What is C++++? A pro­gram­ming language?

De­velopers have been working with the C pro­gram­ming language since 1972. In 1979, the C++ extension was created. A good way to explain the new name is that the ++ character belongs to the C and C++ operators. This enables an in­cre­ment­al increase to be produced and ‘+1’ is cal­cu­lated with each run. So if you are familiar with C, you will un­der­stand that C++ is an extension of C. By the way, ++ can also be found in Java operators.

If you now want to indicate a new extension, you could simply add two plus signs to the end even though this makes no sense from a software pro­gram­ming point of view. This could also be the reason that the term C++++ has perhaps not become generally accepted and instead C# is used. But with a little ima­gin­a­tion, C++++ can be found hidden within C#. If the plus signs are arranged in a square, this results in a sharp sign.

As explained, a double increment with four plus signs does not make sense from a developer’s point of view. For this reason alone, the name C++++ was never really con­sidered. The term C# is smarter because it can be read in several ways. C# is not pro­nounced ‘C hash’, as you might think, but rather ‘C sharp’, which in musical terms signifies that a musical note should be a semitone higher. With this in mind, the sign could symbolise a slightly enhanced version of C ⁠- an extension of the original language.