Freecell Solver - Evolution of a C ProgramWhy not C++?  8. Why
not C++?  Markus Oberhumer (of PySol fame) asked if I thought
about converting Freecell Solver to C++. (I suppose he meant
with STL, templates and all). Here is a full answer why I'm not
going to do it:    1. The solver is already working in ANSI C.
2. The code is not overly object-oriented. Whatever OOP concepts
exist there fit well enough within what ANSI C gives me.   3.
C++/STL may make it slower, perhaps even considerably. I'd
rather not spend time risking something like that, only to roll
it back later.   4. ANSI C compiles much faster. (at least with
gcc)   5. ANSI C is cleaner, more portable and causes less
unexpected problems than C++.  I'm more willing to integrate
C++-derived features there into the ANSI C code. Things like
namespaces, (non-inherited) classes, or inline functions.
However, for the time being, I'd like to maintain the code as
pure ANSI C.  For that matter, some of the gcc extensions can
prove very useful too, but I can