Java vs C++

JAVA vs C++

Which OOPS-based programming language is better – C++ or JAVA?This is one of the most confusing and popular doubts of programmers.

Java and C++ both follow OOP’s concepts. So, let us first understand what OOPs is. OOP stands for Object-Oriented Programming. It is a concept that supports and concentrates on doing a particular job once and using the feature of reusability and security.

 Earlier, the Procedural Based programming language concentrated on several procedures without concerning space used, memory limits, resources used, time consumption, etc., which led to PPL limitations and OOP’s invention. In OOP’s, the concentration is always focused on objects.

So, let us understand some features of OOP’s: – 

BASIC CONCEPTS OF OOP’S (FEATURES OF OOP’S)

• OBJECT – An object is a unique entity containing data and functions or characteristics and behaves together as a single unit. It is an instance of the class.

• CLASS – A class is simply a representation of the type of objects. It is a template that describes the details of an object. A class is composed of three parameters, i.e., name, attribute, and operations.

• ENCAPSULATION – Wrapping together of a class’s data and functions so that they can be used as a unit to perform several operations is called encapsulation.

• DATA ABSTRACTION – It is referred to as an act of representing essential features without including background details.

• INHERITANCE – It is the process in which the sharing of some common properties can be done among objects of different classes linked together.

• POLYMORPHISM – It is the process of using a function for more than one purpose. It allows the use of the different internal structures of the object by keeping some external interface.

• DYNAMIC BINDING – It is the process that links the function call with function signature at run-time, i.e., during the program’s execution.

JAVA INTRODUCTION

Java is an Object-Oriented Programming or OOP language developed by James Gosling in 1991 under the name “Oak” while staring at the oak tree outside his office. This language was later named JAVA after its founders James Gosling, Arthur Van Hoff, and Andy. 

Java is an OOP’s based language that is made and programmed to have only a few processes to carry out dependencies as much possible. As it is a general working programming language, it is also quite useful to programmers and developers to let them code it only one time and can run anywhere, and as many times, outside the device and software, it was programmed.

Java is an essential coding language for the 20th century and future Internet and Application development as 30% – 40 % online markets, business, apps, websites, blogs, systems, servers, programs, executables files, etc. run in Java and Java Scripts.

FEATURES OF JAVA

• Java is an object-oriented programming language.
• Java programs are both compiled and interpreted.
• Java is a platform-independent programming language.
• It is a multithreaded language.
• We can access data from a local system and the internet as well.

ADVANTAGES OF JAVA

• It is easy to use.
• It is more GUI based, which is human readable.
• Does not include headers
• Using of packages
• Understandable much easier than any other language
• Syntax and other features are more comfortable to learn and remember

PACKAGES IN JAVA

A package is a bunch of several classes that can be imported to a program such that the user can easily exercise the implicit facilities available in it.

A package in Java programming can be included by using import command, i.e.,

Example – import.java.util.data

Here, the util function is imported to utilize its inbuilt data class.

Example – import.java.util.*;

Here, it allows all the classes of the Java .util package to be included.

C++ INRODUCTION

Bjarne Stroustrup developed the C++ programming language in the 1980s at AT and T Bell Laboratories. As the C language lacked in the stimulations and other functioning, Mr. Bjarne decided to expand the language by including additional features from his favorite coding languages, Simula 67. 

Simula is a starter of OOP’s concepts!

When the coding and finalization of the new programming language was done with new features, Rick Mascitti (one of Bjarne friends) coined the term ‘C++.’ This was because C++ had advance increment features of C. As time changed, this language has expanded and drastically improved with time. The modern C++ now has many advanced OOPs concepts, generic and functional features that were not in C++’s earlier stages.

In addition to facilities for low-level language, C++ works as a communicator between High-Level Language programming and GUI software. C++ can also be referred to as a middle-level language or an Intermediate Language, which provides both the levels, i.e., low-level drivers and kernels and higher-level apps like games, GUI, desktop apps, etc.

A FIRST LOOK AT C++ PROGRAM

Let us initiate the discussion with a simple example of a C++ program that prints a string on the screen.

EXAMPLE – Program to print a string on the screen.

Solution – 

#include<iostream.h>
Int main()
{
  cout<<”Welcome To C++ Language”;
  return 0;
}

Here, the output is printed on the screen: Welcome To C++ Language

The above example shows a header file, i.e., <iostream.h>. In C++ language, header files include the set of various useful predefined standard library functions. When you use a header file in your program, it is requested to include the C++ pre-processing directive “#include.” All the header file has a ‘.h.’ An extension. By including a header file, we can use its contents in our program.

FEATURES OF C++

• It is straightforward to understand
• Machine Independent or Portable
• Mid-level programming language
• Structured programming language
• Rich Library
• Memory Management
• It is fast in speed
• Supports pointers
• Recursion
• Extensible
• Object-Oriented
• compiler-based

ACTUAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JAVA and C++

C++ Vs. JAVA. WHICH IS BETTER? 

The programmers, students, and, teachers always find it challenging to decide which out of C++ and Java is better. The reason is that C++ and Java have lots of similarities due to the same concepts of OOP’s. Main similarities between them are that both are object-oriented programming languages. But both of these are different languages in many ways.

Java in earlier stages of production was developed for printing systems. But in later periods, it was modified to support cloud computing and servers, applets, etc. The best part of Java is that it is built upon the virtual machine. That’s why the programming written in Java is highly secure and portable. 

Let us put light on significant features

Java is a platform-independent language!

C++ has features like efficiency, speed, and memory, which make it really popular among coders and really useful. C++ uses pointers, while Java does not involve pointers. Java uses the concept of ‘restricted pointers.

A C++ program is run, and the compilation is done using its compiler.

C++ does not provide built-in support for threads, whereas Java support threads implicitly. Though in the latest implementation of C++11, it does have support for threads as well. Java is much like C++ but does not involve complex concepts like structures, operator overloading, pointers, templates, unions, etc.

Conclusion

         In conclusion, the overall benefits are always on the new technologies and programs that can be enhanced. The basic needs are both completed in C++ and Java. It usually depends on the programmer on how he/she programs and codes the language.

• FOR COMPETITIVE LEVEL 

Java is one of the most recommended, preferred, and used languages in competitive programming levels. The reason behind it is that the most used language is its successful level of queries solving, easy syntax, reusability, and other essential features.

Java Collection framework contains lots of containers that are useful for different purposes. These are as follows: –

• Array List: The dynamically sized array that allows insertions and deletions without demanding the array’s size, initially. It also has the advantages of being supported by plain arrays like random access, cache, etc.

• Deque: It is an interface that is implemented by the LinkedList class. It supports insertions and deletions at both ends in O(1) time.

• Queue: It is an interface implemented by LinkedList. These are useful in situations in which the programmer wishes to use the FIFO order for the items.

• TreeSet and TreeMap: These both implement a self-balancing binary search tree, which can be Red Black Tree in particular. This is beneficial in situations in which the programmer wishes to maintain sorted items with moderate search, insert and delete query time. 

• Stack: It is used in conditions where the programmer wishes to use the LIFO order. The example problems can be balanced parenthesis, stock span problem, next greater element, etc. in a histogram.

Java Benefits:

1. C++ provides well-made STLs, whereas Java has Containers. The benefit of containers over STLs is that there are a few situations where STL doesn’t have a direct solution. For example, in the case of the priority queue in STL, it doesn’t support a decrease-key operation, which is required to implement essential algorithms like Prim’s and Dijkstra’s.
2. Java is well known and famous for being exceptional in data exception handling. It triumphs over both C language and C++ language in this aspect. For example, it’s a lot easier to trace an ArrayIndexOutOfBound segmentation fault in Java.
3. There is a significant advantage of Java over C++. It is the availability of libraries like big integer, standard expressions, and geometry libraries. All these libraries make day-to-day competitive programming challenges easier to tackle.

OTHER BASIC CONCEPTS OF PROGRAMMINGS

COMPUTER LANGUAGES

• Low-Level Languages are totally dependent on the binary digits, i.e., 0 and 1. The whole program is written entirely in binary digits, so these languages do not need any translator. They are also called machine languages, which are very difficult to understand but are faster in working.
• Assembly languages or middle-level languages contain some codes for some simplifications of language code. All the assembly languages need an assembler to translate assembly languages into binary languages.
• High-level languages include English words, alphabets, signs, symbols present in the keyboard. They are significantly easier to understand for the programmers but not impossible for the machine to understand. All HLL need a translator for converting high-level languages into machine languages. All the HLL need an interpreter or a compiler as a translator. Sometimes these both work together for translation.

Some Basic Tools

INTERPRETER is a translator of HLL, which converts the full written HLL program line by line one at a time. In case, somewhere an error occurs in any program lines, the translation or the execution stops then and there. Unless the query or error is resolved, the interpreter will not work further.

COMPILER is a translator that translates the whole program at once into the machine language. It displays the list of errors after the compilation of the code or program.

JVM or Java virtual machine is an engine that provides a run-time environment to drive the Java Code or applications. It is a coded established virtual machine that enables any pc, device, computer, etc. to run the Java environment. It also helps to code programs written in other languages that are compiled to Java bytecode. This can be referred to as an abstract machine and has a specification that offers a run-time environment to allow the execution of Java bytecode.

VARIABLES AND CONSTANTS

• A variable is a memory location where a value is stored. It is just like a container that contains a single value at a time.
• Constants are the fixed values that do not change during the whole execution of the program. They are also known as literals.

Types of Constants:

1. Integer – All the whole numbers, either positive or negative, are the integer constant. ( Example – 1, 105, -4, -7, etc)
2. Floating Point – All the fractional ratios or decimal values are the floating-point constants. (Example – 1.5, 7.8, 1.0, -9.6, etc)
3. Character – Anything which is written within single quotes(“) becomes a character constant. (Example – ‘a’, ‘2’, ‘-3’, ‘#’)
4. String – A group of characters or sequence of characters are written within double quotes becomes a string constant. (Example – “No”, “25486”, “293djfh”, “-890ijr#”)
5. Boolean – The true and false values are the Boolean constants.

OPERATORS AND EXPRESSIONS

Operator: It is a sign or symbol on which the operands processes some operations. ( +, -, * , /)

Operand: It is any alphabetical combination of variables on which an operator works. ( A, b, F, d)

There are, in total, five types of basic operators in Java. These are: – 

1. Arithmetical Operators – (+, -, *, /, %)
2. Relational Operators – ( >, <, =, >=, <=, == )
3. Logical Operators – ( AND &&, OR ||, NOT !)
4. Conditional Operators – ( var1 = condition? Value1: Value2 )
5. Increment/Decrement Operators – (++, –)

DATA TYPES IN JAVA

• Byte data type                                
• Short data type
• Int data type
• Long data type 
• Float data type
• Double data type
• Char 
• String
• Boolean

I hope this article helped you decide which is better- JAVA or C++. This article is a whole knowledge guide for both the languages and definitely will clear all your doubts.

So, in case you have skipped the article, scroll up and read, and get the benefit of this knowledge bucket!