M. Vermes
September, 2006
According to changelists CCC is 10 years old: It is descended from
Clipper, it translates the source code into C and a stack machine
implemented in C. It is a program language and developing tool
independent of platforms.
The present condition can be appraised the best from the document Differences between CCC and Clipper. CCC extends the old Clipper. It is modern, it bears comparison with languages like Python, Ruby, Pike. The atmospheres of CCC and Python are especially similar, both are practical, concise, nevertheless easy to read, they avoid the pedantry characteristic of Java.
I am accustomed to getting messages like these in forums: "Why to deal with Clipper in the age of .NET?", "A time machine is also necessary for it.", "What is a language itself good for without a class library?". First there are a few things in CCC. Second, it can be easier extended by inserts C, than the languages mentioned above.
It is not recommended to extend Java by C. Portability gets lost, it is too complicated, and an avarage programmer is not proficient in it. The situation with Python is similar. The extensions necessary for the application should be carried out by modifications of the runtime environment/interpreter. A class library including the whole universe of informatics is really essential in these languages.
Whereas CCC (with translation into C) produces native binaries, that's why we can submerge into C any time. The C moduls are translated automatically together with Clipper. This way the class libraries have less importance, because the infrastructure accesible from C is always available. This is the philosophy of CCC.