existed before C++.

2. C++: It is an extension of C, and one can say that C++ is a superset of C because it can perform both procedural programming in C and object-oriented programming characterized by abstract data types.

1. C language: It can compile and process low-level memory in a simple way. C is a highly efficient programming language that produces minimal machine language and can run without any runtime environment support.

2. C++: It not only has practical features for efficient computer operation but also aims to improve the quality of programming for large-scale programs and the problem description capability of programming languages.

1. C language: It provides many low-level processing capabilities while maintaining cross-platform characteristics, allowing a C program written to be compiled on many computer platforms, including embedded processors and supercomputers.

2. C++: In C++, classes are tools that support data encapsulation, while objects are the implementation of data encapsulation. C++ supports data encapsulation and data hiding by establishing user-defined classes.

1. C is a procedural language, while C++ is an object-oriented language.

2. There are differences in dynamic memory allocation between C and C++; C uses malloc/free functions, while C++ uses new/delete keywords.

3. C language does not have class, only struct; however, in C++, both exist. The default access modifier for class is private, while for struct it is public.

4. C++ supports function overloading, while C does not, due to the differences in name decoration between the two.

5. C++ has references, while C does not.

Different Usage Scenarios

C Language

Operating Systems: Class unix systems (linux/freebsd…) are mainly developed based on C.

Embedded Field: Most driver development is based on C, and embedded systems are developed in C.

C++

Gaming Field: StarCraft, Warcraft, CS, Age of Empires, Crazy Taxi, Legend, World of Warcraft

Office Software: Microsoft Office, Sun Open Office

Graphics Processing: Adobe Photoshop

Websites: eBay, Facebook

Search Engines: Google

Graphical User Interfaces: Microsoft Windows UI, Apple MacOS UI (Aqua), KDE (Linux GUI)

Relational Databases: Oracle, MySQL

Browsers: Microsoft IE, Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome

Email Clients: Outlook

Software Development Integrated Environments: Eclipse, Code Blocks, Microsoft Visual Studio

Compilers: Microsoft Visual C++

Conclusion

C++ is an extension of the C language, which can perform both procedural programming in C and object-oriented programming characterized by abstract data types, as well as object-oriented programming characterized by inheritance and polymorphism.

C++ excels in object-oriented programming while also accommodating procedural programming, thus adapting to the scale of problems.

C++ not only possesses practical features for efficient computer operation but also aims to enhance the programming quality of large-scale programs and the problem description capability of programming languages.