Complete Guide For Difference Between C and C++
Learn the Difference Between C and C++ Programming Languages with a demonstration of codes in both the programming languages. The Differentiation of C and C++ is described in Points and also in Tabular Format at the bottom.
The C Programming Language is every programmer’s first choice to start their journey in the programming world after which they learn other programming languages such as C++, Java, C# and so on. It is, therefore, important to understand the differences between C Programming Language and C++ Programming Language.
It will help you to get a good grasp on C++ programming if you know the differences well. Also, you will get to know about the difference between Object Oriented and Procedural programming paradigms. Let us first see a simple Hello World Program in C and C++ Programming Languages. Try to differentiate between C and C++ Programming Languages with the following code.
Hello World C Program
1 2 3 4 5 6 | #include<stdio.h> void main() { printf("Hello World\n"); } |
Hello World C++ Program
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | #include<iostream> using namespace std; int main() { cout<<"Hello World\n"; return 0; } |
Difference Between C and C++ in Tabular Format
| C Programming Language | C++ Programming Language |
|---|---|
| C is a Procedure Oriented Programming Language. | C++ is an Object Oriented Programming Language. |
| C Programming Language does not support Polymorphism and Inheritance. | C++ Programming Language supports Polymorphism and Inheritance. |
| More importance is given on Algorithms and Procedures than data. | More importance is given on Data than Algorithms or Procedures. |
| C supports only Procedural Programming Paradigm. | C++ supports both Procedure Oriented as well as Object Oriented Programming Paradigm. |
| C does not support Function Overloading and Operator Overloading. | C++ supports Function Overloading and Operator Overloading. |
| In C Programming, a program is divided into Functions. Therefore, C is known to be a Function-Driven Programming Language. | In C++ Programming, a program is divided into Objects. Therefore, C++ is known to be an Object-Driven Programming Language. |
| C Programming follows Top Down approach in its program design. | C++ Language follows Bottom Up approach in its program design. |
| C Programming Language is standardised by International Standards Organisation (ISO) and its latest stable release is C11. | C++ Programming Language is standardised by ISO and the latest version is called as C++14. |
| The malloc(), calloc() and realloc() functions are used for Dynamic Memory Allocation in C Programming. | The new operator is used for Dynamic Memory Allocation in C++ Programming. |
| C does not support Object Oriented Programming Paradigm in its code. | C++ supports Procedural Programming Paradigm in its code. |
| C Programming is a Middle Level Programming Language. | C++ Programming is a High Level Programming Language. |
| C Programming uses scanf() and printf() methods for Input and Output respectively. | C++ Programming uses cin and cout objects for Input and Output respectively. |
| In Linux, the default compiler for C Programming is GCC. | In Linux, the default compiler for C++ Programming is G++. |
| C Programming does not support Exception Handling feature. | C++ Programming Language supports Exception Handling mechanism. |
| C Programming does not have Namespace feature. | C++ Programming allows using Namespace feature which helps in efficient management of Identifiers. |
| The variables must be defined at the start of any function. | The variables can be defined at any position within the function. |
| C Programming supports free() function for releasing memory in Dynamic Memory Allocation. | C++ Programming supports the usage of free operator for releasing memory. |
| Data is comparatively less secure than Java. | The data is hidden in classes and, therefore, cannot be accessed by other functions easily. Therefore, data and functions are secure. |
| C is a completely Procedural Programming Language. | C++ is not a completely Object Oriented Programming Language since it allows Procedural Paradigm in its code structure. |
| A C Program is saved with .c extension | A C++ Program is saved with .cpp extension |
| C Programming does not offer Object-Oriented Encapsulation mechanism. | C++ Programming provides Encapsulation mechanism. |
| Applications: Language Interpreters, Device Drivers, Database Systems, Operating Systems, Embedded Systems, Network Drivers | Applications: Simulation and Modelling, Artificial Intelligence Systems, Neural Networks, CAM / CAD systems, Parallel Processing, etc. |
We hope that you got some good information about the difference between C and C++ Programming Languages out of this article. If you have any doubts or have any extra information to share about C++ and C Programming Languages, please let us know about it in the comment section below.
I have my second semester C++ examination tomorrow. Thanks for this awesome C and C++ Comparison tutorial. I hope to get good marks in tomorrow’s paper.
I would like to tell one more difference between C++ and C Programming. The C++ Language supports references whereas C Programming does not support references
This is really one of the best set of differences between Cpp and C programming.
Thanks Leelanthran. I will implement the same in the article.
C++ being object oriented focuses more on code maintainability and structure of the complete program whereas C being procedure oriented focuses only on the logic of the program.