Difference Between C and C++

This article contains Difference Between C and C++.

We discuss about difference between C and C++ according to their features.

Keywords

C has 32 keywords. But C++ has some new keywords such as new and delete.

Length of Identifiers

C has restriction for the length of identifier. ANSI C recognizes only first 32 character of identifier. ANSI C++ has no limits for length.

Declaration of global variable

In C, a global variable can be declared several times without using extern keyword. But C++ does not permit this.

Character Constants

In C, character constants are of type int. But C++ treats character constants as char because compiler has to distinguish between two overloaded functions.

Example:

void f1(int);

void f2(char);

Programming Paradigm

C supports procedure programming paradigm. C++ supports object oriented, procedure and generic programming paradigm.

Function Prototype

It is necessary to provide function prototype in C++ but it is not necessary in ANSI C.

Reference variable

C++ supports reference variable. But C does not support reference variable.

Overloading

C++ supports function and operator overloading but C does not support overloading concept.

Input/Output

C uses functions for input / output, for example printf and scanf. C++ uses objects for input / output, for example cin and cout.

OOP Concepts

C does not support OOP concepts like encapsulation, polymorphism, inheritance etc. C++ is object oriented programming language, hence it supports OOP concepts.