INTRODUCTION TO C++

DEVELOPMENT OF C++

The c++ programming was developed at AT &T bell laboratories in early 1980's by Bjarne stroustrup. The photo is  given below

He introduce c++ because he didn't find C up to the mark.

while learning programming its better to use good compilers 

There a many compilers but i recommend to use compilers like dev c++ compiler ,Microsoft visual studio,

turbo c++ etc. i use dev c++ compiler,the link for dev c++ is given below

 http://bloodshed-dev-c.en.softonic.com/

WHAT IS PROGRAMMING??

Programming is instructing a computer to do something for you with the help of a programming language. The role of a programming language can be described in two ways:

1. Technical: It is a means for instructing a Computer to perform Tasks
2. Conceptual: It is a framework within which we organize our ideas about things and processes.

According to the last statement, in programming we deal with two kind of things:

* data, representing ``objects'' we want to manipulate
* procedures, i.e. ``descriptions'' or ``rules'' that define how to manipulate data.
THE RELEASE OF C++ LANGUAGE

The idea of creating a new language originated from a wish, to do things, that were not possible with other languages. He had experience with the language Simula and BCPL (Simula is a slow language, but it had some features that were very helpful for large software development projects. BCPL was to low-level). So he chose to enhance the C language with Simula-like features, because the C language was fast and portable. Stroustrup did not only use features from Simula but also borrowed features from the languages Ada, CLU, ALGOL 68 and ML.

In 1983, the name of the language was changed from C with Classes to C++. (The ++ is C language operator). The first commercial release of the C++ language was in October of 1985. At the same time, the first edition of the book “The C++ Programming Language” was released. (Keep in mind that there was no official standard at that time. So the book became an important reference to the language). In 1989, version 2.0 was released of the C++ language.

As you can see it took a long time (almost 20 years) to come to a standardized version of the language. In 2003 the committee published a corrected version of the C++ standard. The last addition was in 2005. (The last addition is
not part of the standard, it is a so called “Library Technical Report”. (TR1 for short).

Keep in mind that not all compilers support TR1, but support for TR1 in compilers is growing).

 The C++ Programming Environment in UNIX

The best way to learn a programming language is to try writing programs and test them on a computer! To do this, we need several pieces of software:

• An editor with which to write and modify the C++ program components or source code,
• A compiler with which to convert the source code into machine instructions which can be executed by the computer directly,
• A linking program with which to link the compiled program components with each other and with a selection of routines from existing libraries of computer code, in order to form the complete machine-executable object program,
• A debugger to help diagnose problems, either in compiling programs in the first place, or if the object program runs but gives unintended results.

There are several editors available for UNIX-based systems. Two of the most popular editors are emacs and vi. For the compiler and linker, we will be using the GNU g++ compiler/linker, and for the debugger we will be using the GNU debugger gdb. For those that prefer an integrated development environment (IDE) that combines an editor, a compiler, a linking program and a debugger in a single programming environment (in a similar way to Microsoft Developer Studio under Windows NT), there are also IDEs available for UNIX (e.g. Eclipse, xcode, kdevelop etc.)

Significant Language Features

Object-oriented programs are easier to understand, correct and modify. Many other object-oriented languages have been developed, including most notably, Smalltalk. The best features of C++ are:

• C++ is a hybrid language-it is possible to program in either a C-like style, an object-oriented style, or both.
• C++ programs consist of pieces called classes and functions. You can program each piece you may need to form a C++ program. The advantage of creating your own functions and classes is that you will know exactly how they work. You will be able to examine the C++