Re: Porting Between Linux and Windows

[Chris Vine <chris cvine freeserve co uk>]

On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 18:13:41 -0400 (EDT)
Allin Cottrell <cottrell wfu edu> wrote:
> You say you're learning C++. If you have good reason to do that, 
> then fine, but note that GTK itself is written in C and is 
> C-oriented. Using C++ will complicate matters. You say you're new to 
> this, so let me point out that C and C++ are separate languages and 
> although C++ interfaces for GTK are available (gtkmm) the more 
> standard development path is to use C with GTK.

To put the counter argument for someone who says he is a newbie, I
think you are looking at this from the wrong direction.  The GTK+
headers are in the subset common to C and C++, and can be used in
either language (there is also no need to use gtkmm in C++, and
sometimes good reasons not to do so).

The real question is what language best suits the problem space the
program is trying to solve.  For some things, C++ is better (in my
opinion). With C++11 auto variables, variadic templates and particularly
lambda expressions, it is quicker to write code for some problem areas
using C++ than C. The GTK+ code you write for a graphical interface
will look pretty much the same in either language, if you are not using
a wrapper, for the reasons I have mentioned.

In other words, GTK+ is the servant and not the master in language
choice here.

Chris