Member Avatar for soley

So, after way too long, I'm finally starting college this coming January. I plan on going full time, but I still have one more class to fill up the gap. My question to this wonderful community is this:

I'm already taking an intro to C class, but there's also an intro to C++ class that I could take. The rest of the classes available to me right now seem a little out of my league & I don't feel I would do well in them. I know these are both just "intro" classes, but is it wise to take these two classes at the same time?

Thanks!

Edited by soley because: typo. stupid keyboard...
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A practical way to decide: treat this as a syllabus and workload question rather than a pure “which language is better” fight. Several replies already point out overlap — and hit that — and is correct that a solid C foundation pays off. Use those observations to guide a quick, low-effort check before you enroll.

Compare the two course outlines. If the C++ class promises true object‑oriented design, RAII/smart pointers, and the Standard Library (STL) or modern C++ features, it will give you different, higher‑level skills than an intro C class. If the C++ class is essentially “C with classes,” expect heavy duplication. Also confirm which future classes list C or C++ as prerequisites, and ask about the expected weekly hours and the style of assessment (small labs vs larger projects).

If both fit your schedule and you take both, keep them separate in practice: different project folders, distinct coding style rules, and deliberately build one small systems-style C program and one small idiomatic C++ program that uses classes/STL so concepts stay clear. If workload is a concern, pick one: choose C for systems/embedded focus, choose C++ for object-oriented or application development.

Good quick references when you review syllabi: C at cppreference and C++ at cppreference. Also consider asking the instructors or recent students which edition of C++ (pre‑C++11 vs modern C++) the class uses — that single detail often decides whether the C++ course is worth taking alongside C.

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Member Avatar for baki100

i don't see a problem but bear in mind that those are two completely different languages and bear little similarities but it should be a problem seeing that is intro classes.

Member Avatar for mrnutty

They will pretty much teach you the same thing at least the concept part,
like loops, if else statements, control flow, variables, ints, floats ,blah blah
blah.

I think if you take C++, then picking up C by your self is not hard. If you
had to pick 1 , I would suggest picking C++, if you wan't to take both,
then go ahead. If both of these class becomes a big load to handle,
then drop 1 of the, I suggest C.

Member Avatar for Narue

>I'm already taking an intro to C class
Very cool. I'm a big proponent of learning C well, even if you never plan on using it.

>is it wise to take these two classes at the same time?
It's extremely unlikely that the C++ course will be taught "properly", so the two classes will probably be very similar (cout instead of printf, and other trivial replacements). If that's the case I doubt you'll get much of anything out of the C++ class that isn't being taught in the C class, especially since they're both "intros". However, taking both could get you an easy grade in one of the classes. ;)

Member Avatar for Sell Online

i think it all depend on your capacity to grasp to different language at the same time and the keyword here is time, your time, your schedules, are you able to juggle the leasons at the same time? however i dont see any problem with as long as you can handle everything smoothly.

Member Avatar for Member #422252

When you say an introduction course, would it be just introducing fundamental skills in programming? e.g. how to write loops/if-else/classes/functions. The Java course I had when I was at uni was basically grasping programming concepts using Java rather than actually learning how to use java properly. I learnt C before I started C++ and I found C++ a breeze after using C for quite a while, if your interested in programming just take both of them. You can never have enough programming languages under your belt ;)

Member Avatar for Wards

hello,

i don't think this is a problem.

This is your psychology about this matter.

1 One Time Think about this with sound mind. I know you will Succeed to Fix your Problem.

Good Luck !!!

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