>GNU APL is made up of about 50,000 lines of C++ code
A GNU project in C++, isn't this unusual?
EDIT: Today the GNU Coding standards says [1]:
"When you want to use a language that gets compiled and runs at high speed, the best language to use is C. C++ is ok too, but please don’t make heavy use of templates. So is Java, if you compile it."
Using the WayBack Machine to 2004 [2]:
"When you want to use a language that gets compiled and runs at high speed, the best language to use is C. Using another language is like using a non-standard feature: it will cause trouble for users. Even if GCC supports the other language, users may find it inconvenient to have to install the compiler for that other language in order to build your program. For example, if you write your program in C++, people will have to install the GNU C++ compiler in order to compile your program.
C has one other advantage over C++ and other compiled languages: more people know C, so more people will find it easy to read and modify the program if it is written in C.
So in general it is much better to use C, rather than the comparable alternatives."
Maybe C++ written against other compilers... I never had any problems working on (large-ish, not huge) C++ code bases written against g++ (and making good use of definitively C++ features like templates).
A GNU project in C++, isn't this unusual?
EDIT: Today the GNU Coding standards says [1]:
"When you want to use a language that gets compiled and runs at high speed, the best language to use is C. C++ is ok too, but please don’t make heavy use of templates. So is Java, if you compile it."
Using the WayBack Machine to 2004 [2]:
"When you want to use a language that gets compiled and runs at high speed, the best language to use is C. Using another language is like using a non-standard feature: it will cause trouble for users. Even if GCC supports the other language, users may find it inconvenient to have to install the compiler for that other language in order to build your program. For example, if you write your program in C++, people will have to install the GNU C++ compiler in order to compile your program.
C has one other advantage over C++ and other compiled languages: more people know C, so more people will find it easy to read and modify the program if it is written in C.
So in general it is much better to use C, rather than the comparable alternatives."
[1] http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html
[2] http://web.archive.org/web/20041010060657/http://www.gnu.org...