Why is C++ so big?

C++ is not a tiny language designed to be a minimal language for teaching, but neither are the languages people most often compare it to, such as C, Java, C#. They too are huge compared to say, Pascal as Dr. Wirth originally defined it – for good reasons. The programming world is far more complex today than it was 30 years ago, and modern programming languages reflect that.

C++ isn’t as big as some people imagine. By word count, the size of the language specifications (excluding standard libraries) for C++, C#, and Java are currently within a few percentage points of each other. This reflects that they are general-purpose mainstream languages that have grown similar features – auto/var type deduction, range for loops, lambda functions, various levels of support for generic programming, and so on. It also reflects what design theorists call “essential complexity in the problem domain” – the complexity in the real world and that a serious language has to expose, everything from fundamental OS differences to calling C++ libraries.

In some cases C++ directly supports (i.e., in the language) what some other languages support through libraries, so the language part will be relatively larger. On the other hand, if you want to write a “typical modern application”, you need to consider operating system interfaces, GUI, databases, web interfaces, etc. the sum of language features, libraries, and programming conventions and standards that you must become familiar with dwarf the programming language. Here, C++’s size can be an advantage as far as it better supports good libraries.

Finally, the days where a novice programmer can know all of a language are gone, at least for the languages in widespread industrial use. Few people know “all of C” or “all of Java” either and none of those are novices. It follows that nobody should have to apologize for the fact that novices do not know all of C++. What you must do - in any language – is to pick a subset, get working writing code, and gradually learn more of the language, its libraries, and its tools. For my suggestion on how beginners can approach C++, see Programming: Principles and Practice using C++.