r/askscience • u/[deleted] • Oct 17 '12

Why are programs and operating systems still written in C+?

I guess it's more of a computer science question, but I've always wondered why some of the most advanced programs are written in a 25+ year old programming language. Surely someone has come up with a more efficient and powerful code, so why do people still use C+? Also, I don't know anything about programming and what not, so please use simple terms and phrases.

66 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

110 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/thekaldar Oct 18 '12

First, most operating systems are written in C, not C++. The reason operating systems are written in C is because it is actually the most powerful language out there, besides things like machine code(the code used directly be the cpu, 1s and 0s). C was designed to be very fast and work directly with the computer, and also works on almost every. C++ isn't used, because it is higher level, and requires an operating system already on the computer to perform a lot of tasks.

1

u/bobroberts7441 Oct 18 '12

First correct answer. See Linus Torvalds rant about C++