Introduction To C And C++

C And C++, The Languages Computers Use To Think

There are literally hundreds, of computer languages in use today. But the most widely used of all are C and C++. All you have to look at are the major operating systems in use on most of today´s computers and the applications which run on them. The Unix operating system, in all its various versions, is written in C. The various flavors of Microsoft Windows are also written almost entirely in C, with some C++ in Windows NT. And the vast majority of applications for both of these operating systems are written in C or C++.

But there is even more to it than that. There is a C compiler available for just about every microprocessor, microcontroller, and Digital Signal Processor that is 8 bits or larger, and C++ compilers for most of those 16 bits and larger.

A large percentage of the computerized embedded systems which run everything from our VCRs to our the engines in our cars, from the modems and hard drives in our computers to the advanced medical equipment that just might save our lives, is programmed in C or C++.

Statistically speaking, based on number of installations, computer programming is C or C++, and everything else is just background noise.

The internet as we know it today owes its existence to C and C++. Web browsers and servers alike are written in the languages. Java is becoming more widely used on web pages, but there is still a lot of CGI scripts. CGI scripts are mostly written in C, C++, or Perl, and Perl is written in C.

Before we become too intoxicated on language chauvinism, we need to remember that other languages are important as well. And that enjoying a position of superiority today does not mean that it will always be so. At one time, based on the same number of applications criteria, the most used computer language in the world consisted of the various versions of interpreted Microsoft BASIC on Tandy, Apple, and CP/M computers.

Both C and C++ are growing and changing, adapting to new hardware and new uses. C++ achieved its first International Standard in 1998. An update to the C language standard is currently in the works, and should be adopted in late 1999 or early 2000.

Will Java be the language which overshadows C and C++? Or will it be some new contender not yet visible on the horizon? Or will the dominance of C and C++ last indefinitely? Only time will tell. But right now these are the languages where the action is. More engineers are using C and C++, and more students learning these languages, than any other.

Today, C and C++ are the languages computers use to think!

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