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1.1) Origins Of C++


Timeline

  • 1972 - C created by Dennis Ritchie, to support development of UNIX
  • 1978 - Publication of the 'K&R book' (first book describing the C language)
  • 1979 - Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs created 'C with Classes' (later renamed C++)
  • 1983 - First version of C++ used internally at AT&T
  • 1985 - First commercial C++ development tools
  • 1998 - ISO standardization of the language

Comparison with C

  • C++ retains almost all of C as a subset but is significantly bigger and more complex
  • C++ has better type checking than C
  • C++ supports a wider range of programming styles
    • Object-oriented programming (covered briefly in this course)
    • Generic programming (not covered here)
  • Both languages are very widely used in industry, particularly in situations where high performance is required or where programming must be done at a low level (e.g. to control hardware)