Structured Programming

[stylin]

calling something a "C Virus" where it is in no way related to c really but more to the philosophy of the programmer just fuels the "nuu you are but a c zealot" "NUUU you are a basic zealot" "debate".

Oh I agree. Again, I don't know what drugs she's on.

edit: i nearly forgot, can you say reinterpret_cast?

I never said C++ was exempt from unsafe statements, but at least C++ lets you know that something's going on, and the code should be understood thoroughly (the C++-style casting operators are intentionally verbose, and you're encouraged, by any sane programmer, to prefer those over the C-style casts, which give no indication of intent or safety).

C is a middle-level language, higher than assembly, lower than C++. Of course C has the potential to be more optimal compared to C++, and especially Java, but again, the lack of safety, combined with portability issues when using "optimal code", more often than not tends to overshadow any speed increases you may get.

Sorry, I'm big on safety. Safety-measures help you write better - maintanable, extensible, flexible, reusable - code. Writing better code helps alleviate more of the need for debugging, which in turn allows you to develop more "better code". Any (and in many cases negligable) speed increases you get from using C are severly outkicked by the productivity you gain in C++. That's why C was invented in the first place - assembler was/is too error-prone, complex and non-portable.