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...major differences between C and C++

Answer by Matthew Mondor
Submitted on 7/2/2003
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C was the C++ predecessor. As it's name implies, alot of C remains in C++. Although not actually being more powerful than C, C++ allows the programmer to more easily manage and operate with Objects, using an OOP (Object Oriented Programming) concept. C++ allows the programmer to create classes, which are somewhat similar to C structures. However, to a class can be assigned methods, functions associated to it, of various prototypes, which can access and operate within the class, somewhat like C functions often operate on a supplied handler pointer. Although it is possible to implement anything which C++ could implement in C, C++ aids to standarize a way in which objects are created and managed, whereas the C programmer who implements the same system has alot of liberty on how to actually implement the internals, and style among programmers will vary alot on the design choices made. In C, some will prefer the handler-type, where a main function initializes a handler, and that handler can be supplied to other functions of the library as an object to operate on/through. Others will even want to have that handler link all the related function pointers within it which then must be called using a convention closer to C++. To finish this discussion, C++ applications are generally slower at runtime, and are much slower to compile than C programs. The low-level infrastructure for C++ binary execution is also larger. For these reasons C is always commonly used even if C++ has alot of popularity, and will probably continue to be used in projects where size and speed are primary concerns, and portable code still required (assembly would be unsuitable then).

Answer by Juergen
Submitted on 9/2/2003
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Re Matthew: Well, yes and no. Actually C++ is a separate language in its own right that shares a lot with C. Type checking for example is much more rigid in C++ than it is in C, so many a program that compiles just fine under a C compiler will result in many warnings and errors under a C++ compiler. So, while C++ might be seen as "C with classes" by some, it actually is different and targeted at a different audience. C still is the best choice for code that has to be fast while still being reasonably readable and portable, eg. device drivers. C++ on the other hand is mainly used in large projects of millions of lines of code, where C code would become unmaintainable. This is mainly due to the possibility to reuse existing code by exploiting the OOP concepts of polymorphism and inheritance.

Answer by neo
Submitted on 8/6/2004
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The main difference between C and C++ is that C isn't object-oriented. Okay---that doesn't actually tell you what you want to know; here are some details: structs don't copy in C. That is, if a and b are structs then the line a = b; doesn't work. Nor will structs be fed into functions as arguments. The only way to deal with them sensibly is to use pointers to them, or to write functions to copy their elements explicitly. classes (with private members) don't exist in C. There is no operator and function overloading in C. If a function has a name, then that's it---you can't have another version with the same name that does the same thing with different arguments, as you can in C++. The fact that << and >> (left and right shift) do output and input in C++ is a consequence of the ability of the language to overload those operators. Output and input in C are handled by functions called printf and scanf respectively (these also work in C++ if you want, of course). In C storage allocation and de-allocation are not handled by new and delete but by a function called malloc. In general, the whole process is a bit more messy in C, but is not too bad once you get the hang of it.

Answer by brm@yoyodyne.com
Submitted on 8/18/2004
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Sigh. C++ is no slower than C. If you take a C program and compile it with C++ then the resulting code will run at the same speed, if not faster. Some of the STL classes are "slower" than their C counterparts if you don't take into account their flexibility and the fact that you don't have to do as much error checking (which C programmers don't seem to care about anyway). C++ code is often larger due to the massive amount of inlining and templating but this allows the optimizer to work on larger chunks of code. In the end you can use C++ for anything you can use C for. If you are not comfortable enough using C++ features, then stick to the C subset. Just because C++ has high-level features doesn't mean you should use them in every situation. One reason that that people think C++ is slower is that the original C++ compilers and frontends were pretty crummy. That is no longer the case. Another reason is that people think of C++ as a high-level language with lots of runtime overhead. C++ is a low-level, compile-time language. The major reason that people think C++ is slower is that well-meaning C programmers are simply parroting what they heard from somebody else. A final reason that C++ is getting a bad rap is that it is being bad-mouthed by C programmers who are just too farm-animal stupid to learn anything more expressive or complex than C. And yes, I've done plenty of programming in C, BLISS, and machine code. I designed embedded systems and I do it in C++ because the code is faster and more maintainable.

Answer by VAIBHAV JAIN
Submitted on 11/13/2004
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The first major difference between C and C++ is that C is a POP(Procedure Oriented Programming) Language whereas C++ is a OOP. C uses Top Down aproach and focuses on procedures.Data moves as such Whereas C++ uses bottom up approach and focuses on data(Data hiding,Abstaction) Dyanimic memory allocation in C by calloc() and malloc() In C++ by new and delete. C recognizes only first 32 char of string whereas C++ do not pose this limit. Prototyping is optional in C mandatory in C++ main() may not have a return type in C but return type mandatory in C++ We can assign a void pointer to a non-void pointer in C .No such concept in C++ void ptr1="vaibhav"; char ptr2="Vai" ptr2=ptr1 // valid in C

Answer by Shashwat
Submitted on 2/6/2005
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1) In C, a void* can be implicitly converted to any pointer type, and free-store allocation is typically done using malloc() which has no way of checking if "enough" memory is requested 2) When converting from C to C++, beware that C++ has more keywords than C: int class = 2; /* ok in C. Syntax error in C++ / int virtual = 3; / ok in C. Syntax error in C++ / 3) Calling an undeclared function is poor style in C and illegal in C++. So is passing arguments to a function using a declaration that doesn't list argument types At last but not least............ 4) int main() { int s = sizeof('a'); / silent difference: 1 in C++ ,sizeof(int) in C */ }

Answer by Disha
Submitted on 2/7/2005
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The major difference between c and c++ is that the c++ is an object oriented language. moreover there are so many facilities in c++ which are not in c. obviously if it's the advanced version of c then there must be something more convenient, and that is it's syntax. now see,in c if one has to input something then he/she first has to concentrate at the format specifier, addressof operator ,like scanf("format specifier",&name of the variable); but in c++ one can write only cin>> variable name; without considering it's the string or int or float. Moreover, in c++ there are constructors that automatically initialize the variables , inheritance that will inherit the properties of another class. major issue is CLASSES, that are not available in c.so i am not saying that c is better or c++ is better. it doesn't matter what is better,matters only the usage of anything according to the requirements of the user. if one is comfortable with c then go with c else go with c++. matters only that how much your grip at particular language.

Answer by Santhosh Durgam
Submitted on 2/22/2005
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c is a middle level language having both features of low level and high level language.its a structured and top down approach programming language. c++ is a high level language because of its oops implementation.its object oriented programming language. c has uses structures to bind data and data members but c++ uses Classes. c has the limited reusability. c++ extends its reusability with c++. in C++ data can be represented as live entities with thier name as identifiers and reuse it. for standard input and output functions , c uses stdio.h header file and in c++ uses iostream.h. Function prototyping is optional in c. Functional prototyping is compulsion in c++. Data hiding is possible with features of classes and its access specifiers.

Answer by Nalini Kanta Pattanayak
Submitted on 4/25/2005
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The main difference between c and c++ is that c is procedural language where as c++ is a object oriented language,c++ differs in OOPS concept from c, 2)--Other than this C++ uses const data,friend function, 3)--c++ structure can contain member function where c structure can not. 4)--The datatype typecast is different in c and c++.e.g(int i=50;float f=(float)i;will convert i int to float)but in c++(int i=50;float f= float (i);). 5)--Other differences are c++ uses its string Datatype where c does not,Boundary checking of array is not in c but in c++ . 6)--Exception handling is done in c++ but not in c. 7)--the input/output operation is done in c++ through cout and cin objects but in c it is done through printf() and scanf() functions..

Answer by Pan Gao
Submitted on 4/28/2005
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1. C source code file name should be .c and .h for implement file and header file. 2. Variables reference is not supported, so you should not use it in C. 3. Structure definition is not the same in C++ and C 4. new and delete operator is not supported in C, you should use malloc and free c function to replace it. 5. In C, you cannot use template and template class. 6. From C++ to C, you should exclude every STL, ATL, COM, MFC functions, classes usage. You should write your own code to replace the above functionality. 7. In C, variable definition lies in the beginning of each function, whereas C++ you can put variable definition wherever you want. Therefore, You should move all variable definition that doesn�t lie in the beginning of each function to the beginning. 8. Class is not supported in C, so you should convert all of class definition in C++ to structures and functions in C. You should also know there have automatic initialization and releasing resource procedure in C++ as constructor and destructor implementation but C has not. The following is a rule to port: 9. The sizeof keyword gives the amount of storage, in bytes, associated with a variable or a type. In C, in default environment setting, sizeof returns the actual size include padding bytes inserted for alignment, whereas C++ doesn�t. So you should be very carefully about this situation. 10. The int type is not a hardware-independent type. You should know, in 16-bit system such as Windows 3.1 environment, sizeof(int) = 2, whereas in 32-bit system such as Windows 2000 & XP, sizeof(int) = 4. Therefore, in C, you should try your best not use int. You can use long (4 Bytes) or short (2 Bytes). This is a critical problem especially for file read and write.

Answer by elango
Submitted on 5/18/2005
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C++ is actually an extension of C. It supports OOPs concepts. But all these OOPs concepts can be implemented in C. But its the programmers' responsibility to do this in C. But in C++, the language has built-in capability to support OOPs concepts through classes. Most of the C programs will compile under C++ with/without some warnings. The main advantage of C++ is its maintainability and code reuse and sharing. Again code reusing and sharing can be done in C also but its programmers responsibility. C++ provides facilities through inheritance. In syntax point of view there are some differences but the syntax of C are valid in C++, of course it may show some warning message. For example, for type conversion, in C, it should be given as (type)variable but C++ allows function like style as type(variable). The decision to follow C or C++ is upto the programmer and the project which is to be done.

Answer by syed sajid
Submitted on 8/25/2005
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The differences are : 1.C is strongly typed,but C++ is not 2.Access specifier in C is public,whereas in C++ it is private. 3.Declaration of datatype can be done anywhere in the program in C++,but it is not possible in C. 4.C++ supports class string,but not C. 5.C++ supports inheritence,polymorphism & encapsulation,whereas C doesn't support. 6.Data hiding is possible in C++,but not in C 7.In C++ we can just use #include<iostream> (even #include<iostream.h>not required for latest edition compilers) which includes for all display,and standard library, instead of using #include<stdio.h> and #include<conio.h> as in C. 8.All the functions of C can be used in C++, but it is not possible the other way. Here are some of the differences,not all.

Answer by amdappas@sify.com
Submitted on 8/29/2005
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Multiple Inheritance When the number of base classes Inherited exceeds one then the type of inheritance is known as Multiple Inheritance. For example in C++, The syntax: Class D: public A, public B { //code } Indicates that D inherits the attributes of the two classes A and B. Though Multiple Inheritance sounds exciting and very useful it has its own drawbacks, owing to which most OOP languages deny support for this feature. These drawbacks include complexities involved when inheriting from many classes and the difficulty in managing such codes. In C#, you can specify only one base class for any derived class that you create. C# does not support the inheritance of multiple base classes into a single derived class (i.e. Multiple Inheritance). This differs from C++, in which you can inherit multiple base classes. You can however, create a hierarchy of inheritance in which a derived class becomes a base class of another derived class (i.e., Multilevel Inheritance) Multilevel Inheritance You can built hierarchies that contain as many layers of inheritance as you like. As mentioned, it is perfectly acceptable to use a derived class as a base class of another. For example, given three classes called A, B and C, C can be derived from B, which can be derived from A. When this type of situation occurs, each derived class inherits all of the traits found in all of its base classes. In this case, C inherits all aspects of B and A.

Answer by John Doe
Submitted on 8/30/2005
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C was originally written as a language that was as powerful as assembly but is also portable to other platforms. There is a common realm of thought that if the PDP-11 had supported "XCHG" instructions, we'd see them as operators in C. C++ actually evolved from C so those who say "it's another language entirely" are not correct in my opinion. Original C++ compilers actually generated C code. Infact, C++ grew from the field as people used C++ in absurd and obscure ways those obscurities actually made it into the language as standards! No matter how bad the programming methodology was! This is C++'s fatal flaw, being backwards compatible with C. The flexiblity of C, essentially a "macro assembler" which "high level constructs". This doesn't make for good voodoo! As a high level language it provides a more rigid interface and hard to expand model. The implicit operations of C++ also make it harder to read, harder to maintain and harder to figure out exactly wtf the scope of something is. They state that C++ is "OO" however, C can be written as OO as well. OO is not langauge syntax but rather how the design is constructed. Just because you use "class" doesn't automatically make your code, "OO" which is another common mistake. Actually, if you can't understand how to do "OO" in C, you actually shouldn't be writing it in C++ because you definately don't understand "OO"!!!!! C++ has lots of bad things such as pass by reference, operator overloading, multiple inheritence and copy constructors. One of the main goals of an "abstraction" is just that. The user doesn't need to know the details of how it was implemented to use it. Unfortunately, this is not the case with C++. You NEED to know how it was implemented in order to use it. For example, is that implicit copy constructor a shallow or deep copy? I better know before I pass anything by value! What the hell does the "+" do? By the function name, I really have no idea. Will "-" work on the same data? I'd rather see a function descriptive NAME rather than a + or - if it's not a real mathematical operation. Functions and variables are hard to scope. If you see them in a class you have no idea where they came from. Are they global? Are they in some nth inherited class? How about classes that reuse function names of real functions? Hard to track down what one is being used and you could make mistakes! What about ease of implementation? Arrays can be dangerous with polymorphism! Typecasting back to a base class and indexing will cause corruption of data!!! AND THIS COMPILES FINE! Now to write a simple array you have to write hundreds of lines of code to do something so simple. So there's trade offs, to do something simple you need to write tons of code! C is easier to read and understand. There are less keywords to make it simpler to optimize and figure out what's going on. If you consider that people can write bad C code and C++ includes C and more, then obviously C++ is a disaster waiting to happen because you have all the bad habits that can occur in C (from a few simple keywords) to everything new that you can do (a ton of complex, hard to read and understand functionalities and implicit operations). All in all, if you want high level constructs, use a high level language like Java or C#. If you want lower level constructs, use C or assembly if need be. However, never use C++!!!!!!!!!

Answer by Earl Purple
Submitted on 9/1/2005
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- C++ has better support for the Object Orientated Paradigm. - Classes come with private members and methods improving encapsulation. - Polymorphism, as virtual functions replace the need for passing pointers to functions, and are much more powerful. - Operator overloading allows for cleaner-looking code. (Who said the syntax for C was much nicer?) - Templates allow code reuse with different types while retaining type-safety - Inline functions which are safer than macros. - Automatic destructors that are called at end of scope allow for easier memory and resource management issues (RAII). - The standard library useful classes, including string, vector, map etc. Although algorithms are free-functions so that might be considered a "C" concept, their use of templates ensures both type-safety and can allow the compiler to inline, which will actually improve performance (particularly std::sort is often faster than qsort, note all those above who say C is faster). - Exception handling also makes code look cleaner than having to check return values of all your function calls.

Answer by Chethan Basavaraj from s-pet. coorg.571236
Submitted on 10/20/2005
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About C: 1. C is a procedure oriented language. 2. It supports a Multiline comment. i.e, (/* /). 3. It does not use Strict-type checking. 4. It does not contain Scope resolution operator. 5. All the variables must be declared before the first executable statement. 6. The Keywords new and delete are not Available. 7. It does not provide default arguments. About c++: 1. Object-oriented language. 2. Both single line(i.e,//) and multiline comment statement.(i.e, / */). 3. Strict type checking. 4. Contains Scope resolution operator. 5. Variables are Declared at any point where they are required. 6. new and delete r available. 7. Provides default arguments. ---------------------------------------- Developers: C: Dennis Ritche in 1972. c++: Bjrane Stroustrup in 1980s.

Answer by Deepak Gala
Submitted on 11/24/2005
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C was introduced by Dennis Richie and its limitations were 1. Non Object Oriented 2. Complexity 3. Bad Memory Management On the other hand, C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup and was initially called C with Classes. The four pillars of C++ are 1. Inheritance (eg a child class can inherit features of parent class) 2.Polymorphism (Ability to take many forms) 3.Encapsulation (Binding of methods and data together) 4.Abstraction (Hiding the Implementation from the user) But still to C leads the C++ in terms of speed, as C++ applications are much slower when they are compiled and also during the run time. There are lots many differences between the two. But for the time being, I will end up here.

Answer by rose_love
Submitted on 12/26/2005
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A high-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs. C++ adds object-oriented features to its predecessor, C. C++ is one of the most popular programming language for graphical applications, such as those that run in Windows and Macintosh environments. A high-level programming language developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in the mid 1970s. Although originally designed as a systems programming language, C has proved to be a powerful and flexible language that can be used for a variety of applications, from business programs to engineering. C is a particularly popular language for personal computer programmers because it is relatively small -- it requires less memory than other languages.

Answer by Katiyar Jeevan Jyoti
Submitted on 2/8/2006
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Diff. b/w structured, Object Oriented and Visual Programming Languages. This is a copy n paste of my earlier post that was a reply to a question about the difference between C and C++ and also about Visual C++ or windows programming. Its not exactly a tutorial but some information on C, C++ and Visual C++ that could be valuable for newbies learning these languages. Comments would be appretiated. So here it goes: C is a Structured programming language. While C++ is an Object-Oriented Language. You can do a lot of stuff in C++ as compared to C. Structured programming language i.e. C uses modules and functions that perform specific tasks like printing text, performing calculations etc. Functions make it easy for the programmer to divide his programs into a no. of tasks, thus making it easier to program. It uses the concept of divide and conquer. Functions can be either provided by the manufacturer of the compiler (pre-defined functions) or could be made by you (user-defined functions). You can say that C is a go to less programming as it seldom uses go to statements. Most of the operations in C are done using the following constructs: Sequence, Selection and Repetition. Sequence is a step by step execution of program statements, Selection is the use of conditional execution like the well-known if statement (or functions in C) and Repetition is the repetition of a group of statements like in While statement and For statements. Object-oriented programming languages (like C++) use the concept of re-usability of software or program components. You don�t have to re-invent the wheel. It uses the concept of information hiding, inheritance and polymorphism. Like in C, C++ mostly uses pre-defined functions. It uses classes to hold data and functions. Data are states of the classes and functions are behaviors of the classes. Functions present in a class manipulate its data. Objects are instances (or implementations) of classes. Classes communicate with one another so they provide that data to other classes that is necessary and hide the rest of the info. It is much like driving a car without knowing its internal working. Inheritance allows one class to inherit some properties like data and functions from other classes. The class that inherits is called sub-class and its parent class (from which other classes inherit) is called the super class. Polymorphism is one interface but many implementations. You can do a lot of stuff by giving one command. I think that�s all you need to know about polymorphism at this moment. For programming in Windows you will have to use Visual C++. However you will need to learn C++ to use VC++. In MS-DOS and LINUX based programming the C++ program calls the operating system to get the user input and in Windows based programming the OS i.e. Windows issues messages whenever a user inputs something e.g. mouse clicks and button press etc for all of these special messages are sent to the C++ program. The messages sent by Windows are mapped in the C++ programs to perform a specific task using a the data received from the OS. I hope that this helps. If you have any doubts then don�t hesitate to ask.

Answer by gummi_falcon
Submitted on 2/9/2006
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With more and more emphasis being put on cross-platform environments, we are able to re-evaluate how a language fits into the big picture. Depending on the granularity, control, speed, or efficiency you need to write a program you would use a different language. Larger data management programs may be written entirely in Java. However, that same project with a few graphic demonstrations may requires pieces of the program be written in a language with closer access to memory and processes, like C++ or C. More "advanced" languages may come along to logically map code flow, at a cost of performance. As our logical data structures get more complex, we are able to grow as programmers and thinkers. One of the main concepts of OOP is encapsulation--to take complex functions and thinking of them as a single unit. The more complex our single logical units become, the more advanced our code can become. So, take it in stride and stick to what you want. Just remember, you always have the option of writing assembly.

Answer by AMIT KISHORE
Submitted on 2/16/2006
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These are the differences between c and c++ ->C++ allows the programmer to create classes, which are somewhat similar to C structures. However, to a class can be assigned methods, functions associated to it, of various prototypes, which can access and operate within the class, somewhat like C functions often operate on a supplied handler pointer. ->C still is the best choice for code that has to be fast while still being reasonably readable and portable, eg. device drivers. ->C++ on the other hand is mainly used in large projects of millions of lines of code, where C code would become unmaintainable.This is mainly due to the possibility to reuse existing code by exploiting the OOP concepts of polymorphism and inheritance. ->C++ applications are generally slower at runtime, and are much slower to compile than C programs. The low-level infrastructure for C++ binary execution is also larger. For these reasons C is always commonly used even if C++ has a lot of popularity, and will probably continue to be used in projects where size and speed are primary concerns, and portable code still required

Answer by anzilkasim,karamana
Submitted on 4/16/2006
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concept of C++ is rated much higher than C. Main difference between C and C++ is that C is a procedure oriented language while C++ is object oriented one. that means using the concept class in c++ object oriented features like data hiding, encapsulation, data abstraction, inheritance, polymorphism is implemented. Polymorphism means same name having different forms, In C++, we can write more than one function with same name but it should differ in arguments. Inheritance means the ability to extend the class features without disturbing the base class. Data hiding means using the access modifier private, we can hide the data members from external world Encapsulation means wrapping up to data members and member functions into a single unit, that is also implemented by class. data members means the variable that we are declaring inside a class and member functions means the functions declared inside the class. Data abstraction means we use the member functions with out knowing the complexity of the function, ie user use it as simple as it is. thats all guys enjoy reading, enjoy writing and enjoy browsing Anzil. K BSc. Comp. PGDCA BTech Mechanical Engg.

Answer by Nagaraj Malashetty
Submitted on 5/30/2006
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C was the C++ predecessor. As it's name implies, alot of C remains in C++. Although not actually being more powerful than C, C++ allows the programmer to more easily manage and operate with Objects, using an OOP (Object Oriented Programming) concept. Type checking for example is much more rigid in C++ than it is in C, so many a program that compiles just fine under a C compiler will result in many warnings and errors under a C++ compiler. The main difference between C & C++ is the OOPS technology, C++ is an object oriented programing language, using which one can program using the objects that are been created. C++ have the provision of inheritence, constructors whereas you will not find these in C. Still C is better then C++ because of its easy and understable syntax !!!

Answer by ankita nograhiya
Submitted on 6/2/2006
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Although it is possible to implement anything which C++ could implement in C, C++ aids to standarize a way in which objects are created and managed, whereas the C programmer who implements the same system has alot of liberty on how to actually implement the internals, and style among programmers will vary alot on the design choices made. In C, some will prefer the handler-type, where a main function initializes a handler, and that handler can be supplied to other functions of the library as an object to operate on/through. Others will even want to have that handler link all the related function pointers within it which then must be called using a convention closer to C++. To finish this discussion, C++ applications are generally slower at runtime, and are much slower to compile than C programs. The low-level infrastructure for C++ binary execution is also larger. For these reasons C is always commonly used even if C++ has alot of popularity, and will probably continue to be used in projects where size and speed are primary concerns, and portable code still required (assembly would be unsuitable then).

Answer by ankita nograhiya
Submitted on 6/4/2006
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++ allows the programmer to create classes, which are somewhat similar to C structures. However, to a class can be assigned methods, functions associated to it, of various prototypes, which can access and operate within the class, somewhat like C functions often operate on a supplied handler pointer. Although it is possible to implement anything which C++ could implement in C, C++ aids to standarize a way in which objects are created and managed, whereas the C programmer who implements the same system has alot of liberty on how to actually implement the internals, and style among programmers will vary alot on the design choices made. In C, some will prefer the handler-type, where a main function initializes a handler, and that handler can be supplied to other functions of the library as an object to operate on/through. Others will even want to have that handler link all the related function pointers within it which then must be called using a convention closer to C++. To finish this discussion, C++ applications are generally slower at runtime, and are much slower to compile than C programs. The low-level infrastructure for C++ binary execution is also larger. For these reasons C is always commonly used even if C++ has alot of popularity, and will probably continue to be used in projects where size and speed are primary concerns, and portable code still required (assembly would be unsuitable then).

Answer by gnana
Submitted on 6/16/2006
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C was the C++ predecessor. As it's name implies, allot of C remains in C++. Although not actually being more powerful than C, C++ allows the programmer to more easily manage and operate with Objects, using an OOPS (Object Oriented Programming) concept. C++ allows the programmer to create classes, which are somewhat similar to C structures. However, to a class can be assigned methods, functions associated to it, of various prototypes, which can access and operate within the class, somewhat like C functions often operate on a supplied handler pointer. Although it is possible to implement anything which C++ could implement in C, C++ aids to standardized a way in which objects are created and managed, whereas the C programmer who implements the same system has aloft of liberty on how to actually implement the internals, and style among programmers will vary Alon on the design choices made. In C, some will prefer the handler-type, where a main function initializes a handler, and that handler can be supplied to other functions of the library as an object to operate on/through. Others will even want to have that handler link all the related function pointers within it which then must be called using a convention closer to C++. To finish this discussion, C++ applications are generally slower at runtime, and are much slower to compile than C programs. The low-level infrastructure for C++ binary execution is also larger. For these reasons C is always commonly used even if C++ has Lot of popularity, and will probably continue to be used in projects where size and speed are primary concerns, and portable code still required (assembly would be unsuitable then).

Answer by vandana
Submitted on 7/22/2006
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A few major C++ features not available in C: - Classes - Templates - Exception handling - Function overloading - Operator overloading - Namespaces - Standard library for templated collections, strings, common algorithms, etc. And a few minor ones: - bool type - Reference types - Somewhat stricter type checking than C - new/delete instead of malloc()/free() - New syntax for declaring struct types C++ is obviously more complex than C, but many of the added features are designed to make life easier (string handling is a good example). Some programmers like to use C++ as "a better C". Others think that the OO features in C++ makes it more suitable for larger projects than C. Still others prefer the relative simplicity and sparsity of C. To explain the difference by enumerating features just gives part of the picture. Another way to say it is that C++ is a multi-paradigm language, with support for procedural, object-oriented and generic programming, while C supports procedural programming only (it's possible to write OO code with C, but it's not pretty). If this is a good or a bad thing is obviously a matter of opinion. IMHO the standard library alone makes C++ worth the extra learning effort.

Answer by Bjarne Stroustrup
Submitted on 8/30/2006
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C++ is a direct descendant of C that retains almost all of C as a subset. C++ provides stronger type checking than C and directly supports a wider range of programming styles than C. C++ is "a better C" in the sense that it supports the styles of programming done using C with better type checking and more notational support (without loss of efficiency). In the same sense, ANSI C is a better C than K&R C. In addition, C++ supports data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming (see The C++ Programming Language (3rd Edition)"; Appendix B discussing compatibility issues is available for downloading). I have never seen a program that could be expressed better in C than in C++ (and I don't think such a program could exist - every construct in C has an obvious C++ equivalent). However, there still exist a few environments where the support for C++ is so weak that there is an advantage to using C instead

Answer by voice of difference
Submitted on 9/2/2006
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None forces you to use everything a programming language has to offer (unless your pride easily gets hurt when other C++ programmers see your "C++" code). However, even if you program in C, you can reap the benefits of C++ other then OOP: i.e. templates and inlined functions were some things "I would kill for" in C. You can think of them as of very, very advanced preprocessor features. If none is pushing you to learn everything at once (i.e. for exam or job interview), keep on programming as you were and eventually it will become clear to you when and where some language features would fit just right and help you ease your tasks. Whenever you get that feeling "Oh, no, now I have to type all this once again" or "Now I'll have to copy and paste this several pages, and then manually edit certain lines", or any other situation where you have the feeling you almost already did something previously, but now has to do it again a little differently, you should look up in a C++ book if there is a solution for your problem. In most cases there is. C++ was created by very experienced C programmer who probably had same problems you may have at present time. enjoy programming!

Answer by Saurabh Khatri
Submitted on 9/3/2006
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The difference between C and C++ are enormous. first C is modular programing language where C++ is OOPs there are three paradigm of OOPs 1) Encapsulation 2) Inheritence 3) polymorphism The concept of class and object comes into picture when talking of any OOPs(C++) language. The classes binds the data members and member funtion together. And everyting in OOPs is considered to be a real world entity. This makes C++ more close to real world. now lets talk of diffences appart from above said: 1) C doesnot support error handling 2) No generic Classes 3) C is just a subset of C++ to have backword compatiblity. 4) No nested function definitions (although some compilers provide them, for example, GCC) 5) In C++ Support for one-line comments beginning with // 6) Run time Polymorphism 7) Operator and function Overloading 8) Storage operators new and delete. 9) Inlining added in C++ 10) Stream objects for I/O. 11) There are no reference types ( i.e. types with & ) in C. Pointers are generally used instead of references. The C++ programming language was derived from C and is Bjarne Stroustrup's answer to adding object-oriented functionality with C-like syntax. C++ adds greater typing strength, scoping and other tools useful in object-oriented programming and permits generic programming via templates. Languages was originally implemented as preprocessors -- source code was translated into C, and then compiled with a C compiler. But all appart this C code is more efficient as there is no ruun time polymorphism.

Answer by RKK
Submitted on 10/11/2006
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Also every valid C program (as said by C++ Creator) is a valid C++ program. But a C program with variable names such as new, private, protected, public can't be a valid C++ program. Anything that can be done by C++ is doable in C and to a certain limit vice versa is true. I could not imagine a operating system kernel in C++. UNIX kernel's are in C but not in C++, since C code provides lean and mean code than C++. On speed I would really say on the algorithm that a code follows. Such as a quicksort algorithm in C++ can beat a insertionsort that is written in C, but then quicksort implemented in C & C++ may yeild same result almost every time you run the program. I would say both the beasts C & C++ are required such as two eyes for a human being are so important to him/her. Use the tool C/C++ as per the needs & for the operating platform you deal with.

Answer by BenBioCompsNottsUni
Submitted on 1/10/2007
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Put simply it appears C++ can do everything that C can do, but it does some things, that C wasn't originally designed to do, more easily. I have a basic knowledge of C, and, like others, I find the syntax of C++ strange at first sight, but once you're over that, it reads very much the same as C. It's fairly common knowledge that you don't need to know one to learn the other, some think it helps to learn C before C++... of course it would help to know how the logic works etc, but if you want to learn C++ then you might as well just go straight into that. They should both be as easy as one another to learn, but if you learn one you'll have to get your head around the new syntax to program in the other. As for which is better, it seems they both have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day, they do the same things in a different style to each other. The 'style' of C++, as already stated by others, "allows the programmer to more easily manage and operate with Objects". I'm choosing to learn C++ simply because it's supposed to be easier to program when using objects. But I would not say that C++ is better than C or vice versa. I write this because I have been looking for someone to tell me should I learn C or should I learn C++.

Answer by Jomesh Peter
Submitted on 1/25/2007
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Forgot to answer the actual question: which direction you should go? It really depends on what you intend to do with it. If you are going to stick to engineering type programs and programming controllers, stay with C. Lots of C experts out there if you have any questions. If you are going into developing GUIs or stuff for Mobile Phones, try C++. You can develop GUIs in C too but it is easier in C++ in that each control is an object. Some people use C++ like a lazy variant of C i.e. they use // for comments and make declarations all over the place: not just at the top of the routine. All C++ compilers will compile C. Lots of C++ experts in cyberspace if you get stuck. If you wish to be tied to Microsoft and .net, torture yourself and have to change compilers every year or so, you could try C#. Most people are still learning C#: it is only about 4 years old. I'd wait another two years before trying C# - it is like Visual Basic when it started. A new compiler is released every year with new features and it is just too much for carbon based lifeforms.

Answer by Anshul Arora
Submitted on 5/31/2007
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C 1. C is a structured language 2. C is faster at runtime as compared to C++ 3. It is less rigid when compared with C++ 4. C dont have these features 5. It is less relaible as compared to C++ C++ 1. It is an object oriented language 2. It is slower as compared to C 3. Type checking for example is much more rigid in C++ than it is in C 4. C++ have the provision of inheritence,constructors 5. It is more reliable

Answer by ranjith
Submitted on 6/19/2007
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C++ is an extension of C language. This means that you can not only use the new features introduced with C++ but can also use the power and efficiency of C language. C and C++ are no more language for writing compilers and other languages, these general purpose languages are used worldwide in every field. Here is a list of differences between c and c++. The main difference between C and C++ is that C++ is object oriented while C is function or procedure oriented. Object oriented programming paradigm is focused on writing programs that are more readable and maintainable. It also helps the reuse of code by packaging a group of similar objects or using the concept of component programming model. It helps thinking in a logical way by using the concept of real world concepts of objects, inheritance and polymorphism. It should be noted that there are also some drawbacks of such features. For example using polymorphism in a program can slow down the performance of that program. On the other hand, functional and procedural programming focus primarily on the actions and events, and the programming model focuses on the logical assertions that trigger execution of program code.

Answer by ABHINAV
Submitted on 7/12/2007
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C is a general programming language. Small compiler, lots of free compilers. Quite easy to learn once you get the hang of the syntax. It is available on almost every platform you can think of. Note that there are 3 main variants of C: K&R, C89 and C99. Most compilers are C89. C++ is an Object Oriented variant of C. If you are going the C++ route, don't learn C first: you'll get into a lot of bad habits. However, it is a big language with lots of new concepts. If you are intending to write GUIs, this is probably the way to go. It is not available on as many platforms as C. There is a standard library of algorithms STL which does all the standard stuff like linked lists, vectors etc. There are lots of free compilers about.

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Question by india
Submitted on 6/30/2003
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what are the major differences between C and C++

Answer by Reza
Submitted on 12/9/2003
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I think C is much better than C++ since the syntax is much easier to write. Also it's really tiring to compile a C++ program.I really don't understand why they have made C++.I think just knowing C is enough. Thats all.

Answer by paramesh
Submitted on 1/5/2004
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oops concept is first difference &many more are there,i convey only c instead of c++.

Answer by Bio_Computer
Submitted on 2/24/2004
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The C differ from c++ in these things : 1 the in put /out put in the c ( use printf , for the out and scanf for the input ) 2 in c use #include<stidio.h> , but in the c++ use #include <iostream> 3 in the c CAN NOT use the string type but you can declear it as an array 4 also there are some deffereant in function how write the function and how to call the function these are what i remamber about the deffereance between then forgive me if i made any mistake Bio_Computer Kuwait

Answer by not care
Submitted on 5/4/2004
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who cares

Answer by Prasad
Submitted on 4/24/2004
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The main difference between C & C++ is the OOPS technology, C++ is an object oriented programing language, using which one can program using the objects that are been created. C++ have the provision of inheritence, constructors whereas you will not find these in C. Still C is better then C++ because of its easy and understable syntax !!!

Answer by Shibin
Submitted on 6/1/2004
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The main difference between c & c++ is the OOPS(Object Oriented Programming) concept in c++.c++ is an advanced version of c which was made in 1980's in the same lab where c was also made and hence most of the features of c are contained in c++ also,but with a little difference in some of the syntaxes to make c++ more advanced Language.Besides these there is not much difference between them

Answer by Arun Sharma
Submitted on 6/25/2004
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I think C is much more Easier than C++ due to its Syntax. Only Difference is the concept of OOPS.Really due to OOPS C++ is More Realiable than c. But i will prefer to use C than C++.

Answer by pavan
Submitted on 7/1/2004
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c++ is extension of c. c++ is super set of c. the most important feature of C++ is that it is object oriented language.But there are some basic changes made in c++. for example in c if function don't pas any parameter u have to explicitly write void in brackets.but in c++ you don't need to write.

Answer by THAMIZH
Submitted on 7/3/2004
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I think C++ is better than C. Because C++ has OOPs concepts which C doesn't have. C++ is an extention of C. While programming in Java OOPs concepts are important. That's why C++ has been created to overcome C. Many new languages may be created in forecoming years.At that time we will be in position to accept that one. So, we should appreciate new languages in the latest trend. This is what I like.

Answer by capn_midnight
Submitted on 7/18/2004
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As children, we knew very few English words, and expressing ourselves was difficult. As our vocabulary grew, our expressiveness grew as well. C++ still provides most of the features of C (and I am hard pressed to remember the ones it does not include), while adding many more features. Greater expressiveness with better flow of thought and ideas is the result.

Answer by Selva
Submitted on 8/2/2004
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i think C and C++ both are useful depending on the project...C is good but still C++ has many advanced features which makes it popular

Answer by s
Submitted on 8/16/2004
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that is what is that

Answer by Lakshmisha.M.S
Submitted on 8/25/2004
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There are so many major difference between C and C++. I will give you one major difference here. C compiler cannot handle floating point and fixed-point values properly when compared to C++ compiler.

Answer by sammy
Submitted on 9/15/2004
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Well, im not a professional programmer but I have always thought anything "object oriented" more difficult than just writing a straight up program... After all, all computers have copy and paste... Then you don't have to worry so much about the syntax.

Answer by Rizwan Ullah
Submitted on 9/23/2004
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c++ is the power that is given to c including classes and oop features.

Answer by santosh kumar
Submitted on 10/3/2004
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The main difference is the way we think in both the languages:In c the prime concern is function and the data is given second preference whereas in c++ data is giver prime concern and functions or methods are built to operate on these data items.

Answer by v.shilpa reddy
Submitted on 10/5/2004
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C is procedure oriented language and c++ is object oriented language.In c there will be much more code redundancy,which is almost eliminated in c++ through inheritance and extra functionality can be appended easily in case of c++ program than in c.The main thing i like in c++ is data hiding which can't be done in c.I feel c++ is much more reliable than c.

Answer by Niranjan
Submitted on 10/7/2004
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C is always easy to understand and program than c++. C is the base and c++ is the extension of C. In C we are not dealing with complex parts such as linked lists, and also there are no concepts of constructors,overloading and templates are less. Not only that the syntax is very easy as compared to C++.

Answer by babbli
Submitted on 10/14/2004
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as use of application, c++ is much more comfortable. for large application its ease to keep track in code. c++ contain most of the all features of c. it good programing practice to use c++, coz it contains oop's features. for code reusebility.

Answer by jas
Submitted on 10/21/2004
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seeeeee

Answer by NO ID
Submitted on 10/27/2004
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i think every bady here are such a ------!!!! with all my love

Answer by suman_badak
Submitted on 11/1/2004
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c is better than c++.i don't know sorry

Answer by RAVI
Submitted on 11/22/2004
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"C" is a structural Language but "C++" is an object oriented language.

Answer by ibrahim
Submitted on 11/22/2004
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Dear reader's first of all hello. As you know that first c language made and then they programmers tried to make a new language such as c++ . c and c++ are samiller but only have some deffrinse which is that c++ is object onrianted programming and and also in c++ defining of proto type of a function is must but in c is not must .like: printf:prototype of printf is #(stdio.h) and it's neccessary to define in the programe. and it's

Answer by arun
Submitted on 11/29/2004
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the diffrence between c and c++ is,c is compatable,portabley,faster execution

Answer by Stuart
Submitted on 12/15/2004
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I've been learning C and getting confused, thinking it was C++! I was fine all the way - it seems that pretty much all directives work as they would in C; in C++. Apart from 1 - so far I have discovered that the string type kicks up errors about (string *) not being assignable to the 'void' type. To get around this, either use an array, or compile your program in C.

Answer by balajee
Submitted on 1/7/2005
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C++ is better than C,there is some more advantages are there,such as "in C we only able to declare the variable in global declaration part, but in C++ it is possible to declare a variable in anywhere in the program,according to this we will easily use the same variable again&again".

Answer by Amit
Submitted on 1/13/2005
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C++ is the post increment of C.

Answer by typer
Submitted on 1/13/2005
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I came here to find out the differences between c and c++ .... i agree with most things written so far.. and would like to add that c++ has all sorts of classes that c doesnt... therefore in many projects, c++ will have a much faster and more efficient development cycle.. but i think there will always be a place for the brute power and portability of ISO standard C (at least for another 10-15 years.. then who knows... maybe programs will write themsevles.. dreams )

Answer by Fundoo_Programer
Submitted on 1/14/2005
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yes yes ...I am very much in accordance with THAMIZH Bhaai , he is very correct. Every language has right to grow and live like we pepole have. We should definately give the respect to C++ what it deserve as a language. This is all i have.....to say... Your Sincerely Fundoo_Programer Pakistan

Answer by A. Ansari
Submitted on 1/16/2005
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I think C and C++ both are using too much but depends on application.When speed does matter then there C is better than C++.But where Reusability,Modularity does matter and speed does not matter then there C++ is better than C...

Answer by aruboo
Submitted on 1/18/2005
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In c++,main function returns any of the data type but on the c it only returns as data type as integer.

Answer by balu
Submitted on 1/21/2005
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c++ is strongly typed language c is weakly tyepd

Answer by babu
Submitted on 1/26/2005
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it support the concept of oops,but the syntax is much harder than c.so both the languages has its own merits