C plus plus

C++ (pronounced "see plus plus", IPA: /si? pl?s pl?s/) is a general-purpose computer programming language. It is a statically typed free-form multi-paradigm language supporting procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming. Since the 1990s, C++ has been one of the most popular commercial programming languages.

History of C++

Stroustrup began work on C with Classes in 1979. The idea of creating a new language originated from Stroustrup's experience programming for his Ph.D. thesis. Stroustrup found that Simula had features that were very helpful for large software development but was too slow for practical uses, while BCPL was fast but too low level and unsuitable for large software development. When Stroustrup started working in Bell Labs, he had the problem of analyzing the UNIX kernel with respect to distributed computing. Remembering his Ph.D. experience, Stroustrup set out to enhance the C language with Simula-like features. C was chosen because it is general-purpose, fast, and portable. At first, class (with data encapsulation), derived class, strong type checking, inlining, and default argument were features added to C.

Related Topics:
1979 - Simula - BCPL - Bell Labs - UNIX - Kernel - Distributed computing - Data encapsulation

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The first commercial release occurred in October 1985.

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In 1983, the name of the language was changed from C with Classes to C++. New features that were added to the language included virtual functions, function name and operator overloading, references, constants, user-controlled free-store memory control, improved type checking, and new comment style (//). In 1985, the first edition of The C++ Programming Language was released, providing an important reference to the language, as there was not yet an official standard. In 1989, Release 2.0 of C++ was released. New features included multiple inheritance, abstract classes, static member functions, const member functions, and protected members. In 1990, The Annotated C++ Reference Manual was released and provided the basis for the future standard. Late addition of features included templates, exceptions, namespaces, new casts, and a Boolean type.

Related Topics:
1983 - 1985 - 1989 - Const member functions - 1990

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As the C++ language evolved, a standard library also evolved with it. The first addition to the C++ standard library was the stream I/O library which provided facilities to replace the traditional C functions such as printf and scanf. Later, among the most significant additions to the standard library, was the Standard Template Library.

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After years of work, a joint ANSI-ISO committee standardized C++ in 1998 (ISO/IEC 14882:1998). For some years after the official release of the standard in 1998, the committee processed defect reports, and published a corrected version of the C++ standard in 2003.

Related Topics:
ANSI - ISO - 1998 - ISO/IEC 14882

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No one owns the C++ language; it is royalty-free. The standard document itself is, however, not available for free.

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Future development

C++ continues to evolve to meet future requirements. One group in particular works to make the most of C++ in its current form and advise the C++ standards committee which features work well and which need improving: Boost.org. Current work indicates that C++ will capitalize on its multi-paradigm nature more and more. The work at Boost.org, for example, is greatly expanding C++'s functional and metaprogramming capabilities. The C++ standard does not cover implementation of name decoration, exception handling, and other implementation-specific features, making object code produced by different compilers incompatible; there are, however, 3rd-party standards for particular machines or OSs which attempt to standardise compilers on those platforms, for example http://www.codesourcery.com/cxx-abi/.

Related Topics:
C++ standards committee - Boost.org - Metaprogramming - Name decoration - Exception handling - Object code - Compiler

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C++ compilers still struggle to support the entire C++ standard, especially in the area of templates — a part of the language that was more-or-less entirely conceived by the standards committee. One particular point of contention is the export keyword, intended to allow template definitions to be separated from their declarations. The first compiler to implement export was Comeau C++, in early 2003 (5 years after the release of the standard); in 2004, beta compiler of Borland C++ Builder X was also released with export. Both of these compilers are based on the EDG C++ frontend. It should also be noted that many C++ books provide example code for implementing the keyword export (Ivor Horton's Beginning ANSI C++, pg. 827) which will not compile, but there is no reference to the problem with the keyword export mentioned. Other compilers such as Microsoft Visual C++ and GCC do not support it at all. Herb Sutter, secretary of the C++ standards committee, has recommended that export be removed from future versions of the C++ standard

Related Topics:
Still - Borland C++ Builder X - EDG - Microsoft - Visual C++ - GCC - Herb Sutter

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http://anubis.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2003/n1426.pdf, but finally the decision was made to leave it in the C++ standard.

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Other template issues include constructions such as partial template specialisation, which was poorly supported for several years after the C++ standard was released.

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History of the name "C++"

This name is credited to Rick Mascitti (mid-1983) and was first used in December 1983. Earlier, during the research period, the developing language had been referred to as "C with Classes". The final name stems from C's "++" operator (which increments the value of a variable) and a common naming convention of using "+" to indicate an enhanced computer program, for example: "Wikipedia+". According to Stroustrup: "the name signifies the evolutionary nature of the changes from C". C+ was the name of an earlier, unrelated programming language.

Related Topics:
Rick Mascitti - 1983 - Research - C - Class - Operator - Value - Variable - Naming convention - Stroustrup - Evolution - C+

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Some C programmers have noted that if the statements x=3; and y=x++; are executed, then x==4 and y==3; x is incremented after its value is assigned to y. However, if the second statement is y=++x;, then y=4 and x=4. Following such reasoning, a more proper name for C++ might actually be ++C. However, c++ and ++c both increment c, and, on its own line, the form c++ is more common than ++c. However, the introduction of C++ did not change the C language itself, so an even more accurate name might be "C+1".

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