C++: The Complete Reference

Unlike a high-level language, C performs almost no run-time error checking. For
example, no check is performed to ensure that array boundaries are not overrun. These
types of checks are the responsibility of the programmer.
In the same vein, C does not demand strict type compatibility between a parameter
and an argument. As you may know from your other programming experience, a
high-level computer language will typically require that the type of an argument be
(more or less) exactly the same type as the parameter that will receive the argument.
However, such is not the case for C. Instead, C allows an argument to be of any type
as long as it can be reasonably converted into the type of the parameter. Further, C
provides all of the automatic conversions to accomplish this.
C h a p t e r 1 :
A n O v e r v i e w o f C
5
Highest level
Ada
Modula-2
Pascal
COBOL
FORTRAN
BASIC
Middle level
Java
C++
C
FORTH
Lowest level
Macro-assembler
Assembler
Table 1-1.