C vs C++
C is a system programming language, developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie.
C++ is a general-purpose programming language, developed in 1980 by Bjarne Stroustrup at bell laboratories of AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph).
Here’s a brief summary of how core functionality differs between these two:
| Feature | C | C++ |
|---|---|---|
| Programming Paradigms | Procedural | Procedural and Object Oriented |
| Level of Abstraction | Lowest | Low |
| Execution flow | Top to bottom | Top to bottom |
| Form of compiled source code | Executable code | Executable code |
| Memory allocation | Uses malloc |
Uses new |
| Memory deallocation | Uses free |
Uses delete |
| Print statement | scanf() and printf() |
cin>> and cout<< |
| String type | Character arrays | Character arrays and Objects |
| Exception Handling | Use other functions | Use Try and Catch block. |
Here’s how data types compare:
| Data types | C | C++ |
|---|---|---|
| Strings | No | Yes |
| Boolean | Yes | Yes |
| Structs | Yes | Yes |
| Classes | No | Yes |
Lastly, C++ also supports some other useful things: Functions in Structures, Function Overloading, Operator Overloading, Inheritance, and Namespace. These don’t exist in C.
Applications of C
- Operating Systems
- Development of New Languages
- Computation Platforms
- Embedded Systems
- Graphics and Games
Applications of C++
- Games
- Graphic User Interface (GUI) based applications
- Database Software
- Medical and Engineering Applications
- Banking and Trading enterprise Applications
- Compilers
- Integrated 3D modeling, Visual Effects, and Animation
Basic Example
The following program prints Hello World in both C and C++ :
#include<stdio.h>int main() {printf("Hello World\n");return 0;}
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