[MUD-Dev] Languages

Caliban Tiresias Darklock caliban at darklock.com
Wed May 21 14:41:02 CEST 1997


Chris Gray wrote:
> 
> I've read enough on C++ to know
> that its unlikely I'll ever use it, and I fail to see any contributions
> it has made to the state of the art (fight'n words, I know!). I do need
> to read up on Java, however.

AMEN!!!!! I have offered the same two challenges to every C++ programmer
I've met. No one has ever satisfactorily responded.

	1. Show me one thing object oriented programming does which proper 
	structured programming discipline can not.

	2. Show me one C++ construct that is impossible to implement in C.

The major arguments I receive on this are:

	1. Inheritance. I respond, 'void *parent'.

	2. Methods in classes. I respond, 'int (*method)()'.

I do admit that you can write a program much faster in C++ when you use
the proper class libraries, and C++ can indeed be made much more
readable. But starting from a blank text file and using no class
libraries at all, just the standard C and C++ compiler libraries, C++
ends up looking an awful lot like C... except that it runs slower, has a
fatter binary, and took a good deal longer to write. ;>

The benefits of C++ are in code reuse, but code reuse is not always an
appropriate thing, and you have to have some C++ code to reuse first.



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