Ch (computer programming)

Ch C/C++ interpreter

Original author(s)	Harry H. Cheng
Developer(s)	SoftIntegration, Inc.
Initial release	October 1, 2001 (2001-10-01)
Stable release	7.5.1 / December 2, 2015 (2015-12-02)
Written in	C
Operating system	Windows, OS X, Linux, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris (SPARC and x86), QNX, FreeBSD
Platform	x86, SPARC
Available in	English
Type	Integrated development environment
License	Proprietary software Standard edition: freeware Student edition: freeware for students Professional edition: trialware for 30 days
Website	www.softintegration.com

Ch /ˌsiːˈeɪtʃ/ is a proprietary cross-platform C and C++ interpreter and scripting language environment, originally designed by Harry H. Cheng as a scripting language for beginners to learn mathematics, computing, numerical analysis (numeric methods), and programming in C/C++. Ch is now developed and marketed by SoftIntegration, Inc. A student edition is freely available.

Ch can be embedded in C/C++ application programs. It has numerical computing and graphical plotting features. Ch is a combined shell and IDE. Ch shell combines the features of common shell and C language. ChIDE provides quick code navigation and symbolic debugging. It is based on embedded Ch, Scite and Scintilla.

Ch is written in C and runs on Windows, Linux, OS X, FreeBSD, AIX, Solaris, QNX, and HP-UX. It supports C90 and major C99 features, but it does not support the full set of C++ features. C99 complex number, IEEE-754 floating-point arithmetic, and variable-length array features were supported in Ch before they became part of the C99 standard. An article published by Computer Reseller News (CRN) named Ch as notable among C-based virtual machines for its functionality and the availability of third-party libraries.

Ch has many toolkits that extend its functions. For example, Ch Mechanism Toolkit is used for design and analysis of commonly used mechanisms such as fourbar linkage, five-bar linkage, six-bar linkage, crank-slider mechanism, and cam-follower system. Ch Control System Toolkit is used for modeling, design, and analysis of continuous-time or discrete-time linear time invariant (LTI) control systems. Both toolkits includes the source code.

Ch is now used and integrated into curriculum by many high schools and universities to teach computing and programming in C/C++.

Features

Ch supports the 1999 ISO C Standard (C99) and C++ classes. It is a superset of C with C++ classes. Several major features of C99 are supported, such as complex numbers, variable length arrays (VLAs), IEEE-754 floating-point arithmetic, and generic mathematical functions. The specification for wide characters in Addendum 1 for C90 is also supported.

C++ features available in Ch include:

• Member functions
• Mixed code and declaration
• The this -> pointer
• Reference type and pass-by-reference
• Function-style type conversion
• Classes
• Private/public data and functions in classes. Ch is compatible with C++ in that by default, members of a class definition are assumed to be private until a 'public' declaration is given
• Static member of class/struct/union
• Const member functions
• The new and delete operators
• Constructors and destructors
• Polymorphic functions
• The scope resolution operator ::
• The I/O functions cout, cerr, and cin with endl
• Arguments for variadic functions are optional

Ch supports classes in C++ with added abilities, including:

• Classes inside member functions
• Nested functions with classes
• Passing member function to argument of pointer-to-function type of functions

Ch can interact with existing C/C++ libraries and call C/C++ functions from Ch script. As a C/C++ interpreter, Ch can be used as a scripting engine and extension language for applications. Pointers to arrays or variables can be passed and shared in both C-compiled and Ch scripting contexts. One example of an embedded Ch scripting application is Mobile-C, which has been used for collaborative visualization of distributed mesh model.

Ch has a built-in string type (string_t) for automatic memory allocation and de-allocation. It supports shell aliases, history, piping, etc.

Ch has built-in 2D/3D graphical plotting features and computational arrays for numerical computing. A 2D linear equation of the form b = A*x can be written verbatim in Ch.

See also

• CINT
• Pike (programming language)

External links

• Official website, SoftIntegration
• Mobile-C: a Multi-Agent Platform for Mobile C/C++ Agents Home Page

• Ch Shell
• Ch IDE