mixing c with c++ and oop?

[sde]

well i've got some really good midi stuff happening now. it is programmed in C.

now i am at a point to where i'd like to make classes .. as i'm self taught in this area ( or helped along by you all ) i am wondering if it is common to port programs from c to c++ so i can then program OO.

is there really any porting besides just making the classes which will turn it into c++ ?

[joe_bruin]

well, you have to change your file names from .c to .cc/.cpp/.c++/.cxx/anything else your compiler takes. then you may need to include the headers required for c++ functions, and may need to change some of your existing includes if you are using the c++ namespace model. you may also find that you've forgotten to declare some std* functions, which is okay by c (although good compilers will give you a warning), but not c++. c also does not enforce type checking on function parameters (old c, anyway), so you may find that some of your functions complain about their arguments. some defined external variables may also need to use the "extern C" specifier. it is also generally considered bad form to mix allocations using "malloc" and "new".

generally, a well-written c program will 'port' with little to no problems. a poorly written one, relying on old quirks in the language and general poor programming, can be quite a challenge.

[Valmont]

...so i can then program OO.

In C you can program object oriented as well. Both C and C++ are weak OO languages.
But OO in C is different from C++.

It's more on how familiar you are with (modern) OO paradigms.

[sde]

thanks again joe and val.

i didn't know C could be programmed OO, .. but then i haven't really worked with it much at all besides this project.

[Blood Night]

do you think that "struct" has the oo factor within it?

[Valmont]

No single entity in C or C++ has the OO factor in it. But both of them offer a set entities wich enables OO. Both are suitable on a certain level for OO, but once again, notion and know how of OO is more important to master OO.
Merely using the features provided in an object oriented language doesn't mean one is automatically programming object oriented wise. Elements of it might be present, true that, but that hardly can't be the issue.