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I think there are B batteries, they are just obscure compared to C and A.

According to a cursory check of Wikipedia, a lantern battery such as "Energizer 3LR12 4.5 V Max Battery" sold in the UK contains three of what may be known as B cells.

Incidentally, someone once told me he had experience in "C+" programming and I've never been sure if he was joking.

I often incorrectly refer to C++ or worse, even C, as C+.

I hear others make this mistake, too. I think it's just a colloquialism?

Don't forget to give credit where due. Joke source: Demetri Martin

In older gear using vacuum tubes, it was common to have an a battery to power the circuit, and a b battery to power the tubes.

It was actually more the case that the B battery was the "main" battery, and the A and C batteries being there just for the tubes. The A battery was for the cathode heater/filament - it was the one that needed to be big, since its job was to create a lot of heat - and the C, if present, was for grid bias. The main positive rail would be called B+ in a schematic, even for mains-powered equipment, the same way that Vcc is used in transistor circuits.

Thanks. I had them backwards. I had one of these portable radios as a kid.

Been a long time. :D