C++ Compared With Other Languages

A multitude of application types, platforms, and programming languages have emerged since C++ was first released. Still, C++ remains a widely used language, and its compilers are available for most platforms. The major exception, as of today, is the web platform, where JavaScript and its related technologies are the foundation. However, the web platform is evolving into being able to execute what was previously only possible in desktop applications, and in that context, C++ has found its way into web applications using technologies such as Emscripten, asm.js, and WebAssembly.

In this lesson, we’ll begin by looking at competing languages in the context of performance. Following this, we’ll look at how C++ handles object ownership and garbage collection in comparison to other languages, and how we can avoid null objects in C++. Finally, we’ll cover some drawbacks of C++ that users should keep in mind when considering whether the language is appropriate for their requirements.

Competing languages and performance

In order to understand how C++ achieves its performance compared to other programming languages, let’s discuss some fundamental differences between C++ and most other modern programming languages.

For simplicity, this section will focus on comparing C++ to Java, although the comparisons for most parts also apply to other programming languages based upon a garbage collector, such as C# and JavaScript.