- Compiled Languages and C++
1.1 Why Use a Language Like C++?
At its core, a computer is just a processor with some memory, capable of running tiny instructions like “store 5 in memory location 23459.” Why would we express a program as a text file in a programming language, instead of writing processor instructions?
The advantages:
- Conciseness: programming languages allow us to express common sequences of commands more concisely. C++ provides some especially powerful shorthands.
- Maintainability: modifying code is easier when it entails just a few text edits, instead of rearranging hundreds of processor instructions. C++ is object oriented (more on that in Lectures 7-8), which further improves maintainability.
- Portability: different processors make different instructions available. Programs written as text can be translated into instructions for many different processors; one of C++’s strengths is that it can be used to write programs for nearly any processor.
C++ is a high-level language: when you write a program in it, the shorthands are sufficiently expressive that you don’t need to worry about the details of processor instructions. C++ does
give access to some lower-level functionality than other languages (e.g. memory addresses).
Top comments (1)
Would this boil down to something specific? Like working with hardware versus software? Cause I feel like that might be part of it. But I'm not entirely sure. I actually know more now about C++ than I did before. Which was absolutely zero, beyond its name. Thank you, my brother!