C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup (see his picture below) in the 1980’s at Bell Labs. He originally developed it as an enhancement to the C programming language. C++ became a standard in the late 1990’s. C++ was originally referred to as C with classes. In many computer science classes, C++ is still referred to as superstructure of C. There is also a C+ programming language, which is not related to C++.
Overview of C++
C++ is one of the most popular, widely-used programming languages. It is a high level, object oriented language that is often used in production of commercial software programs. As such, it is a “hot” technology that, in the job market, is very useful to know. C++ is, in many ways, similar to java and C# programming languages. Between 1979 and 1983. C++ hit the ground running and within five years was starting to be used seriously to develop applications, particularly on PCs where it quickly became the top language and has remained there since.
C++ was intended to be a fusion of features from the somewhat slow language Simula with the speed and efficiency of C. The first version was called C with Classes and by the end of 1983 it was called C++. Whether the name came from Orwellian Newspeak in the book 1984 as in Double Plus Good or just the Post Op (Increment++) is not entirely clear.
What is C++ used for?
Applications ranging from computer games, utilities, Operating Systems and compilers.
What versions of C++ are there?
C++ 98 consists of the core language and the Standard library, and was updated in 2003. These predecessors are informally known as C++98 and C++03. Since the standard is not yet finalized, this article may not reflect the most recent state of C++0x. The draft international standard, N3092, was published in March 2010.
Is C++ Still being Developed?
At the time of this article posting, C++ was still being developed further (C++0x) and was waiting to be finalized for simplifying some of the syntax to make it easier to teach to novices. Part of the Standard Library is the Standard Template Library(STL) which is still growing with new functions and classes.
It has quite a steep learning curve. Learning regular C first may help to get a head start up the curve, or try diving in! C++ is a large language with many advanced features and to get the best out of it, knowledge of Object Oriented Programming is essential.
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