Re: Silly question about C++

["Marco Contenti" <m contenti libero it>]

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Daniele Pighin"
> Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2003 11:03 PM
>
>
> > Alle 20:06, sabato 22 novembre 2003, Marco Contenti ha scritto:
> > > Browsing through the Dia code I found lots of objects, methods,
> properties,
> > > subclassing... all coded in C.
> > > The first thing I thought is that all this could have been a lot
easier
> to
> > > write and maintain, more reliable and efficient if the project started
> with
> > > C++.
> > > Is there some basic requirement that prevents using C++?
> > > Please don't tell me that the project started too early. I've been
using
> > > C++ for 13 years.
> > > Cheers.
> > > Marco
> >
> > Well, I'm not a Dia coder, but:
>
> > - Dia uses gtk+, which is written in C;
> The same question could appy as well to gtk+. Anyway, you can easily call
C
> functions from C++ or, better, write a C++ wrapper around a C library.
>
> > - Being (relatively) lower level, C is generally more efficient than
C++;
> This seems to be a rather widespread legend. C++ is a superset of C: as
long
> as you write C statements, efficiency is exactly the same; C++ constructs
> may be more complex, but the compiler generates optimized assembly code
for
> them, while this is not the case if you must write the equivalent in C
(say,
> function tables vs. virtual functions). I currently develop real-time
> software in C++ and have seen device drivers written in C++.
> Moreover, IMO, the efficiency of a program depends about 1% on the
compiler
> and 99% on the way it's written. Making it more readable makes it easier
to
> identify bottlenecks.
>
> > - It is generally easier to find a C programmer rather than a C++ one;
> Yes, in general, but finding a programmer not messing up such a delicate
> construction as pseudo-OO C code is not so easy.
>
> Marco