Thread: C or C++

If I got it right C# is basically meant for the Windows OS. But what are the differences exactly between C and C++ and what would be better to learn?

Originally Posted by Elysia

Learning both languages is silly.

C/C++ are merely different aspects of the same language. You can write a real world application without C++, but you cannot write a real world application without C. Learn both.

While you people debate on what's silly and what's not, I got a couple of questions...



1) Is learning C, then C++, the best way to go ?

2) When you say learning them both is silly, do you mean learning both at the same time ?

3) When you say learning them both, do you mean learning both at the same time ?

Thanks!

Then should one then learn Assembly, then C, then C++ then ?

On the other hand, however, C++ is still very bloated and slow by comparison. So, if you desire to go into embedded work, I would recommend C. And, BTW, C is more powerful than C++ and is the modern language of choice (in certain circles).

I guess the point here is that it is asinine to say "C is better than C++" or "C++ is better than C" as each has a place in the world. No one language is complete enough to handle EVERY task easily (though almost any language could handle any task -- just may not be tooled for it).

C# is primarily for Windows

More accurate to say the C# is primarily for the .NET platform, which is primarily for Windows. It was intended to be a multi-platform virtual platform, like Java, but in practice that hasn't really happened. Mono, exists, which is a Linux implementation of the .NET framework, and apparently it's improved greatly over the years. But unless I'm horribly out of the loop, it's certianly not mainstream.

In any case - comparing C# to C and C++ can get kind of silly, anyways. I also think that C and C++ are diverging more and more, it used to just be a matter of having classes and not having classes, but now they have two extremely different styles.

Originally Posted by Elysia

Hehe. Yes, it always turns out that way, does it not?
But right now, I have some myths to bust. C is not better than C++. It is not faster than C++. Bloated is subjective. I would prefer to see it packed with a lot of useful features.
C++ is as fast as C, or faster. C is also just as fast as C++, or faster. It depends on how you use it and where.
And while you say is more a powerful language choice in certain circles, I find that to be a very bold statement. Sure, C is preferred in certain areas, but I do not know if I would exactly call it a modern language or more powerful. Usually there is a reason for C, but more powerful? I simply do not know.

But the point I was trying to make is this: C++ will usually get the work done faster than C, so it gets the upper hand (this may change depending on experience, of course, since it is subjective), so if there is a choice between learning C and C++, C++ is usually the better choice IMHO.
Of course, this also depends on where you want to write your code. Embedded systems usually only have C compilers. API is still C or Obj-C, but is still accessible from C++.

It is simply a choice of preference.

I guess the word irony is not in your lexicon, eh?

So it basically comes down to the following questions.

1. Is there anything in C that you can not do in C++ or the other way around.

2. Would that one be best to learn then when you just want to write basic programs to begin with for a Windows or Linux platform?