C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1980 at Bell Laboratories (AT&T) in the U.S. Its creation aimed to enhance the C programming language by introducing object-oriented programming (OOP) features without significantly altering C. Essentially, C++ is a superset of C, meaning that any valid C program is also a valid C++ program.
Here's a brief timeline of relevant programming languages leading up to C++:
• Algol (1960): Developed by an international group, it was one of the first languages to implement structured programming concepts.
• BCPL (1967): Created by Martin Richards, BCPL influenced the design of later languages.
• B (1970): Developed by Ken Thompson, it was an early programming language that influenced C.
• Traditional C (1972): Created by Dennis Ritchie, it introduced many concepts that became standard in programming.
• K & R C (1978): A version of C described by Kernighan and Ritchie, widely recognized and influential.
• 1. 1980: Bjarne Stroustrup begins working on "C with Classes," the precursor to C++. The goal was to add object-oriented features to C while preserving its efficiency and flexibility.
• 2. 1983: The name "C++" is coined, reflecting the evolution of C. The ++ denotes the increment operator, symbolizing the enhancement of the language.
• 3. 1985: The first edition of the C++ programming language is published, marking its official introduction.
• 4. 1989: The development of C++ continues, adding more features and standardizing its syntax.
• 5. 1998: The first ISO standard for C++ (C++98) is established, formalizing many features and practices.
• 6. 2003, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2020: Subsequent updates to the language, each introducing new features and improvements (e.g., C++11 introduced features like auto keyword and lambda expressions).