#What are the major differences between C and C++?
When you decided to update your coding skills from ANSI C to C++, one of the first questions you presumably had was: what are the major differences between C and C++?
#The C++ programming language
C++ is programming language derived from C, but it has a lot of additional powerful constructs and features. Bjarne Stroustrup created C++ in the early 1980s to add object-oriented programming (OOP) features to the C language. In general, since the C programming language is a subset of C++, any valid C program is also a valid C++ program.
#Differences between C and C++
However, the C++ programming language includes many features that C does not, such as classes, inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, templates, exceptions, and the Standard Library. C++ is a more powerful and expressive language than C due to these features, making it a better choice for large, complex software projects.
Another significant distinction between C and C++ is how they handle memory management.
In C, the developers are responsible for manually managing memory by allocating and deallocating memory with functions such as malloc() and free(). This is a difficult and error-prone task, particularly in large software projects.
C++, on the other hand, employs a technique known as automatic memory management, which manages memory for you using smart pointers and other mechanisms. This makes C++ a safer and more efficient memory management language, lowering the risk of memory leaks and other common programming errors.
C++ also has a number of modern features that are not present in ANSI C, such as move semantics, lambda expressions, and variadic templates. These features make C++ a more expressive and powerful language than ANSI C and allow developers to write more efficient and maintainable code.
Additionally, C++ has a rich Standard Library (STL) that provides a wide range of useful functionality, such as strings, containers, and algorithms. This makes C++ a better choice for large, complex software projects that require a wide range of functionality.