C++ vs Python
What is C++?
C++ is a high-level and general-purpose programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979. It is an extension C programming language, i.e., C with classes. The concept of object-oriented programming was first introduced in the C++ language. C++ is also known as an object-oriented programming language.
It was designed for system programming and embedded system, but later on, it was used in developing various applications such as desktop applications, video games, servers such as e-commerce, Web search or SQL servers and performance-critical applications such as telephone switches.
What is Python?
Python is a general-purpose and high-level programming language developed by Guido van Rossum in 1991. The main aim of developing python language was its simplicity. It contains features like indentation, which makes the code more readable, and it also contains library functions that make this language more powerful.
It is declared as a top language in IEEE’s 2018 Top Programming Languages. Due to its popularity and simplicity makes python more powerful in the industry.
Differences b/w C++ and Python
Definition
C++ is a high-level and object-oriented programming language that allows you to do procedural programming, which is very close to CPU and provides full control over the hardware.
Python is an interpreted, high-level, and general-purpose programming language used to develop all types of projects.
Ease of Learning
One of the major factors for beginners is the ease of learning. If the programming language is hard, then it becomes difficult for the programmer to learn. The syntax of python is similar to English. Therefore, it is very easy to learn. On the other hand, C++ is based on the object-oriented concepts that deal with the memory allocation, if we write the wrong program in C++, then that can destroy the system also.
Speed
C++ is faster than the python programming language. Python is written in the C programming language, so memory management is very difficult in python. In C++, we can allocate the memory to the variables and can deallocate the memory when the variable is no longer used in the code.
Memory Management
In C++, we need to allocate the memory to the new variables and deallocate the memory whenever the variable is no longer required. If we do not do so, then it can lead to a memory leak. Therefore, we can say that C++ does not provide inbuilt garbage collection and dynamic memory management. On the other hand, python provides the inbuilt garbage collection and dynamic memory management mechanism, i.e., it allocates and deallocates the memory on its own.
Compilation
Python is an interpreted programming language, so it requires an interpreter at the time of compilation. On the other hand, C++ is a pre-compiled programming language, so it does not need any interpreter at the time of compilation.
Readability
C++ has a complex syntax, which is difficult to read and write. It follows the programming rules like we need to use the curly brackets and semicolon at the end of the statement. On the other hand, python does not follow these programming rules. It uses the indentation rules, which are similar to the English; this indentation allows the programmer to understand the code more easily.
Variable declaration
In C++, we need to declare the variable by mentioning the type and name of the variable before using it. Therefore, C++ is a statically typed programming language. On the other hand, python is a dynamically typed programming language, which means that we do not need to declare the variable before using that variable.
C++ Program
Python Program
In the above two programs, the output would be 20. The difference in the above two programs is that in C++, we need to declare the variable with its type, while in python, we do not need to declare the variables.
Functions
In C++, the function accepts and returns the type of value according to the definition, which is pre-defined. For example, suppose we have a function int add(int a, int b), then this function will accept only integer values as an argument and returns the integer type value. On the other hand, in python, there is no limitation on the type of the argument and type of its return value.
Let’s summarize the above differences in a tabular form.
| C++ | Python |
|---|---|
| It is a high-level and pre-compiled programming language that allows you to do procedural programming. | It is a high-level and interpreted programming language used to develop all types of projects. |
| It is not easy to learn because of its complex syntax. | It is easy to learn, as it does not follow any programming rules. It follows the indentation rules, which is very much similar to English. |
| It does not contain a garbage collector. | It contains the garbage collector. |
| It is a pre-compiled programming language, so it does not require an interpreter during compilation. | It is an interpreted programming language, so it requires an interpreter to run the program. |
| It is a statically typed programming language. | It is a dynamically typed programming language. |
| Variable is declared by mentioning the type of the variable. | It does not require the declaration of a variable. |
| The function that accepts the value as an argument and returns the type of the value will depend on the definition of the function. | The function does not have any restriction on the type of the parameter and the return type. |
| Installation is easy. | It is not easy to install the python on Windows. |
| Variables inside the loop are not accessible outside the loop. | Variables inside the loop are also accessible outside the loop. |
| It has long lines of code as compared to Python. | It contains fewer lines of code compared to C++. |
| It supports both procedural and object-oriented programming. | It supports procedural, object-oriented, and functional programming. |
| It contains 52 keywords. | It contains 33 keywords. |
| In C++, the programmer needs to manually allocate the new variable and deallocate when no longer required. | Python performs the allocation. |