Ask HN: Should we use C++ instead of C? Which version of C++?

2 points

14 years ago

For a new data service I'm building at work, I'm seriously evaluating using C++ instead of C (I can't use Java/Scala due to memory footprint). I'm confident our team can cope with either so I don't see that as an issue.

Advantages of C++ over C, as I see it:

- Slightly easier memory management

- Better standard library: strings, STL, Boost etc

- Access to modern libraries open-sourced by Google (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4721824/what-libraries-has-google-released-for-c), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-engineering/folly-the-facebook-open-source-library/10150864656793920) et al.

Cons:

- The language is more complex; should choose the right subset

- More chance for library/version incompatibilities?

I'm not too aware of the state of C++ nowadays. Does anyone have any recommendations for which version of C++ to go for, which style guidelines to follow etc? (All our environments are Linux)

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