History of C++

Until 1980, C programming was widely popular, and slowly people started realizing the drawbacks of this language, at the same time a new programming approach that was Object Oriented Programming.  The C++ programming language was created by Bjarne Stroustrup and his team at Bell Laboratories (AT&T, USA) to help implement simulation projects in an object-oriented and efficient way.  C++ is a superset of C because; any valid C program is valid C++ program too but not the vice versais not true. C++ can make use of existing C software libraries with major addition of “Class Construct”. This language was called “C with classes” and later in 1983, it was named “C++” by Rick Mascitii. As the name C++ implies, C++ was derived from the C programming language: ++ is the increment operator in C.

 Characteristics of C++

1. Object-Oriented Programming: It allows the programmer to design applications like a communication between object rather than on a structured sequence of code. It allows a greater
reusability of code in a more logical and productive way.
2. Portability: We can compile the same C++ code in almost any type of computer & operating system without making any changes.
3. Modular Programming: An application’s body in C++ can be made up of several source code files that are compiled separately and then linked together saving time.
4. C Compatibility: Any code written in C can easily be included in a C++ program without making any changes.
5. Speed: The resulting code from a C++ compilation is very efficient due to its duality as high-level and low-level language. Machine independent: It is a Machine Independent Language.
6. Flexibility: It is highly flexible language and versatility Wide range of library functions: It has huge library functions; it reduces the code development time and also reduces cost of software development.
7. System Software Development: It can be used for developing System Software Viz., Operating system, Compilers, Editors and Database.