Programming: WTH does "C" stand for?

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geno

geno

Lifer
Dec 26, 1999
25,074
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I was showing my gf some of my Comp 1 homework which included a few programs, and she asked me what all the wording was considered to be. I told her its called "C" and she asked me what it stood for... I had no clue :confused:

So I looked it up on Yahoo, and the only thing I came up with was "They called it C since it was the successor to B"...yeah, wonderful explanation :p heheh, well anyways, is there any real reason they named the language after a letter?
 
geno

geno

Lifer
Dec 26, 1999
25,074
4
0
Heh, I believe its the successor to B and all, but why did the letter naming convention come about? I shoulda been a little more clear with that :eek:
 
M

Martin

Lifer
Jan 15, 2000
29,178
1
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They should have named it P.I.N.A.P.L. As in PINAPL Is Not A Programming Language.


Gotta love those recursive titles :D
 
T

Talon

Golden Member
Oct 29, 1999
1,426
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genocide

Read this link and it should explain it. It started as BCPL (basic combined programming language), which was then developed into B and then evolved to C.
 
B

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81


<< They should have named it P.I.N.A.P.L. As in PINAPL Is Not A Programming Language.
Gotta love those recursive titles :D >>


Ha!
 
B

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81


<< genocide

Read this link and it should explain it. It started as BCPL (basic combined programming language), which was then developed into B and then evolved to C. >>


So why did it then go to C+ and C++ instead of D and E? :)
 
T

tweakmm

Lifer
May 28, 2001
18,436
4
0


<<

<< genocide

Read this link and it should explain it. It started as BCPL (basic combined programming language), which was then developed into B and then evolved to C. >>


So why did it then go to C+ and C++ instead of D and E? :) >>


I dont think that there was a C+ and the reason that it is C++ as opposed to D and E is (i think) because C++ is C with objects.
(those who want to argue that C++ isnt true OO shut up for the sake of simplicity ;))
 
T

tweakmm

Lifer
May 28, 2001
18,436
4
0


<< on what grounds could you argue that C++ is not OO? >>


I was never quite sure myself, but I've spoken with several java zealots who claim that C++ isn't true OO, but more like a bastardisation. I'll have to ask them next time I speak to them
 
T

Talon

Golden Member
Oct 29, 1999
1,426
0
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According to the following link, C++ started as "C with Classes" and was an extension of C.



<< By 1982, Stroustrup considered that C with Classes "was a medium success and would remain so until it died." C with Classes was popular, but not popular enough to stand on its own. Stroustrup saw two choices: he could give up the project altogether and force users to find support somewhere else, or he could build a new and better language that would support enough users to pay for support and development. Unlike some folks we know, Stroustrup did not consider the third choice of increasing user population through marketing hype. >>




<< Stroustrup decided to give up the Cpre preprocessor and improve his new language with conventional compiler technology. He also got a "polite request from management" that he also get a new name for his language. The problem was that people had taken to calling C with Classes "new" C and sometimes just plain C, while "real" C was being called "plain" C and "old" C. I imagine guys like Kernighan and Ritchie were a little annoyed by C being called "plain" and "old." >>




<< On the question of a name, Stroustrup tried "C84" for a while. But the problem with that was that C itself was working toward standardization and might then add the year to its name. So "real" C might become C86 so "new" C would then become "old" C and "real" C would be "new" C and... Well, you get the idea. C84 was just not a good name. Stroustrup began asking the C with Classes community for names and a guy named Rick Mascitti suggested C++. The plus-plus part is a nice touch because in C the plus-plus signifies an increment or successor. The C++ name was first used in December, 1983 and has stuck. >>



link
 
T

Talon

Golden Member
Oct 29, 1999
1,426
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There was also an extension to B called NB (New B).


<< In 1971 Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs extended the B language (by adding types) into what he called NB, for "New B". Ritchie credits some of his changes to language constructs found in Algol68, although he states "although it [the type scheme], perhaps, did not emerge in a form that Algol's adherents would approve of" After restructuring the language and rewriting the compiler for B, Ritchie gave his new language a name: "C". >>


link
 
G

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
29,239
2
0


<<

<< on what grounds could you argue that C++ is not OO? >>


I was never quite sure myself, but I've spoken with several java zealots who claim that C++ isn't true OO, but more like a bastardisation. I'll have to ask them next time I speak to them >>



i see, so kind of like americans who think the english that the english speak is "messed up".
 
R

RalphTheCow

Senior member
Sep 14, 2000
962
380
136
Those old Unix guys were as terse as possible because they sometimes had to send commands over a slow, clunky old teletype, memory was small, and they didn't want to waste time by typing any more than they absolutely had to. Plus, it's fun.
 
ViRGE

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106


<<

<< Java zealots have no place talking smack to true programmers. >>


here here >>


I'll second that.;)
 
C

charrison

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
17,033
1
81
C# is language that borrows heavily from java, but still has pointer like c++. It also have the ability to make gui apps with the ease of vb.
 
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