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C++ is a very popular programming language (an extension of the original C) that is commonly used to program many of GNU/Linux's core programs. It's often used to write object-oriented software.

Contents

History

It was designed by Bjarne Stroustrup of AT&T Bell Labs as a successor to C. Almost anything that can be done in any language can be done in C++, but it requires a language lawyer to know what is and what is not legal — the design is almost too large to hold in even hackers' heads. Much of the cruft results from C++'s attempt to be backward compatible with C. Stroustrup himself has said in his retrospective book The Design and Evolution of C++ (p. 207), “Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out.”

Language features

  • strong type checking
  • namespaces
  • templates
  • operator overloading
  • exception handling
  • The standard library
    • STL
      • containers
      • generic algorithms
      • iterators
    • strings
    • streams
    • numerics
    • The entire C standard library


Examples

// A very small C++ program.
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
    std::cout << "Hello, world!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

This displays the phrase "Hello, world!" on the screen, similar to the simpler shell command "echo Hello, world!" used in the Linux console.

Further reading

Books

  • The C++ Programming Language, Bjarne Stroustrup
  • Effective C++: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Design, Scott Meyers
  • Code Complete, Steve McConnell
  • Accelerated C++, Andrew Koenig & Barbara E. Moo
  • Thinking in C++ Vol 1&2 , Bruce Eckel, free download from Mindview
  • C++ - How To Program, Fifth Edition, H. M. Deitel
  • C++ In Plain English, Brian Overland

See also

External links

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