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  5. C++ vs Hack

C++ vs Hack

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

C++
C++
Stacks18.2K
Followers9.4K
Votes866
Hack
Hack
Stacks818
Followers169
Votes29
GitHub Stars18.5K
Forks3.1K

C++ vs Hack: What are the differences?

  1. Syntax and Features: C++ is a statically typed language that supports object-oriented, procedural, and generic programming features. On the other hand, Hack is a dynamically typed language with many features of PHP such as associative arrays and autoloading. Hack also introduces new features like async functions and collections.

  2. Type System: C++ has a complex type system with support for pointers, references, and manual memory management. In contrast, Hack has a simpler type system with type inference, type annotations, and gradual typing that allows for a combination of dynamically and statically typed code.

  3. Error Handling: C++ relies on exceptions for error handling, which can sometimes lead to complex code structures. Hack, however, encourages the use of error handling functions like HH\invariant() and HH\assert() to handle errors and enforce preconditions.

  4. Performance: C++ is known for its high performance as it directly compiles to machine code, allowing for efficient execution. Hack, while generally slower due to its dynamic nature, offers better developer productivity and error detection through its type system.

  5. Platform and Usage: C++ is widely used for system programming, game development, and performance-critical applications. Hack, on the other hand, is primarily used by Facebook for web development and has built-in support for PHP interoperability.

  6. Community and Support: C++ has been around for decades and has a large, established community with numerous third-party libraries and resources. In contrast, Hack has a smaller community but benefits from Facebook's backing, ensuring continuous development and support.

In Summary, C++ offers high performance and low-level control, while Hack provides developer-friendly features like type inference and error handling functions tailored for web development.

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Advice on C++, Hack

Alexandre
Alexandre

Founder & Developper at Finance D

Jul 1, 2021

Decided

I had a goal to create the simplest accounting software for Mac and Windows to help small businesses in Canada.

This led me to a long 2 years of exploration of the best language that could provide these features:

  • Great overall productivity
  • International wide-spread usage for long-term sustainability and easy to find documentation
  • Versatility for creating websites and desktop softwares
  • Enjoyable developper experience
  • Ability to create good looking modern UIs
  • Job openings with this language

I tried Python, Java, C# and C++ without finding what I was looking for.

When I discovered Javascript, I really knew it was the right language to use. Thinking of this today makes me realize even more how great a decision this has been to learn, use and master Javascript. It has been a fun, challenging and productive road on which I am still satisfied.

Obviously, when I refer to Javascript, it is not without implying the vast ecosystem around it. For me, JS is a whole universe in which almost every imaginable tools exist. It's awesome - for real. Thanks to all the contributors which have made it possible.

To be even clearer about how intense I am with Javascript, let's just say that my first passion was music. Until, I find coding with Javascript! Yep, I know!

So in conclusion, I chose Javascript because it is versatile, enjoyable, widely used, productive for both desktop softwares and websites with ability to create modern great looking user interfaces (assuming HTML and CSS are involved) and finally there are job openings.

399k views399k
Comments
Rachel
Rachel

Nov 24, 2020

Needs adviceonJavaScriptJavaScriptPythonPythonC++C++

Hi, I'm just starting to learn code, and I stumbled upon this website. I think I should learn JavaScript, Python, and C++ to begin with. I'm a quick learner so I am only worried about what would be more useful. Suppose my goal is to build an online clothing store or something. Then what languages would be best? I need advice. Please help me out. I'm 13 and just beginning and it's hard to understand when people use technical terms so please keep it simple. Thanks a lot.

292k views292k
Comments
Xiang
Xiang

Feb 23, 2021

Decided

Python has become the most popular language for machine learning right now since almost all machine learning tools provide service for this language, and it is really to use since it has many build-in objects like Hashtable. In C, you need to implement everything by yourself.

C++ is one of the most popular programming languages in graphics. It has many fancy libraries like eigen to help us process matrix. I have many previous projects about graphics based on C++ and this time, we also need to deal with graphics since we need to analyze movements of the human body. C++ has much more advantages than Java. C++ uses only compiler, whereas Java uses compiler and interpreter in both. C++ supports both operator overloading and method overloading whereas Java only supports method overloading. C++ supports manual object management with the help of new and delete keywords whereas Java has built-in automatic garbage collection.

381k views381k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

C++
C++
Hack
Hack

C++ compiles directly to a machine's native code, allowing it to be one of the fastest languages in the world, if optimized.

Hack provides instantaneous type checking via a local server that watches the filesystem. It typically runs in less than 200 milliseconds, making it easy to integrate into your development workflow without introducing a noticeable delay.

-
Fast Development; Type Checking; Built for HHVM; Type Annotations; Generics; Lambdas
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
18.5K
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
3.1K
Stacks
18.2K
Stacks
818
Followers
9.4K
Followers
169
Votes
866
Votes
29
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 205
    Performance
  • 108
    Control over memory allocation
  • 99
    Cross-platform
  • 98
    Fast
  • 85
    Object oriented
Cons
  • 8
    Slow compilation
  • 8
    Unsafe
  • 6
    Over-complicated
  • 6
    Fragile ABI
  • 5
    No standard/mainstream dependency management
Pros
  • 6
    Open source
  • 6
    Interoperates seamlessly with php
  • 5
    Backed by facebook
  • 4
    HHVM
  • 2
    PHP like
Integrations
No integrations available
HHVM (HipHop Virtual Machine)
HHVM (HipHop Virtual Machine)

What are some alternatives to C++, Hack?

JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

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