C and C++ are programming languages, but we often hear their names together, so what is the difference between the two of them? C++ has been derived as a more efficient version of the C language.
The major difference between the two is that C is a procedural language, whereas C++ is an object-oriented language. In simpler terms, this means that C does not support the concept of classes & objects. But C++ does support object-oriented features like classes, inheritance, abstraction, and many more.
About C Language
C language was developed by Dennis Ritchie in 1969 and released in 1972. It is a procedural programming language and does not follow the OOPs concepts like inheritance, polymorphism, or encapsulation.
- C language does not support operator overloading concepts.
- Also, it is known as function-driven language.
- This is lightweight and offers manual memory management.
- Because C is a procedure-oriented programming language, it follows a top-down approach.
- In this case, the main() function is written at first, and all subfunctions are called from the main() function.
- Thereafter, sub-functions are written as per the requirements.
- C language can be used when writing system-level codes.
- Additionally, the data in a C code behaves as a free entity and can be manipulated by outside code.
About C++ Language
C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979 and made its first appearance in 1985. C++ supports both procedural and object-oriented concepts of programming. Therefore, it supports inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation.
- The C++ programming language has almost everything that C has to offer but more effectively.
- Encapsulation ensures that the data is hidden, and only the intended data is visible to an outside user.
- C++ is also known as object-driven language.
- The C++ programming language follows a bottom-up approach.
- In the bottom-up approach, the code is composed of classes and functions, and these are later integrated with the main() function.
- While C++ can run most C code, the C compiler isn’t able to execute the C++ code.
- C++ must be used when writing codes for networking and server-side applications.
Also Read: Best C/C++ IDE Software For Programming
Difference Between C And C++
| Feature | C | C++ |
| Approach | C follows a top-down approach | C++ follows a bottom-up approach |
| Compatibility with each other | C compilers cannot execute C++ codes | C++ compilers can run C codes |
| Data Security | Does not support encapsulation hence, not good for data security | Supports the concept of encapsulation, hence data security is assured |
| Hiding Variables | No such feature is offered. | C++ allows the programmer to hide variables inside a class and provide an interface only with the functions |
| Inheritance | Not supported | Supported |
| Default Header | stdio.h | iostream.h |
| File extension | .c | .cpp |
| Keywords | C has 32 keywords | C++ has 52 keywords |
| Exception Handling | C does not provide direct methods to handle exceptions | C++ has try and catch blocks for exception handling |
| Input and Output Functions | C uses scanf() function to take input from the user and printf() to print the results | C++ uses cin to take input and cout to present the output. These are operator overloaded functions |
Conclusion:
Both of C & C++ languages are among the two most basic languages for programming. Hence, it is a great time to brush up on your C and C++ skills or start developing them, if you haven’t already.