And for my limited knowledge of C++, it still "feels" like an extended C.
I'm not claiming I know a hell of a lot about either - just that I know enough, for both to give me power and possibilities way beyond any other language :)
Maybe this will interest you:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/GoingNative/GoingNative-2012...
Someone joked by saying, it's like using JavaScript as the easier Java... Well... I get the idea, but C can compile with C++ programs, making it much more of a subset of C++, which I can re-use. That makes it a "no cost" tool to fall back on, when C++ is not available/possible.
They are very compatible tools! :)
On the one hand, C has a tiny runtime that can be omitted or replaced. On the other, it doesn't have all sorts of things that would be helpful but not require runtime overhead.
My biggest complaint is lack of a module system. #include is a stupid ugly hack. Second would be the way it doesn't let you portably define and work with low-level data representations in a standard way. I don't count manual bit masking and shifting for this.
I would also really prefer a more advanced type system, including parametric polymorphism integrated with the module system, but not via templates.
I'm not saying C is elegant. What I like about C, is that (in my *NIX/BSD world) it is THE language, that is always available and works the way I expect - even on old FreeBSD machine, that hasn't been touched for a decade.
It is also the language I can use for embedded computing.
In general: the more C and C++ code I have, the more systems I can create well-functioning, speedy programs for. I don't need to learn a new language's pitfalls, bugs, shortcomings, etc... I can just rely on my knowledge of C and get to know the platform I'm developing for.
That said - I recognise that some languages are more suitable for a given problem than others. I currently code a lot of Node.js (which I am starting to regret - I wish I'd chosen Go), but there is no doubt, I gain a lot in terms of not having to think about net layer (too much) and the community has made a wealth of modules of varied quality (myself included).
I think you could say, C is my favorite cordless drill! :) C is a tool that works very well for many cases - at least the once I come across. There is more specialized tools for many things, but I like simplicity.
In most other languages (recently I've done a bit of Python) you feel like your walking in someone else's shoes. But with C/C++ it's just you and the machine.
That makes the code so much more robust and you are less likely to make wrong assumptions about what a function or piece of code does.
I do a lot of JS at the moment - node.js and jQuery - what I hate the most, is all the wrong assumptions I have, when somebody makes a function called "clone" (this particulalry one copies the reference) or when jQuery has chained functions, that does not "inherit scope"...
I wish I had the time and patience to learn assembly - but then again... C or C++ is close enough and probably way faster to get anything done in :)
Re. assembly, I'm pushing 60 so I've written a lot of assembler in the days, most of it on PDP11 and AppleII. Last time I coded in assembly was 1993, so if you're not writing your own BIOS you're good without it.
Funny, though. The other day I missed something from assembler, and I'm not taking about speed or lowlevel stuff. No it was the ability to switch text segments, in C++ it would be equivalent to be able, in a single .cpp file, to switch from one translation unit to another.
