main() Development

Welcome to main() Development. Your source for serious C and C++ development. In today's ICT world, there is much focus on interpreted scripting languages such as Ruby/JRuby, Python/Jython, and many more. In former days, these languages were not even negotiable, because interpreted languages were considered slow, and you would want a binary executable for speed anyway. As hardware performances continue to grow conversely, interpreted (scripting) languages become more and more a viable option, causing these type of development tools to increase in popularity accordingly. (You can check the TIOBE index for it.) We should not forget though, that hardware performances also grow for C/C++ applications that run on it. And, let us also not forget that many of these languages and interpreters were developed in C/C++ themselves.

C++ was created by Bjarne Stroustrup, and was finally called as such in 1983. Two years later, the first official reference guide was published. C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language, with a bias towards systems programming. C was chosen as the base language for C++ because it

is versatile, terse, and relatively low-level;
is adequate formost systems programming tasks;
runs everywhere and on everything; and
fits into the UNIX programming environment.

The other main source of inspiration for C++ was Simula67, because of the class concept. C++'s facility for overloading operators and the freedom to place a declaration wherever a statement can occur resembles Algol68.

C and C++ will forever be close friends, nonetheless, since C99, C programs cannot be compiled with any C++ compiler blindly anymore.

C++ continues to evolve, as it has in the past. And in spite of all new development initiatives, C++ will always be around when serious programming is required.

Objective-C, another powerful and rising descendant of the C language, has abided by a completely different path, in order to accomplish its current success story. Apple has introduced and utilzed the LLVM Clang «C» compiler set for this.


	*Noteworthy / Comments /*
	2012·05·19 — Embarcadero Technologies today renewed their C++ vows in an epic tale through John Thomas, director of RAD product management. There is talk about 64 bit, C++11 and C99 compliancy, ARM and of course FireMonkey. Plans are to release the first bit in Q4 2012 — this would probably be released alongside XE3 then — and the rest in Q1 2013. This all sounds very exciting, to say the least. I cannot hide being a wee bit apprehensive though, to find whether any Clang elements will have been inserted into the end result. Read the whole article…

	2012·05·18 — JetBrains — the company that retails the only still standing commercial Java IDE (and for a reason it does!) — has recently updated their AppCode Objective-C/C/C++ IDE to version 1.5.4. Now, AppCode relies on Xcode to compile and build your projects, and in that you get yourselves a perfect IntelliJ IDEA/PyCharm/RubyMine look alike, that manages perfect Clang deliverables. I even tried to insert a _Bool (C99) in a C project, and yup, it works like a dream.

	2011·10·13 — Dennis Richie, the father of C, dies at 70. While the introduction of Intel's 4004 microprocessor in 1971 is widely regarded as a key moment in modern computing, the contemporaneous birth of the C programming language is less well known. Yet the creation of C has as much claim, if not more, to be the true seminal moment of IT as we know it; it sits at the heart of programming — and in the hearts of programmers — as the quintessential expression of coding elegance, power, simplicity and portability. Read the whole article…

	2011·08·13 — Even though the RAD Studio XE2 World Tour hasn't even begun in certain parts of the world yet, it is good to know that development on C++Builder is being continued all the while. Today, David Intersimone – Embarcadero's Vice President of Developer Relations – tells us that the C++ FDIS (ISO/IEC FDIS 14882) has officially been approved by the ISO in a unanimous vote. “Even as we are finishing C++Builder XE2 for this year’s release, our C++ compiler team is also working on Embarcadero’s next generation C++ compiler which will support the updated, and now approved, C++ standard.”, says David. Read the whole article…

	2011·08·05 — Embarcadero's RAD Studio XE2 –the successor to RAD Studio XE– seems very promising, indeed. There is support for 32/64 bit Windows, and cross platform/iOS development using FireMonkey – a new and advanced sort of cross platform VCL. Unfortunately, this time there is very little in store for C++Builder, other than Mac OS X development, using FireMonkey. However, the roadmap shows that this was all planned. According to the roadmap, it is C++Builder's turn next year, in what most likely will be called RAD Studio XE3. Seems like the Delphi/C++Builder leapfrogging from the early years is back. We'll keep you posted on this…

	2011·07·09 — Let's face it: HTML5 is no app dev panacea. Nothing frustrates a professional developer more than hearing someone describe themselves as "an HTML programmer". Coding Web pages with markup has about as much to do with real programming as writing a menu has to do with cooking a meal. But you wouldn't think so to hear platform vendors tell it. Lately, HTML has been made out to be a preferred development tool for everything from smartphone and tablet apps to full-blown desktop applications. Read the whole article…

	2011·06·13 — The New C++: Lay down your guns, knives, and clubs. The recently finished C++ ISO standard, with the working name of C++0x, is due to be published this summer, following the finishing touches to the ISO spec language and standards works agreed upon in March. Apple's Mac OS X, Adobe Illustrator, Facebook, Google's Chrome browser, the Apache MapReduce clustered data-processing architecture, Microsoft Windows 7 and Internet Explorer, Firefox, and MySQL – to name just a handful – are written in part or in their entirety with C++. Read the whole article…

	2011·04·15 — In Madrid, Spain – during the March 26 weekend – the next iteration of the C++ programming language, C++11, – formerly referred to as C++0x – passed review by the technical standards committee. Barring unforeseen delays, the official standard will be approved in the fall. Read the whole article…

	2011·01·31 — As of today, Turbo C++ is back. Well, sort of. As it is, Embarcadero introduced C++Builder XE (and Delphi XE) Starter Edition. A low-cost edition of C++Builder XE, aimed at beginning developers and small companies. Its feature set is remarkably rich, as compared to Turbo C++ 2006 Explorer. Having said that, the latter was free, and C++Builder XE Starter retails for $149,00. Nonetheless, If you are looking for an excellent compiler, and a very productive IDE, C++Builder XE Starter must be your choice.

	2010·12·24 — We would like to wish all C and C++ developers a very merry Christmas, and a prosperous and fruitful 2011. Remember, next year is the year of another C++Builder XE release, (is that C++Builder XE1 or C++Builder XE2?) and of course the long–awaited C++11 draft ratification. Although this is a joyful tiding in its own right, the ratification process (such as documenting…) may take up to 6 months, or even more. So, depending on your compiler of choice, you may or may not be able to take advantage of some or all of next year's new awesome features included in the draft.

	“C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot… C++ makes it harder, but when you do so it'll blow your whole leg off.” Bjarne Stroustrup

	2010·10·16 — This year marks the 25^th aniversary of the C++ programming language. Bjarne Stroustrup in Wired Magazine: “if I had thought of it and had some marketing sense”, Stroustrup says, “every computer and just about any gadget would have had a little ‘C++ Inside’ sticker on it.” and “Sometimes, it is more important to have the right problem, than the best solution.” Read the whole article…

	2010·10·09 — The GNU Compiler Collection –best known for its C and C++ compilers– are continuously shaping up the compliancy reports of their support for C++0x, and –at the same time– are showing (off) that much work has already been done to many of the proposals. Different status reports are available for different versions of the compiler set. Meanwhile, the complete draft itself is now terribly overdue. Primarily intended to be released somewhere during 2008, it is now everybody's guess when the final outlines are to be discharged.

	2010·09·01 — As part of new RAD Studio XE, Embarcadero released C++Builder XE, the upgrade to the previous C++Builder version 2010. C++Builder XE is part of the yearly upgrade of RAD Studio, and now includes many 3rd party products, such as AQtime - a well known profiler, Beyond Compare - a comparing system, CodeSite - a logging system, and FinalBuilder - the ultimate building system. Not many C++0x issues have been revised or included, since the draft is still evolving. Only an update to the RValue Reference was inserted in the compiler. The Borland/DTG/CodeGear/Embarcadero C++ compiler -now more than 15 years old- will be completely rebuilt, by the way. C++Builder XE includes the new XE naming convention, that Embarcadero uses with all of their products. (The X for heterogonous and the E for Embarcadero) One could also state that this is version 2011, or even version 15 - this for your own comfort. C++Builder XE was called a minor update by the community, however, it includes many new features that you can spot here. 64 bit or cross platform support was not included in this release. These will follow in subsequent versions.