We give a uniform method for the two problems #CCC and #ICC of counting connected and irreducible components of complex algebraic varieties, respectively. Our algorithms are purely algebraic, i.e., they use only the field structure of C. They work efficiently in parallel and can be implemented by algebraic circuits of polynomial depth, i.e., in parallel polynomial time. The design of our algorithms relies on the concept of algebraic differential forms. A further important building block is an algorithm of Santo [40] computing a variant of characteristic sets. The crucial complexity parameter for #ICC turns out to be the number of equations. We describe a randomised algorithm solving #ICC for a fixed number of rational equations given by straight-line programs (slps), which runs in parallel polylogarithmic time in the length and the degree of the slps.