About C++
C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs in 1979, and is very similar to the programming language C, which provides for a smooth transition to C++ from existing C programs. Unlike many other programming languages, C++ doesn't require a very sophisticated programming environment for its proper functioning.
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History
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Bjarne Stroustrup began began working on what was initially called "C with Classes" at AT&T's Bell Labs in 1979. In 1983, "C with Classes" was renamed "C++" due to the fact that "++" is used as an increment operator in both C and C++. The first version of C++ was released in 1985, and was followed by release 2.0 in 1989. C++ became certified and standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1998.
Object-Oriented Programming
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C++ introduced the first true object-oriented concept in programming languages, as its program coding is primarily based on classes and objects, not on line-by-line code. This concept makes project development easier. Even though C++ is basically an enhanced version of languages like Pascal and C, which also use object-oriented concepts, these languages cannot handle certain complex features. And unlike C, C++ directly supports a variety of programming styles and differs from languages that support only a single way of writing programs.
Control Structures
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C++ programming language can be used for developing projects per customized requirements. It can do this because it offers inclusion of control structures. These are basically conditional situations that use structures and statements.
Some of the more widely used of these structures include "if-else," "do-while," "for loop," "switch" and others that further fall under the broader ranges of Conditional, Iteration or Selective structures. The statements used for conditional situations include "break," "continue," "goto" and others. These types of statements make C++ very flexible and able to handle complex requirements that other languages would otherwise require massive amounts of coding to accomplish.
Operating Environment
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In order to use C++, an integrated support environment for the client side and remote servers is required. To effectively use databases of different application domains, various C++ compiler software packages are provided. Compilers are programs that translate high-level computer code into machine-readable code. These compilers include GNU Project, Microsoft, Intel, Borland and others.
Enhanced Features
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C++ is embedded with various new features above and beyond what its progenitor, the programming language C, offers. Its 1983 release came with single-line comments with two forward slashes ("//"). Some other features included were virtual functions, function name, operator overloading, references, constants, user-controlled free-store memory control and improved type checking.
In 1989, version 2.0 came with features such as multiple inheritance, abstract classes, static member functions, constant member functions and protected members. Further features included templates, exceptions, namespaces, new casts and Boolean type. These enhanced features in effect "turbo charge" the language, and they have made C++ a very popular object-oriented programming language among computer programmers.
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