Introduction to C++ Programming Language
C++ is a general-purpose programming language that was developed as an enhancement of
the C language to include object-oriented paradigm. It is an imperative and
a compiled language.
C++ is a middle-level language rendering it the advantage of programming low-level (drivers,
kernels) and even higher-level applications (games, GUI, desktop apps etc.). The basic syntax
and code structure of both C and C++ are the same.
Some of the features & key-points to note about the programming language are as follows:
• Simple: It is a simple language in the sense that programs can be broken down
into logical units and parts, has a rich library support and a variety of data-types.
• Machine Independent but Platform Dependent: A C++ executable is not
platform-independent (compiled programs on Linux won’t run on Windows),
however they are machine independent.
• Mid-level language: It is a mid-level language as we can do both systems-
programming (drivers, kernels, networking etc.) and build large-scale user
applications (Media Players, Photoshop, Game Engines etc.)
• Rich library support: Has a rich library support (Both standard ~ built-in data
structures, algorithms etc.) as well 3rd party libraries (e.g. Boost libraries) for fast
and rapid development.
• Speed of execution: C++ programs excel in execution speed. Since, it is a
compiled language, and also hugely procedural. Newer languages have extra in-
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built default features such as garbage-collection, dynamic typing etc. which slow
the execution of the program overall. Since there is no additional processing
overhead like this in C++, it is blazing fast.
• Pointer and direct Memory-Access: C++ provides pointer support which aids
users to directly manipulate storage address. This helps in doing low-level
programming (where one might need to have explicit control on the storage of
variables).
• Object-Oriented: One of the strongest points of the language which sets it apart
from C. Object-Oriented support helps C++ to make maintainable and extensible
programs. i.e. Large-scale applications can be built. Procedural code becomes
difficult to maintain as code-size grows.
• Compiled Language: C++ is a compiled language, contributing to its speed.
Applications of C++:
C++ finds varied usage in applications such as:
• Operating Systems & Systems Programming. e.g. Linux-based OS (Ubuntu etc.)
• Browsers (Chrome & Firefox)
• Graphics & Game engines (Photoshop, Blender, Unreal-Engine)
• Database Engines (MySQL, MongoDB, Redis etc.)
• Cloud/Distributed Systems
Some interesting facts about C++:
Here are some awesome facts about C++ that may interest you:
1. The name of C++ signifies the evolutionary nature of the changes from C. “++” is
the C increment operator.
2. C++ is one of the predominant languages for the development of all kind of
technical and commercial software.
3. 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.
4. C++ got the OOP features from Simula67 Programming language.
5. A function is a minimum requirement for a C++ program to run.(at least main()
function)