MUHAMMAD AWAIS ISHAQ UW-19-ME-BSc-066

History of C++ Language

Introduction:-
C++ is a general-purpose object oriented programming language. The C++
programming language provides a model of memory and computation that closely matches
that most of computers. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at AT&T Bell Lab circa
1980 and is very similar to C .

History :-
Before C++, the language C was developed. Basically C++ is the latest version
of the C. The language “C”
was developed by Dennis
Ritchie at BELL labs in
1972.
This language was designed
to for creating system
applications that directly
interact with the hardware
devices such as drivers,
kernels, etc. This language,
in original version, only uses
27 keywords for, goto, if,
else …….
In the early 1980's, also at Bell Laboratories, another programming language was created
which was based upon the C language. This new language was developed by Bjarne
Stroustrup and was called C++. Stroustrup states that the purpose of C++ is to make writing
good programs easier and more pleasant for the
individual programmer. When he designed C++, he
added OOP (Object Oriented Programming) features
to C without significantly changing the C component.
Thus C++ is a "relative" (called a superset) of C,
meaning that any valid C program is also a valid C++
program. C++ was designed with a bias toward
system programming and embedded, resource-
constrained software and large systems, with
performance, efficiency and flexibility of use as its
design highlights.
As the result of widespread use and the appearance of
several independently developed C++
implementations, formal standardization of C++
MUHAMMAD AWAIS ISHAQ UW-19-ME-BSc-066

started in 1990 under the auspices of the American National Standards Institute, ANSI. In
1998, a joint ANSI-ISO committee standardized the C++ language.
In 1985, the first edition of The C++ Programming Language was released, which became
the definitive reference for the language, as there was not yet an official standard and the first
commercial implementation of C++ was released in October of the same year.
In 1989, C++ 2.0 was released, followed by the updated second edition of The C++
Programming Language. New features in 2.0 included multiple inheritance, abstract classes,
static member functions, constant functions, and protected members. The Standard Template
Library, which began its conceptual development in 1989, was also included. In 2003, the
committee responded to multiple problems that were reported with their 1998 standard and
revised it accordingly. The next update of C++ was released in 2003. In this updated version
of the C++, minor changes were made. There are some few changes were made in it. But in
2011 many new functions were updated in it. In 2011, the C++11 standard was released,
adding numerous new features, enlarging the standard library further, and providing more
facilities to C++ programmers. The new features included Regex support, a randomization
library, a new C++ time library, atomics support, a standard threading library, a new for loop
syntax providing functionality similar to for each loops in certain other languages, the auto
keyword, new container classes, better support for unions and array-initialization lists and
variadic templates. After a minor update, a new version was released in December 2014,
various new additions were introduced in C++ in 2017, and further changes were also planned
for 2020.
C++ is a programming language, which has imperative and object-oriented features. Basically
C++ was designed as a bridge between the programmer and the raw computer. It is also
referred to as middle-level programming language, as it encapsulates both high- and low-level
language features. It is one of the most popular languages primarily utilized with
system/application software, drivers, client-server applications and embedded firmware.
Some computer languages are written for a specific purpose. Like, Java was initially devised
to control toasters and some other electronics. C was developed for programming OS. Pascal
was conceptualized to teach proper programming techniques. But C++ is a general-purpose
language. It well deserves the widely acknowledged nickname "Swiss Pocket Knife of
Languages."
C++ is used by many programmers of different types and coming from different fields. C++
is mostly used to write device driver programs, system software, and applications that depend
on direct hardware manipulation under real-time constraints. It is also used to teach the basics
of object-oriented features because it is simple and is also used in the fields of research. Also,
many primary user interfaces and system files of Windows and Macintosh are written using
C++. So, C++ is a popular, strong and frequently used programming language of this modern
programming era.
MUHAMMAD AWAIS ISHAQ UW-19-ME-BSc-066