C++ Language History

C++ language history many new programming languages appeared during 1960 .C++ language history The computer at that time ware still in an early stage of development. The language ALGO 60 was developed as an alternative to FORTRAN. The CPL (Combined Programming Language) was developed in 1963. It was more specific for concrete programming tasks of that time than ALGOL or FORTRAN. But it was very difficult to learn. Martin Richards developed BCPL (Basic Combined Programming Language) in 1967 that was a simplification of CPL.

Key Thompson created the B language in 1970. C language was derived from the B language. The B language provided the basis for the development of C. C language was originally designed to write system programs under UNIX operating system. The power and flexibility of the C language made it popular in the industry for a wide range of applications.

The earlier version of C was known as K&R (Kernighan and Ritchie) C. the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) C. This is a new version that provided many features that were not available in the older version.

Bjarne Stroustrup from Bell labs started the developed of C++ language history in 1980. The first commercial release of the language appeared in October 1985. It was originally named “C with Class”. It was an enhancement to C language. It allows the use of a programming technique known as object-oriented programming (OOP).

C++ language history was refined during the 1980s and it became a unique language. It was very much compatible with the code of C and provided the most important characteristics of C. ANSI committee X3J16 began the development of a specific standard for C++ from 1990. In mid-1998, ANSI/ISO C++ language standards were approved. This standard is used by most of the compilers used today to compile programs. The language becomes very popular and now it is the preferred language to develop professional applications on all platforms.

 Features of C++

Some important features of C++ are as following:

1. Convenient of C++

C++ is a very convenient language. It provides many facilities in an easier way that is difficult to use in the low-level language. Programmers can write complex programs more easily as compared to low-level languages.

2. Well- Structured Language

C++ is a well- structured language. Its syntax is very easy to understand. The programs written in C++ language are easy to maintain and modify.

3. Case Sensitivity

C++ is case sensitive language. It means that it can differentiate uppercase and lowercase words. All keywords are written in lowercase. This feature makes it easier to maintain the source code.

4. Machine Independence

C++ language provides machine independence. It means that the programs, written in C++ language can be executed on different types of computers. For example, a program written in C++ can be executed on the Intel processor and Motorola processors with a little modification. It is preferable to write a program in C++ rather than machine language.

5. Object-Oriented

C++ is an object-oriented language. In the object-oriented technique, the programs are written based on objects. An object is a collection of data and functions. The object may represent a person, thing or place in the real world. In OOP, data and all possible functions on data grouped. Object-oriented programs are easier to learn and modify.

6. Modular Programming

C++ language provides the facility for modular programming. It means that a program can be divided into small modules. These modules can be developed and compiled independently and then linked together.

7. Standard Libraries

The standard C++ library is a set of functions, constants, classes, and objects to extend the C++ language. It provides basic functionality to interact with the operating system. These libraries can be reused by any programmer for writing programs more easily in less time.

8. Hardware Control

C++ language provides close control of the hardware. The programmer can write efficient programs to control the hardware components of the computer system.

9. Brevity

C++ is a small language. It has a small number of keywords and programming controls. But still, it is very powerful for developing different types of programs. The code written in C++ is very short as compared with other languages.

10. Speed

C++ compilers generate very fast code. The resulting code from a C++ compilation is very efficient. This code executes very efficiently. So the programs take less time to execute.

11. Popular Language

C++ has a widely-used programming language. There are many tools available for C++ programming and a broad base of programmers contributing to the C++ community.

12. C Compatibility

C++ is backward compatible with C language. Any code written in C can easily be included in a C++ program without hardly making any change.