Comments on: the c++ pull

By: Pedro

Pedro — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:19:10 +0000

You might want to look at Mercury also. I don’t know about the efficiency of OCaml, but Prolog and Camllight, the ones I’m familiar with, are supposed to be not very efficient. Mercury is a mixture of Prolog with Caml, compiled to C, which is supposed to be an efficient strong-typed language.

By: rullzer

rullzer — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:12:44 +0000

C++ is not that different from plain C. Just google around and you will find some nice simple tutorials. Of course object orientated languages require a little different approach but it is not that hard.

I hope you can find some time to follow some of the tutorials and learn C++.

By: Levi

Levi — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:37:16 +0000

Although the static typing system of C++ does give some help in strictly enforcing rules, it is far from being a language that makes bug-free code easy. It inherits from C the ability to circumvent the type system, and adds to it several layers of optional and leaky abstractions that can interact poorly if you don’t know very well how they’re implemented.

In the hands of an experienced and knowledgeable developer, C++ can be a sharp and efficient tool to create powerful, fast, and reasonably safe programs. Those who are less experienced are more likely to cut themselves on its sharp edges.

If you want a tool that is really committed to help you reason about your programs and enforce type rules, you should look at a language with a more modern type system. Haskell and OCaml are mature examples, and OCaml in particular is nearly as efficient in execution as C++.