CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cprogramming-languages
Maksim
Maksim

Reputation: 16941

Names of the C family of languages

Why is the C language called "C"? Does C stand for "Compiler"?

Also, why does C++ have two pluses? Is it because it is the second version of C? What about C#, does the # stand for four pluses (++++)? Is there going to be something else in the future, something like C~ or C*?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 2783

Answers (5)

Edward
Edward

Reputation: 1826

C is after B, which was a condensed BCPL. It was a natural progression of names. The ++ is a common programming operator which means "increment by one."

Upvotes: 3

Logan Capaldo
Logan Capaldo

Reputation: 40336

Once upon a time there was a language called BCPL. BCPL begot B, which begot C. C begot C++, an incremental improvement. C# is pretty unlike C++ or C save perhaps for the basics of the syntax, but the sharp is a "visual pun" on a second set of pluses.

  ++
  ++   ~ #

Upvotes: 3

Jimmy
Jimmy

Reputation: 91472

the languages are named after their predecessor languages

C is the successor to B.

C++ means "increment C by 1" in C

C# (sharp, not pound) means a half-note above C (from music)

Upvotes: 7

aem
aem

Reputation: 3916

See this page of programming language name origins. Note that various names like C, C++, and C# were made up by different people over time, so who can say what someone will choose in the future?

Upvotes: 6

Alan Haggai Alavi
Alan Haggai Alavi

Reputation: 74252

C++ is not the second version of C. C++ tried to add classes, templates and a few more things.

Quote from Wikipedia regarding the naming of C++:

According to Stroustrup: "the name signifies the evolutionary nature of the changes from C".[5] During C++'s development period, the language had been referred to as "new C", then "C with Classes". The final name is credited to Rick Mascitti (mid-1983) and was first used in December 1983. When Mascitti was questioned informally in 1992 about the naming, he indicated that it was given in a tongue-in-cheek spirit. It stems from C's "++" operator (which increments the value of a variable) and a common naming convention of using "+" to indicate an enhanced computer program. There is no language called "C plus". ABCL/c+ was the name of an earlier, unrelated programming language.

Upvotes: 3

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