Re:Why Not Just Do Simple C++ RAII in C?
by rramadass on Thursday May 23, 2024 @11:53AM
(#40456287)
> In a way, the whole C++ endeavor was doomed from the start ... I disagree that C++ "respecting its C roots" is viable.
Hey! Them's fighting words! :-) "C++ as a better C" (which is what it started as) was/is/always will be needed and necessary. It gave you the best of both low-level and high-level worlds with full control and just enough complexity. Instead of implementing structs full of function pointers to design dynamic dispatch object models you just had the compiler do that for you while still retaining full control over other aspects. I still have some manuals that came with SCO Unix one of which was on the then newfangled C++ language. It had one chapter by Stroustrup himself (his original paper probably) on the C++ object model showing how vptrs/vtables are implemented and thinking it neat that the compiler did it for you. Also templates were just glorified macros then with none of the shenanigans that you see today. Hence moving from C to C++ was easy and its usage and popularity exploded. But with the infusion of lots of people into C++ land people who were not aware of the original vision/design/compatibility goal of the language started asking for the inclusion of more and more OO and modern language features. The result? The standards committee reinventing the language from C++11 onwards(and changing every freaking 3 years) and alienating the old C++ folks who made it popular in the first place. No doubt there are some benefits like increased design space and modern programming techniques but am not sure whether the increased complexity makes it all worth it. For me it is still C++98 with the addition of the STL and some simple generic programming techniques which is the sweet spot.
Hey! Them's fighting words! :-) "C++ as a better C" (which is what it started as) was/is/always will be needed and necessary. It gave you the best of both low-level and high-level worlds with full control and just enough complexity. Instead of implementing structs full of function pointers to design dynamic dispatch object models you just had the compiler do that for you while still retaining full control over other aspects. I still have some manuals that came with SCO Unix one of which was on the then newfangled C++ language. It had one chapter by Stroustrup himself (his original paper probably) on the C++ object model showing how vptrs/vtables are implemented and thinking it neat that the compiler did it for you. Also templates were just glorified macros then with none of the shenanigans that you see today. Hence moving from C to C++ was easy and its usage and popularity exploded. But with the infusion of lots of people into C++ land people who were not aware of the original vision/design/compatibility goal of the language started asking for the inclusion of more and more OO and modern language features. The result? The standards committee reinventing the language from C++11 onwards(and changing every freaking 3 years) and alienating the old C++ folks who made it popular in the first place. No doubt there are some benefits like increased design space and modern programming techniques but am not sure whether the increased complexity makes it all worth it. For me it is still C++98 with the addition of the STL and some simple generic programming techniques which is the sweet spot.