THE ORIGIN OF C++
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The C programming language was developed at AT&T for the purpose of writing the operating system for the PDP-11 series of computers which ultimately became the unix operating system. C was developed with the primary goal of operating efficiency. Bjarne Stroustrup, also of AT&T, developed C++ in order to add object oriented constructs to the C language. Because object oriented technology was new at the time and all existing implementations of object oriented languages were very slow and inefficient, the primary goal of C++ was to maintain the efficiency of C. C++ can be viewed as a traditional procedural language with some additional constructs. Beginning with C, some constructs are added for object oriented programming and some for improved procedural syntax. A well written C++ program will reflect elements of both object oriented programming style and classic procedural programming. C++ is actually an extendible language since we can define new types in such a way that they act just like the predefined types which are part of the standard language. C++ is designed for large scale software development.
HOW TO GET STARTED IN C++
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The C programming language was originally defined by the classic text authored by Kernigan and Ritchie, "The C Programming language", and was the standard used by all C programmers until a few years ago. The ANSI standard for C was finally approved in December of 1989 and has become the official standard for programming in C. The ANSI standard adds many things to the language which were not a part of the Kernigan and Ritchie definition, and changes a few. The two definitions are not absolutely compatible and some experienced C programmers may not have studied the newer constructs added to the language by the ANSI-C standard.
This tutorial will assume a thorough knowledge of the C programming language and little time will be spent on the fundamental aspects of the language. However, as a aid to those programmers that have learned the dialect of C as defined by Kernigan & Ritchie, some sections will be devoted to explaining the newer additions included in the ANSI-C standard. As the ANSI-C standard was in development, many of the newer constructs from C++ were included as parts of C itself, so even though C++ is a derivation and extension of C, it would be fair to say that ANSI-C has some of its roots in C++. An example is prototyping which was developed for C++ and later added to C.
This tutorial will assume a thorough knowledge of the C programming language and little time will be spent on the fundamental aspects of the language. However, as a aid to those programmers that have learned the dialect of C as defined by Kernigan & Ritchie, some sections will be devoted to explaining the newer additions included in the ANSI-C standard. As the ANSI-C standard was in development, many of the newer constructs from C++ were included as parts of C itself, so even though C++ is a derivation and extension of C, it would be fair to say that ANSI-C has some of its roots in C++. An example is prototyping which was developed for C++ and later added to C.