Write C++ code in C style

Question

If we want to write a module in C and have to compile it as C++ with g++, is it OK to develop a piece of code in C++ without any own classes, only using "global / static functions" as in C? So, simply said, to code C in C++ (with only few system header changes etc.)

Answer 1

Yes. In fact, it's generally a good idea because C++ enforces stronger type-checking than C.

Answer 2

You will need to do a couple of things other than only use functions, in particular you should mark all your functions as extern "C" to avoid name mangling and enforce C calling conventions (and incidentally block you from overloading). If you want to be able to compile it in C, you will have to qualify types with struct when declaring variables (enum for enumerations), or provide the appropriate typedefs...

Alternatively, you can add -x c to the compiler options to tell g++ to compile the code as C (if you are not able to change the command line from g++ to gcc, you might not be able to add compiler flags either...)