C++ Introduction | C vs C++
This is an introductory article for C++ and Object Oriented Programming Concepts. We will also learn uses of C++ and difference between C and C++.
Basics of C++
C++ is a general-purpose, case-sensitive language that follows Object Oriented Programming (OOP) Concept and it was developed at AT & T Bell laboratories in the early 1979s by Bjarne Stroustrup. The initial name of C++ was C with Classes but later on it was renamed as C++.
C++ is a middle-level language because it supports both high-level language and low-level language features. C++ is an extension to C language or superset of C Language and supports Classes, Inheritance, function overloading and operator overloading which C language was lacking.
Object-Oriented Programming Concepts
The Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) languages like C++ and Java follow a different programming principles from structured programming languages like C and COBOL. Here are some of them
- Class: A class represents a set of objects that share common characteristics and behavior. Example of class can be considered as Fruit, car etc.
- Object: An Object is an entity with specific characteristics and specific behavior. An object may have a name, a set of attributes, and a set of actions or services. Example of object can be considered as Apple, Mango, Grapes, Banana etc in class Fruits and Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc in class car.
- Data Abstraction: Abstraction is the act of representing essential features without including the background details.
- Data Encapsulation: Encapsulation is the act of combining data and functions into single unit (class).
- Inheritance: inheritance is the capability of one class to inherit all the properties from another class. Important advantage of Inheritance is the code reusability.
- Polymorphism: Polymorphism is composed of two words ’poly’ means many and ’morph’ means forms. So we can say that polymorphism means ’many forms’.
Uses Of C++
With the help of C++ programming language, we can develop different type of applications such as:-
- Windows Applications
- Client-Server Application
- Device Drivers
- Games
- Embedded System
C vs C++
Now lets see some of the difference between C and C++.
| C++ | C |
|---|---|
| C++ is an Object-Oriented Programming. | C is a structured, procedural and case sensitive programming language. |
|
C++ variables can be declared anywhere in the program where we require it. | The variables declaration must be declared before any executable statement. |
| C++ supports Operator Overloading. | C does not support Operator Overloading. |
| In C++, Encapsulation hides the data to ensure that data structures and operators are used as intended. | In C, data are free entities and can be manipulated by outside code. This is because C does not support information hiding. |
| C++ supports Function Overloading. | C does not support function overloading. |
| In C++, we use cout() functions for output and cin() function for input from user. | In C, we use printf() function for output and scanf() function for input from user. |
| C++ follows bottom-up approach. | C follows top-down approach. |
| We can declare a function within a structure in C++. | C uses structure, but we can’t declare any function in structure. |
| C++ uses concept of object, we can call any function through object. | There is no concept of object, here we call a function using function name. |
| Exception Handling in C++ is easy because C++ provide try-catch block for Exception Handling. | C has no proper function for Exception Handling. Exception handling is difficult through structure and function. |
We have included only basic differences which new developers can easily understand. This list can grow even more if we dig deep into both the languages. Please drop a comment, if you want us to include more differences in the list.
You can also read our article on differences between Java and C/C++.
That's all for this topic. If you guys have any suggestions or queries, feel free to drop a comment. We would be happy to add that in our post. You can also contribute your articles by creating contributor account here.
Happy Learning 🙂
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