First Impression

C++ ?

History of C++

1967: "B" and BCPL developed (typeless)1972: C language developed at Bell Labs

Dennis Ritchie wrote C for Unix OS Needed C for work with Unix

late 70s: C becomes popular for OS development by many vendors Many variants of the language developed ANSI standard C in 1987-89

History of C++ (continued)

early 80s: Bjarne Stroustrup developed C++ in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and named it "C with Classes". In 1983 it was renamed to C++.

90s: continued evolution of the language and its applications preferred language for OS and low level

programming popular language for application

development low level control and high level power

Conceptually what is C++

Alternatives: is it C, with lots more options and features? is it an OO programming language with C as its core? is it a development environment?

On most systems it is a development environment, language, and library, used for both procedural and object oriented programming, that can be customized and extended as desired

Actually : C++ is a general-purpose programming language

with high-level and low-level capabilities, that’s why sometimes regarded as middle level language.

Summary from The Design and Evolution of C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup

C++ is designed to be a statically typed. C++ is designed to directly and

comprehensively support multiple programming styles.

C++ is designed to be as compatible with C as possible.

C++ avoids features that are platform specific or not general purpose.

C++ does not incur overhead for features that are not used.

C++ is designed to function without a sophisticated programming environment.

Advantages of C++Available on most machinesCan get good performanceCan get small sizeCan manage memory effectivelyCan control everythingGood supply of programmersSuitable for almost any type of program

(from systems programs to applications)

Disadvantages of C++

Tends to be one of the less portable languagesComplicated!!!

40 operators, intricate precedence, pointers, etc. can control everything many exceptions and special cases tremendous libraries both standard, vendor specific,

and available for purchase, but all are intricate

Aspects above can result in high cost, maintenance and reliability problems