Differences Between C and Java

If you are a C or C++ programmer, you should have found much of the syntax of Java--particularly at the level of operators and statements--to be familiar. Because Java and C are so similar in some ways, it is important for C and C++ programmers to understand where the similarities end. There are a number of important differences between C and Java, which are summarized in the following list:

No preprocessor

Java does not include a preprocessor and does not define any analogs of the #define, #include, and #ifdef directives. Constant definitions are replaced with staticfinal fields in Java. (See the java.lang.Math.PI field for an example.) Macro definitions are not available in Java, but advanced compiler technology and inlining has made them less useful. Java does not require an #include directive because Java has no header files. Java class files contain both the class API and the class implementation, and the compiler reads API information from class files as necessary. Java lacks any form of conditional compilation, but its cross-platform portability means that this feature is very rarely needed.

No global variables

Java defines a very clean namespace. Packages contain classes, classes contain fields and methods, and methods contain local variables. But there are no global variables in Java, and, thus, there is no possibility of namespace collisions among those variables.

Well-defined primitive type sizes

All the primitive types in Java have well-defined sizes. In C, the size of short, int, and long types is platform-dependent, which hampers portability.

No pointers

Java classes and arrays are reference types, and references to objects and arrays are akin to pointers in C. Unlike C pointers, however, references in Java are entirely opaque. There is no way to convert a reference to a primitive type, and a reference cannot be incremented or decremented. There is no address-of operator like &, dereference operator like * or −>, or sizeof operator. Pointers are a notorious source of bugs. Eliminating them simplifies the language and makes Java programs more robust and secure.

Garbage collection

The Java Virtual Machine performs garbage collection so that Java programmers do not have to explicitly manage the memory used by all objects and arrays. This feature eliminates another entire category of common bugs and all but eliminates memory leaks from Java programs.

No goto statement

Java doesn't support a goto statement. Use of goto except in certain well-defined circumstances is regarded as poor programming practice. Java adds exception handling and labeled break and continue statements to the flow-control statements offered by C. These are a good substitute for goto.

Variable declarations anywhere

C requires local variable declarations to be made at the beginning of a method or block, while Java allows them anywhere in a method or block. Many programmers prefer to keep all their variable declarations grouped together at the top of a method, however.

Forward references

The Java compiler is smarter than the C compiler, in that it allows methods to be invoked before they are defined. This eliminates the need to declare functions in a header file before defining them in a program file, as is done in C.

Method overloading

Java programs can define multiple methods with the same name, as long as the methods have different parameter lists.

No struct and union types

Java doesn't support C struct and union types. A Java class can be thought of as an enhanced struct, however.

No enumerated types

Java doesn't support the enum keyword used in C to define types that consist of fixed sets of named values. This is surprising for a strongly typed language like Java, but there are ways to simulate this feature with object constants.

No bitfields

Java doesn't support the (infrequently used) ability of C to specify the number of individual bits occupied by fields of a struct.

No typedef

Java doesn't support the typedef keyword used in C to define aliases for type names. Java's lack of pointers makes its type-naming scheme simpler and more consistent than C's, however, so many of the common uses of typedef are not really necessary in Java.

No method pointers

C allows you to store the address of a function in a variable and pass this function pointer to other functions. You cannot do this with Java methods, but you can often achieve similar results by passing an object that implements a particular interface. Also, a Java method can be represented and invoked through a java.lang.reflect.Method object.

No variable-length argument lists

Java doesn't allow you to define methods such as C's printf() that take a variable number of arguments. Method overloading allows you to simulate C varargs functions for simple cases, but there's no general replacement for this feature.

Differences Between Java and C/C++

• The Preprocessor
• Pointers
• Structures and Unions
• Functions
• Multiple Inheritance
• Strings
• The goto Statement
• Operator Overloading
• Automatic Coercions
• Variable Arguments
• Command-Line Arguments

It is no secret that the Java language is highly derived from the C and C++ languages. Because C++ is currently considered the language of choice for professional software developers, it's important to understand what aspects of C++ Java inherits. Of possibly even more importance are what aspects of C++ Java doesn't support. Because Java is an entirely new language, it was possible for the language architects to pick and choose which features from C++ to implement in Java and how.

The focus of this appendix is to point out the differences between Java and C++. If you are a C++ programmer, you will be able to appreciate the differences between Java and C++. Even if you don't have any C++ experience, you can gain some insight into the Java language by understanding what C++ discrepancies it clears up in its implementation. Because C++ backwardly supports C, many of the differences pointed out in this appendix refer to C++, but inherently apply to C as well.

The Preprocessor

All C/C++ compilers implement a stage of compilation known as the preprocessor. The C++ preprocessor basically performs an intelligent search and replace on identifiers that have been declared using the #define or #typedef directives. Although most advocates of C++ discourage the use of the preprocessor, which was inherited from C, it is still widely used by most C++ programmers. Most of the processor definitions in C++ are stored in header files, which complement the actual source code files.

The problem with the preprocessor approach is that it provides an easy way for programmers to inadvertently add unnecessary complexity to a program. What happens is that many programmers using the #define and #typedef directives end up inventing their own sublanguage within the confines of a particular project. This results in other programmers having to go through the header files and sort out all the #define and #typedef information to understand a program, which makes code maintenance and reuse almost impossible. An additional problem with the preprocessor approach is that it is weak when it comes to type checking and validation.

Java does not have a preprocessor. It provides similar functionality (#define, #typedef, and so on) to that provided by the C++ preprocessor, but with far more control. Constant data members are used in place of the #define directive, and class definitions are used in lieu of the #typedef directive. The result is that Java source code is much more consistent and easier to read than C++ source code. Additionally, Java programs don't use header files; the Java compiler builds class definitions directly from the source code files, which contain both class definitions and method implementations.

Pointers

Most developers agree that the misuse of pointers causes the majority of bugs in C/C++ programming. Put simply, when you have pointers, you have the ability to trash memory. C++ programmers regularly use complex pointer arithmetic to create and maintain dynamic data structures. In return, C++ programmers spend a lot of time hunting down complex bugs caused by their complex pointer arithmetic.

The Java language does not support pointers. Java provides similar functionality by making heavy use of references. Java passes all arrays and objects by reference. This approach prevents common errors due to pointer mismanagement. It also makes programming easier in a lot of ways simply because the correct usage of pointers is easily misunderstood by all but the most seasoned programmers.

You may be thinking that the lack of pointers in Java will keep you from being able to implement many data structures, such as dynamic arrays. The reality is that any pointer task can be carried out just as easily and more reliably with objects and arrays of objects. You then benefit from the security provided by the Java runtime system; it performs boundary checking on all array indexing operations.

Structures and Unions

There are three types of complex data types in C++: classes, structures, and unions. Java only implements one of these data types: classes. Java forces programmers to use classes when the functionality of structures and unions is desired. Although this sounds like more work for the programmer, it actually ends up being more consistent, because classes can imitate structures and unions with ease. The Java designers really wanted to keep the language simple, so it only made sense to eliminate aspects of the language that overlapped.

Functions

In C, code is organized into functions, which are global subroutines accessible to a program. C++ added classes and in doing so provided class methods, which are functions that are connected to classes. C++ class methods are very similar to Java class methods. However, because C++ still supports C, there is nothing discouraging C++ programmers from using functions. This results in a mixture of function and method use that makes for confusing programs.

Java has no functions. Being a purer object-oriented language than C++, Java forces programmers to bundle all routines into class methods. There is no limitation imposed by forcing programmers to use methods instead of functions. As a matter of fact, implementing routines as methods encourages programmers to organize code better. Keep in mind that strictly speaking there is nothing wrong with the procedural approach of using functions; it just doesn't mix well with the object-oriented paradigm that defines the core of Java.

Multiple Inheritance

Multiple inheritance is a feature of C++ that allows you to derive a class from multiple parent classes. Although multiple inheritance is indeed powerful, it is complicated to use correctly and causes many problems otherwise. It is also very complicated to implement from the compiler perspective.

Java takes the high road and provides no direct support for multiple inheritance. You can implement functionality similar to multiple inheritance by using interfaces in Java. Java interfaces provide object method descriptions but contain no implementations.

Strings

C and C++ have no built-in support for text strings. The standard technique adopted among C and C++ programmers is that of using null-terminated arrays of characters to represent strings.

In Java, strings are implemented as first class objects (String and StringBuffer), meaning that they are at the core of the Java language. Java's implementation of strings as objects provides several advantages:

• The manner in which you create strings and access the elements of strings is consistent across all strings on all systems
• Because the Java string classes are defined as part of the Java language and not part of some extraneous extension, Java strings function predictably every time
• The Java string classes perform extensive runtime checking, which helps eliminate troublesome runtime errors

The goto Statement

The dreaded goto statement is pretty much a relic these days even in C and C++, but it is technically a legal part of the languages. The goto statement has historically been cited as the cause for messy, impossible to understand, and sometimes even impossible to predict code known as "spaghetti code." The primary usage of the goto statement has merely been as a convenience to substitute not thinking through an alternative, more structured branching technique.

For all these reasons and more, Java does not provide a goto statement. The Java language specifies goto as a keyword, but its usage is not supported. I suppose the Java designers wanted to eliminate the possibility of even using goto as an identifier! Not including goto in the Java language simplifies the language and helps eliminate the option of writing messy code.

Operator Overloading

Operator overloading, which is considered a prominent feature in C++, is not supported in Java. Although roughly the same functionality can be implemented by classes in Java, the convenience of operator overloading is still missing. However, in defense of Java, operator overloading can sometimes get very tricky. No doubt the Java developers decided not to support operator overloading to keep the Java language as simple as possible.

Automatic Coercions

Automatic coercion refers to the implicit casting of data types that sometimes occurs in C and C++. For example, in C++ you can assign a float value to an int variable, which can result in a loss of information. Java does not support C++ style automatic coercions. In Java, if a coercion will result in a loss of data, you must always explicitly cast the data element to the new type.

Variable Arguments

C and C++ let you declare functions, such as printf, that take a variable number of arguments. Although this is a convenient feature, it is impossible for the compiler to thoroughly type check the arguments, which means problems can arise at runtime without you knowing. Again Java takes the high road and doesn't support variable arguments at all.

Command-Line Arguments

The command-line arguments passed from the system into a Java program differ in a couple of ways from the command-line arguments passed into a C++ program. First, the number of parameters passed differs between the two languages. In C and C++, the system passes two arguments to a program: argc and argv. argc specifies the number of arguments stored in argv. argv is a pointer to an array of characters containing the actual arguments. In Java, the system passes a single value to a program: args. args is an array of Strings that contains the command-line arguments. In C and C++, the command-line arguments passed into a program include the name used to invoke the program. This name always appears as the first argument and is rarely ever used. In Java, you already know the name of the program because it is the same name as the class, so there is no need to pass this information as a command-line argument. Therefore, the Java runtime system only passes the arguments following the name that invoked the program.

Arrays

In this section, we will create a small C program that generates 10 random numbers and sorts them. To do that, we will use a new variable arrangement called an array.


An array lets you declare and work with a collection of values of the same type. For example, you might want to create a collection of five integers. One way to do it would be to declare five integers directly:
int a, b, c, d, e;
This is okay, but what if you needed a thousand integers? An easier way is to declare an array of five integers:
int a[5];
The five separate integers inside this array are accessed by an index. All arrays start at index zero and go to n-1 in C. Thus, int a[5]; contains five elements. For example:
int a[5];

a[0] = 12;
a[1] = 9;
a[2] = 14;
a[3] = 5;
a[4] = 1;
One of the nice things about array indexing is that you can use a loop to manipulate the index. For example, the following code initializes all of the values in the array to 0:
int a[5];
int i;

for (i=0; i<5;> The following code initializes the values in the array sequentially and then prints them out:
#include
int main()
{
int a[5];
int i;
for (i=0; i<5; i="0;">

Arrays are used all the time in C. To understand a common usage, start an editor and enter the following code: #include
#define MAX 10
int a[MAX];
int rand_seed=10;
/* from K&R
- returns random number between 0 and 32767.*/
int rand()
{
rand_seed = rand_seed * 1103515245 +12345;
return (unsigned int)(rand_seed / 65536) % 32768;
}

int main()
{
int i,t,x,y;
/* fill array */
for (i=0; i <>
{
a[i]=rand();
printf("%d\n",a[i]);
} /* more stuff will go here in a minute */
return 0;
}

This code contains several new concepts. The #define line declares a constant named MAX and sets it to 10. Constant names are traditionally written in all caps to make them obvious in the code. The line int a[MAX]; shows you how to declare an array of integers in C. Note that because of the position of the array's declaration, it is global to the entire program. The line int rand_seed=10 also declares a global variable, this time named rand_seed, that is initialized to 10 each time the program begins. This value is the starting seed for the random number code that follows.

In a real random number generator, the seed should initialize as a random value, such as the system time. Here, the rand function will produce the same values each time you run the program. The line int rand() is a function declaration. The rand function accepts no parameters and returns an integer value. We will learn more about functions later. The four lines that follow implement the rand function. We will ignore them for now. The main function is normal. Four local integers are declared, and the array is filled with 10 random values using a for loop. Note that the array a contains 10 individual integers. You point to a specific integer in the array using square brackets.

So a[0] refers to the first integer in the array, a[1] refers to the second, and so on. The line starting with /* and ending with */ is called a comment. The compiler completely ignores the line. You can place notes to yourself or other programmers in comments. Now add the following code in place of the more stuff ... comment:

/* bubble sort the array */
for (x=0; x <>
for (y=0; y <>
if (a[y] > a[y+1])
{
t=a[y];
a[y]=a[y+1];
a[y+1]=t;
}
/* print sorted array */
printf("--------------------\n");
for (i=0; i <>
This code sorts the random values and prints them in sorted order. Each time you run it, you will get the same values. If you would like to change the values that are sorted, change the value of rand_seed each time you run the program.

The only easy way to truly understand what this code is doing is to execute it "by hand." That is, assume MAX is 4 to make it a little more manageable, take out a sheet of paper and pretend you are the computer. Draw the array on your paper and put four random, unsorted values into the array. Execute each line of the sorting section of the code and draw out exactly what happens. You will find that, each time through the inner loop, the larger values in the array are pushed toward the bottom of the array and the smaller values bubble up toward the top.