sim-11 forums

C++?!

During my computer science degree (in the 1970's), I learnt various programming languages, such as Algol-60, Simula, Cobol and, finally, C. That last language felt like a liberation. C was a modern, powerful programming language that offered all the necessary constructs without all the unnecessary baggage of those other languages. Later, I wrote software in Fortran, PDP-11 assembler (MACRO-11), Pascal and occasionally Java or Python, but throughout that time, C remained my favourite language.

When I started developing sim-11 a few years ago, I was faced with the choice of programming language. C would have been the logical choice – it’s fast and I was still reasonably familiar with it – but I wanted to learn something new. I wanted to use a vibrant, more modern programming language, with at the very least support for object-orientation, so as to keep up with the state of the art. C++ offered the opportunity to build on my knowledge of C and gradually learn and integrate new concepts.

C++ concepts such as object-orientation and template programming come in very handy when developing a simulator. The C++ standard library offers a type-safe replacement for C constructs with memory protection. Moreover, C++ is just as efficient a language as C. Of course, there are alternatives such as Rust, but they do not offer anything that cannot also be achieved with C++. However, the language turned out to be incredibly complicated, and I realised that to use it properly, I needed to take a course. Fortunately, I was able to enrol on the C++ course at the University of Groningen. It was tough going, but it made me completely familiar with the language.

In short, C++ is the ideal choice for me when it comes to developing sim-11!