C++ is a high-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs beginning in 1979.

The original title of C++ was “C with classes.” While he was a graduate student, Stroustrup was frustrated that available languages offered him either fast performance or high-level features for program organization, but not both. This inspired him to write his own programming language.

He set out to create a programming language that compiles to lean, efficient code, but also provides high-level abstractions to better manage large development projects. The language was later named “C++,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to ++, an operator in C that increments a value by 1.

Since then, C++ has become one of the most widely-used languages in the world, especially in projects where performance comes at a premium. C++ continues to be updated and maintained; the current version is C++ 11, released in 2011.

Features

The syntax of C++ is largely inherited from the C language. It adds object-oriented programming features to its predecessor, such as classes, abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism. It also provides functionality for function and operator overloading, generic programming facilities (such as the ability to create templates), and exception handling. C++ also features and a robust STL (standard library) of useful data structures, algorithms, and input/output facilities.

Hello, World! in C++

Here is an example “Hello, World!” program written in C++, using the I/O stream facility; part of the C++ STL.

#include int main() { std::cout « “Hello, world!\n”; }

C, C#, GCC, High-level language, Portable language, Programming terms

  • Programming language history.
  • How to create a computer program.