Hi Jim,

Im not an expert in C/C++, but just like in VFP and perl, I'm sure there are lot of ticks that can be used to optimize things. Also, in both VFP and perl there are usually a number of different way to accomplish a desired result.

If I'm all wrong here, some expert jump in and tell me so, but my understanding is that C, being the base level would be the fastest. Most operating system are written in C. Almost all functionality in C is held in the C libraries. For example, if I wanted to print "Hello World" in C, I would call the print library passing it the string "Hello World". C++ is written in C. It provides the classes needed to quickly assemble various components like containers, and other objects. In a immature environment like gnome was five or six year ago, a programmer could spend the first couple of years of developing a new app in building the C++ classes that would be need to write his application. This would be before the first line of code were ever written.

The higher level languages like VB and VFP have much of the work already done and can use Visual Tools to assemble components into forms, fill out property sheets, etc. In the methods of the forms VB or VFP code can be entered. I think VFP and VB are mostly written in C++.

When the absolutely greatest speed is needed, assembly is use. For example, it might be used to evaluate the status of a launch where one second could be divided into 56 intervals, and each interval would require hundreds of check to evaluate whether all system were functioning properly and the launch craft were on its proper course.

LelandJ