Generation Of C++, HISTORY OF C++ EXPLAIN, What Is C++
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Generation Of C++
C++: The Next Step
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, C became the dominant computer programming
language, and it is still widely used today. Since C is a successful and useful language, you
might ask why a need for something else existed. The answer is complexity. Throughout the
history of programming, the increasing complexity of programs has driven the need for better
ways to manage that complexity. C++ is a response to that need. To better understand why
managing program complexity is fundamental to the creation of C++, consider the following.
Approaches to programming have changed dramatically since the invention of the
computer. For example, when computers were first invented, programming was done by
manually toggling in the binary machine instructions by use of the front panel. As long as
programs were just a few hundred instructions long, this approach worked. As programs grew,
assembly language was invented so that a programmer could deal with larger, increasingly
complex programs by using symbolic representations of the machine instructions. As programs
continued to grow, high-level languages were introduced that gave the programmer more tools
with which to handle complexity.
The first widespread language was, of course, FORTRAN. While FORTRAN was an
impressive first step, it is hardly a language that encourages clear and easy-to-understand
programs. The 1960s gave birth to structured programming. This is the method of programming
championed by languages such as C. The use of structured languages enabled programmers
to write, for the first time, moderately complex programs fairly easily. However, even with
structured programming methods, once a project reaches a certain size, its complexity exceeds
what a programmer can manage. By the early 1980s, many projects were pushing the structured
approach past its limits. To solve this problem, a new way to program was invented, called
object-oriented programming (OOP). Object-oriented programming is discussed in detail later in
this book, but here is a brief definition: OOP is a programming methodology that helps organize
complex programs through the use of inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism.
In the final analysis, although C is one of the world’s great programming languages,
there is a limit to its ability to handle complexity. Once the size of a program exceeds a
certain point, it becomes so complex that it is difficult to grasp as a totality. While the
precise size at which this occurs differs, depending upon both the nature of the program
and the programmer, there is always a threshold at which a program becomes
unmanageable. C++ added features that enabled this threshold to be broken, allowing
programmers to comprehend and manage larger programs.
C++ was invented by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979, while he was working at Bell Laboratories
in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Stroustrup initially called the new language “C with Classes.”
However, in 1983, the name was changed to C++. C++ extends C by adding object-oriented
features. Because C++ is built on the foundation of C, it includes all of C’s features, attributes,
and benefits. This is a crucial reason for the success of C++ as a language. The invention of C++
was not an attempt to create a completely new programming language. Instead, it was an
enhancement to an already highly successful one.