History of C++

In this presentation, we will explore the history of the C++ programming language.

Origins of C++

• Year: 1979
• Location: Bell Laboratories
• Key Person: Bane Stra, a young computer scientist with a PhD from Cambridge University, was working on distributed systems.

Need for a New Language

• Objective: Simulate distributed systems to understand their complexity.
• Influence from Simula 67:
  • Used for simulation purposes.
  • Provided object-oriented features useful for modeling real-world entities.
• Shortcomings of Simula 67: Lacked speed and performance.

Influence from C Programming Language

• Strength: Offered speed and performance.
• Limitation: Lacked object-oriented features, making it unsuitable for large-scale applications and modeling.

Creation of C++

• Idea: Combine the object-oriented features of Simula 67 with the speed and performance of C.
• Development (1979-1983):
  • Created "C with classes", integrating classes, constructors, destructors, and inline functions.
  • Aimed to incorporate all object-oriented features into C.

Naming of C++

• Year: 1983
• New Name: C++
• Meaning: Inspired by the increment operator in C that increments a value by one.
  • C++ symbolizes the successor or newer version of C.

The history of C++ explains its emergence as a powerful object-oriented programming language blending the best features of Simula 67 and C. Thank you for watching this presentation. See you in the next one.