C vs C++: A Detailed Overview For Every Programming Beginner

C Vs C++: When it comes to programming, there are two languages that we are familiar with from our college days: C and C++. These are the oldest and most widely used languages for a variety of purposes. C and C++ have served as a foundation for many modern languages. The C programming language is used to write various codes on your working windows. The primary goal of this article is to demonstrate the differences between C and C++. Let’s look at both languages before we try to figure out C vs C++.

C Vs C++: Google Trends

About C and C++

C was first designed by Dennis Ritchie from 1969 to 1973 to execute on UNIX operating system. It is a general-purpose programming language and it is extremely flexible, popular, and simple. C is the base of all programming languages.

If you are good at C, you can easily understand or grasp the knowledge of other programming languages. After getting inspired by Simula and C, Bjarne Stroustrup developed C++ in 1979.

Founders of both languages operated at Bell Laboratories of AT&T. C++ language was inspired by C. In simple; we can call C++ a subset of C.

Both languages have the same memory model, same compilation, syntax, and code structure. Many programs of C can also run in the C++ compiler.

What You’ve Learned: C is faster and more efficient than C++. C is simpler to program and debug than C++. C is the standard language for source-level programs, such as kernel programming and driver development.

C Vs C++ Salary Comparison

According to Stackoverflow survey 2021, the annual salary of a professional c developer is up to US$53,184. In comparison, a C++ developer is roughly about US$54,049. 

Why Do Developers Need To Design C++?

In comparison, C vs C++ as you know C++ is the subset of C So C++ was designed to deal with the complexity that C couldn’t. For example, because there was no encapsulation, namespaces, or other features in C, you could “run out of names for variables” (not literally).

Also, because C does not allow exceptions, error handling is particularly error-prone because the library user must always check the return values of functions. When a library developer throws an exception, the program flow is guaranteed to be paused.

The function Object() { [native code] } init objects is automatically called by the compiler in C++. Unlike C structs, which need the programmer to populate them (hence another error-prone area).

Finally, OOP offers a slew of other benefits, including object reuse and generic programming-based ideas like templates and generics, allowing you to reuse source code.

C Vs C++: Tabular Difference

Parameters	C Programming Language	C++ Programming Language
Language level	Middle-level language	High-level language
Programming style	For code development, it supports a procedural programming paradigm. It doesn’t support objects and class. It process with a top-down approach. It doesn’t support inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism.	supports both objects oriented programming and procedural paradigm. It supports both class and Objects. It process with a bottom-up approach. It does support inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism.
Encapsulation	It doesn’t support encapsulations.	It does support encapsulation.
Data abstraction	It offers low-level data abstraction.	It offers high-level data abstraction.
Memory allocation and deallocations	For dynamic memory allocation functions such as malloc() and calloc() and deallocations free() are used.	In C++ for dynamic memory allocation and deallocation, operators such as Delete and New are used.
Input or output standard functions	For output and input in Cprintf() and scanf() are used	For output and input inC++ Cin and Cout are used Overloading
Overloading	It does not support operator overloading and functions.	It supports both operator overloading and functions.
Header file	The C has the header file studio.h	The C++ has the header file iostream.h
File extension	File extension Used for C is .c	File extension for C++ is .cpp
Data type	It supports only an in-built data type.	It supports both user-defined and built-in data types.
Reference variable	It only supports pointers, not reference variables,	It supports both reference pointers and variables.
Usability	C is suitable for stable programs such as writing operating system kernels,	C++ is suitable for writing programs for applications that work directly with the hardware.
Namespace	This feature is absent in C.	This feature is present in C++.
keywords	Support 32 keywords	Supports 52 keywords
Data security	In C, using global declarations information can be transmitted between several code blocks and data is less secure in C	Functions and data are encapsulated in the form of an object. Information is hidden in C++.
Emphasis	Being a procedural language to solve a problem C has more emphasis on the series of steps.	C++ is object-oriented and puts more focus on objects and classes.
Structure	In C we cannot use functions as its members.	The structure is allowed by C++ to function as its members.
Inheritance	Not supported	Supported

C Vs C++: Stackoverflow Survey 2021

Opportunities arise sometimes, and we may choose to change occupations or learn new languages. As a result, many developers wish to shift employment or switch programming languages from C to C++ and C++ to C, according to the stack flow study. You can see an example of this in the images below.

The Key Difference Between C vs C++

Data Abstraction

In the C programming language, data abstractions are of a low level. Data abstraction hides all their background detain and displays the only important information. As compared to C, the language C++ provides high-level data abstraction.

Programming Paradigm

The C programming language is a middle-level language that bridges between the high-level language and machine-level language. It was essentially created for writing operating system parts.

For compilation, it follows a top-down approach. C language programs starts with main() function. C language doesn’t support objects and classes as it is a procedural language. It doesn’t support features such as inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation.

Polymorphism is defined as the capability of an object to take several forms. Inheritance means the tendency of a child object to inherit the properties of its parents. Encapsulation is used to bind data and functions together.

C++ programming language is recognized as a high-level programing language. It supports both object-oriented programming and procedural language paradigms. C++ supports both objects and classes.

C++ is an advanced object-oriented programming language. It carries features like inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation. Here in C++, functions, and data can be encapsulated collectively in the object form. In C++, data are safer; it’s because of encapsulations.

Namespaces

In C++, the Namespace is an additional feature, but this feature is not present in the C language. It prevents name collision. Declarations of the namespace can be made only at the global scope.

Memory Allocation

In both languages, dynamic allocation is different. For memory allocation in C language, we use calloc() and malloc() functions, and for deallocation, we use free(). When we are using C++, for memory allocation and deallocation. We use several sets of operators like Delete and New.

Reference Variables

C++ provides many other things, but C doesn’t like C only supports pointers, but C++ supports both reference variables and pointers. We have only one type of data in C, but in C++, we have user-defined as well as built-in data types.

Inline Functions

The new version of C supports inline functions, but the first version of C doesn’t support them. To speed up the execution it normally works with macros. C++ language supports inline functions as well as macros. 

Exception Handling

The C language doesn’t allow direct handling of exceptions. But in C++ it does with its catch and try blocks. We only have data members in C structures, whereas C++ has both functions and data members

C vs C++ Applications

C-based applications

• Operating Systems
• Embedded Systems
• GUI
• New Programming Platforms
• Google
• Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird
• MySQL
• Compiler Design

C++ Based Application 

• Games
• GUI Based Applications
• Web Browsers
• Database Management System  
• Cloud Computing and Distributed Applications
• Libraries

Conclusion ( C Vs C++)

In this blog, we have focussed on C Vs C++ programming languages in terms of several features. As we have seen, several features are restricted to C++. As we have discussed above C++ is a subset of C, and it supports various features of C. 

These programming languages are rare in modern software industries. But these languages are the backbone for many other programming languages like- the Java programing language, Python programming language, etc.

Therefore one should have knowledge of C and C++. Most importantly, it helps new programmers to understand complex computer science theories easily.

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