Except OOP, why is C++ better than C?

Why C++ is better than C? Besides the obvious list of features, in my opinion the real answer is that there's no good reason to still use C instead of C++. Even if you don't use OOP, you can use it as a better C. Even if you use just once a unique feature of C++ in your program, C++ is already a winner.

On the other hand, there's no disadvantage in using C++: it retains the performance goals of C and it is a quite low level language, while allowing very powerful things. And you will not miss any C feature using C++!

And don't forget the wide user base and the rich libraries and frameworks available.

By the way, C99 has added some interesting features but after a decade there's still very limited compiler support (so you are bound to ANSI C). In the meantime C++ evolved as well and the compiler vendors are committed to providing conforming implementations.

I'm a big fan of C who over time has become a big fan of C++. One of the big reasons for that is the STL ( the Standard Template Library ) and Boost.

Between the two of them it makes it very easy to write powerful portable applications.

Non-OO features that C++ has that C does not:

1. Templates
2. Function overloading
3. References
4. Namespaces
5. You can use structs and enums without writing struct or enum before every declaration or using typedefs.
6. Even if you don't define your own classes, using C++'s string and container classes is still often more convenient and safe to work with than c-style strings and arrays.
7. Type safety (even though some would call it weak)
8. Exceptions
9. Variable declarations in conditionals, C99 only has it in for