In article <roy-2fc4e0.19455005082...@news.panix.com>, Roy Smith <r...@panix.com> wrote: >In article <i3e43n$v7...@lust.ihug.co.nz>, > Lawrence D'Oliveiro <l...@geek-central.gen.new_zealand> wrote: > >> In message <roy-6bcfa7.22564104082...@news.panix.com>, Roy Smith wrote: >> >> > C++, for all its flaws, had one powerful feature which made it very >> > popular. It is a superset of C. >> >> Actually, it never was. > >Yes, there are a few corner cases where valid C syntax has different >semantics in C and C++. But, they are very few. Calling C++ a superset >of C is essentially correct.
One aspect of C++ is that all standard functions of C are called in the same way. A large part of programs consists of stringing API calls together. Those require little work to upgrade to C++. So from a practical point of view this is very much true. > >It is certainly correct from the level of a risk-averse development >manager deciding if he or she is willing to use C++ for the first time. >Fear of the unknown is a powerful deterrent. It's a lot easier to >accept something like C++ because "it's just a superset of C, and we've >been using C for years". Even if it is overhyped, the C++ compiler vendors certainly tried to make it happen. > >I suspect the same effect contributed to Java's success as well. "Look, >it's got curly braces and semicolons. It's just like C!" Of course! Groetjes Albert -- -- Albert van der Horst, UTRECHT,THE NETHERLANDS Economic growth -- being exponential -- ultimately falters. alb...@spe&ar&c.xs4all.nl &=n http://home.hccnet.nl/a.w.m.van.der.horst -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
