C and C++ are probably the most legendary programming languages you may have heard of.
However, even today, you’ll probably hear things like “they are old-fashioned languages.”
Some other jokes I’ve heard include, “Some people surely use C and C++ in torture programs.”
As a matter of fact, they’re nowhere near the most loved programming languages.
But, despite people turning them down, they make the world go around in more ways than they can imagine.
C, often called the mother of all modern programming languages, inspired the syntax of C#, Java, JavaScript, and Swift.
C++, on the other hand, brought us the power of C with some powerful features like OOP and Open-Source libraries.
Additionally, it’s compatible with C, which explains why people describe it as “C’s evolution.”
Let’s learn more about these powerful programming languages.
The Origin of C and C++ Development
Dennis Ritchie created C, the queen of Software Development, in the early 1970s at AT&T Bell Labs.
She used it to build the famous UNIX operating system, which played a pivotal role in its widespread adoption.
Furthermore, it became standardized by ANSI in 1983.
C is also responsible for some of the most important tools for software development!
Think VS code, Apache HTTP Server, Nginx, OpenSSL, Git, OpenGL, Vim and MySQL.
On top of that, it's also behind Windows, Mac, and Linux Operating Systems.
That should give you a rough idea of C's power and influence!
Like TypeScript and JavaScript, Bjarne Stroustrup created C++ as a superset of C.
C++ quickly gained massive adoption by being part of some of the most important tools.
Examples include MongoDB, Oracle, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Embedded Systems.
It's also present in most Abode tools like Photoshop, InDesign and After Effects.
What is C Programming Language?
C is a robust general-purpose, compiled, statically typed Programming Language.
To sum it up, it's quite popular for being a high-performance and procedural language.
That means it’s extremely fast and perfect for precise memory control tasks!
This feature could explain why it was used to build the world's most popular Operating Systems.
In terms of abstraction and control, people categorize C as a mid-level language.
Its syntax is relatively easy to read and understand, and it doesn’t have a steep learning curve.
Yet, mastering takes some time since it has few libraries and doesn’t support garbage collection and OOP.
It also forces you to learn pointers, which you probably don’t know if you've been working with other languages.
C Development Main Features
C Pointers
As you may know, when you declare a variable, it's stored in database memory.
A pointer is another variable that "points" to or holds the address of that variable or object.
Pointers allow you to access and manipulate the specific places in memory that store your variables and objects.
They're especially useful when working with functions because you can pass them pointers as parameters.
That prevents you from having to copy the variable's value you want to pass as an argument.
In other words, thanks to pointers, you can modify a variable by "reference" without copying it.
It may take time to grasp this concept if you're new to programming. Here's a simple way to think of them.
Imagine memory as a collection of mailboxes.
Each mailbox works as a variable and contains a number (address) you want to keep track of.
A pointer would be like a Post-it note with the mailbox number written on it.
The pointer doesn't store the mailbox; it tells you where to find it.
C Common Convention for Functions
In C programming, it’s common to write functions that return 1 when they failed deliberately and 0 if they succeeded.
This convention is not mandatory, but it helps check for errors and make the code more readable and maintainable.
By following this convention, its easier to understand the return values of a function and handle errors.
Let’s take C pointers an example of how this convention works.
Suppose there’s a function that takes a pointer as a parameter.
If it returns 0, the operation is successful, and 1 means that it failed.
In case of failure, the function can return an error code, which the calling function can then handle appropriately.
This helps in making the code more robust and reliable.
C Basic Syntax
Please note that you’ll need an IDE or a text editor like VS Code and a C compiler like GC.
You’ll have to set your compiler up, specifying the compiler executable path and compiler flags.
The last thing is creating a file with the extension “.c ”, such as “myfile.c”
The previous code uses the <stdio.h> header to access functions like “printf” and “scanf”, which you need for input/output operations.
The keyword struct, which stands for structure, allows you to group variables of multiple data types.
Some other functions, like “malloc”, will enable you to allocate memory dynamically.
Since C involves manual memory management, you’ll have to free that space when you don’t need it with the free function.
Otherwise, your code will cause memory leaks.
What is C++ Programming Language?
As mentioned above, C++ (C Plus Plus) is an extension of C.
This means that any C app is technically a valid C++ program!
Yet, iintroduces many powerful tools and concepts related to OOP.
Some include classes, inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation.
In essence, it follows the foundation of C but with OOP capabilities.
Its vast set of standard libraries and out-of-the-box tools make it relatively easy to start with.
Nonetheless, it still has a very steep learning curve.
C++ Development Main Features
C++ Pointers and Smart Pointers
Pointers are a core aspect of C++ that works very similarly to C’s pointers.
Yet, C++ introduces some core differences, like using a simpler syntax.
You can use “references to variables” or “aliases” to access variables indirectly.
Here’s a simple example:
C++ also brings more operators normally used for managing memory automatically during object creation and destruction.
A perfect example is the new and delete operators for dynamic memory allocation and deallocation.
Check an example:
Manual memory management can lead to potential memory leaks, which compromises performance.
C++ Modern C++ (version 11 and above) uses Smart Pointers for automatic memory management.
You'll no longer need to worry about freeing memory to avoid leaks.
This is how a Smart Pointer looks in C++:
C++ Object-Oriented Programming
Object-Oriented Programming Language is one of the most common paradigms in high-level languages!
You may recognize it from languages like Python, Ruby, Java, and C#.
At its core, it involves objects encompassing several attributes and classes, which are blueprints of these objects.
With OPP, C++ promotes code scalability, maintainability and reusability.
Take a look at a basic example:
C++ Function Overloading
Function overloading implies creating functions with the same name but taking different parameters.
These parameters can further differ in order, data types, and even numbers.
That sounds pretty cool, but when is it useful?
Well, function overloading can help improve your code's adaptability and reusability and simplify working with APIs!
Conclusion
C and C++ are two cornerstones of Software Development!
Even though they came out decades ago, they’re two of the fastest languages and use the least energy.
In other words, they’re also extremely eco-friendly compared to most languages.
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