[comp.lang.c++] C++ database-applications, external C libraries?

harmo@cc.helsinki.fi (Timo Harmo (Valt. tiet. tdk)) (01/04/89)

A friend of mine is working on a development project in Nepal and he called me
to ask if C++ would be a solution to some of his problems. As I'm just starting
to use C++ I couldn't answer his questions. I would greatly appreachiate all
suggestions

My friend wants to build a database (billing) system. It should be:

-easy to maintain as it will be used in a developing country. The locals
 are good programmers but if they run into something too tough they'll find
 it very hard to get help. 

-Easy to port to environments differing on language of users, bill-forms,
 I/O equipment like optical readers etc.

-Fast. It's supposed to run in a 386 and it handles a large database (using
 a C database library I figured)

-user-friendly (I thought using some C user-interface library would help
 a bit)
          
Does it sound like a job for C++ and external C libraries? 
Are there any problems linking the libraries to C++? 
Would it be safer to use a pre-compiler to assure compatibility with the
libraries? (I haven't seen any discussion on pre-compilers on this list.
Are they out of fashion?)                                               

Has anybody any experience of using database-libraries with C++?


 Timo Harmo