Why are most of the biggest open source projects in C? [closed]

Answer 1

I can list a couple more reasons

1. C code produces more compact object code. Try to compile 'Hello World' as C and C++ program and compare the size of the executable. May not be too relevant today but definitely was a factor 10+ years ago
2. It is much easier to use dynamic linking with C programs. Most of the C++ libraries still expose entry points through C interface. So instead of writing a bridge between C++ and C why not to program the whole thing in C?

Answer 2

Linus Torvalds has ranted several times on the topic of C++ -- he uses C for git, and of course the Linux kernel is mostly C:

• on C++ and git (warning: don flame-retardant first)
• an interview with Linus from 1998

You can easily find more of these, and while it's in his nature to get a bit flamey about these things, there are some valid points.

One of the more interesting (from where I'm sitting, anyway) is the observation that C++ compilers and libraries were (and to some degree are) a lot more buggy than the corresponding C compilers. This stands to reason given the relative complexities of the two languages.

It smells a little of "not invented here" (NIH) syndrome, but when you have the entire Linux kernel developer base, you can sometimes afford to reinvent things "The Right Way".

Answer 3

One reason might be that the GNU coding standards specifically ask you to use C. Another reason I can think of is that the free software tools work better with C than C++. For example, GNU indent doesn't do C++ as well as it does C, or etags doesn't parse C++ as well as it parses C.

Answer 4

If correctly implemented C is very fast and very portable and the compilers are there

C++ is different for each compiler available, the libraries dont agree, the standards don´t match.