Overview of C++
introduction of C++
C++ is a computer programming language developed in 1980 by Bjarne Stroustrup at the Bell Telephone Laboratories. C++ is an Object Oriented Programming Language, which follow oops concept like, inheritance, encapsulation, abstraction and polymorphism.
C++ is a statically typed, compiled, general-purpose, case-sensitive, free-form programming language that supports procedural, object-oriented, and generic programming.
C++ is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features.
Where we use C++ Language
C++ is a high-level object-oriented programming language that helps programmers write fast, portable programs. C++ provides rich library support in the form of Standard Template Library (STL). Almost all the programs and systems that you use or a part of their codebase is written either in C or C++.C Language is mainly used for;
- Application Software
- Advanced Computation and Graphics
- Design Operating system: C++ is a fast and strongly-typed programming language which makes it an ideal choice for developing operating systems. Mac OS X has large amounts written in C++. Most of the software from Microsoft like Windows, Microsoft Office, IDE Visual Studio, and Internet Explorer are also written in C++.
- Design Language Compiler: The compilers of many programming languages are developed in C and C++. This is because they are relatively lower-level when compared to other higher-level languages and are closer to the hardware.
- Design Database: C++ is also used to write database management software. The world’s most popular open-source database, MySQL, is written in C++.
- Game Designing: Since C++ is closer to hardware, game development companies use it as their primary choice to develop gaming systems.
- Cloud/Distributed Systems: Cloud storage systems that are used extensively need to work closer to the hardware. This makes C++ the default choice for implementing cloud storage systems.
- Utilities
- Design Web Browsers: Web browsers need to be fast in execution as people do not like to wait for their web pages to be loaded. This is why most browsers are developed in C++ for rendering purposes. Mozilla Firefox is completely developed from C++. Google applications like Chrome and Google File System are partly written in C++.
- Switches: Because C++ is one of the fastest programming languages, it is widely used for programming routers, telephone switches, and space probes.
Basic Points About C++
- The name of C++ signifies the evolutionary nature of the changes from C. “++” is the C increment operator.
- C++ is one of the predominant languages for the development of all kind of technical and commercial software.
- C++ introduces Object-Oriented Programming, not present in C. Like other things, C++ supports the four primary features of OOP: encapsulation, polymorphism, abstraction, and inheritance.
- C++ got the OOP features from Simula67 Programming language.
- A function is a minimum requirement for a C++ program to run.(at least main() function)