Why is C language called "C". Is C stands for "Compiler"? Another question: Why C++ has two pluses? is it because it is Second version of C? What about C#, is # stands for four pluses (++++)? Is there going to be something else in the future, something like C~ or C*.
+2
A:
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.
Alan Haggai Alavi
2009-07-18 02:47:21
+2
A:
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."
Edward Amsden
2009-07-18 02:48:34
Almost. B came from BCPL. C was the obvious successor.
RBerteig
2009-07-18 03:06:48
http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/chist.htmlWell according to this, the sequence was BCPL->B->C. B just wasn't around very long. (I was going off of memory when I wrote my answer. )
Edward Amsden
2009-07-18 04:22:59
+5
A:
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?
aem
2009-07-18 02:49:04
+6
A:
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)
Jimmy
2009-07-18 02:53:07
You might add that B was a successor to (and subset of) BCPL. There was once some discussion whether the _next_ language after C would be D or P, settled by the C++ pun. Note also that D is a language in the family too...
RBerteig
2009-07-18 03:00:03
+3
A:
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.
++
++ ~ #
Logan Capaldo
2009-07-18 02:58:00
Except that people who came up with it in the first place disagree with you (http://www.jameskovacs.com/blog/CNETHistoryLesson.aspx). It means exactly what it means - C-sharp - that is, half a tone higher than C.
Pavel Minaev
2009-07-22 18:45:56
Sorry, if I implied it was pronounced C++++, it's definitely "C-sharp". But the gag is it's four pluses.
Logan Capaldo
2009-07-23 00:24:46
Incidentally, James Kovacs did not create C#, or if he did, he's neglected to mention the fact. He also, as far as I can tell, doesn't currently work for Microsoft, and I can't find a resume to determine whether he did in the past, he may have, but I suspect not.
Logan Capaldo
2009-07-23 00:33:16