C++ facts for kids

Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++

C++ (pronounced "see plus plus") is a computer programming language based on C. It was created for writing programs for many different purposes. In the 1990s, C++ became one of the most used programming languages in the world.

The C++ programming language was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs in the 1980s, and was originally named "C with classes". The language was planned as an improvement on the C programming language, adding features based on object-oriented programming. Step by step, a lot of advanced features were added to the language, like operator overloading, exception handling and templates.

C++ runs on a variety of platforms, such as Windows, Mac OS, and the various versions of UNIX. C++ is simple and practical approach to describe the concepts of C++ for beginners to advanced software engineers.

C++ is a general-purpose programing language which means that it can be used to create different variety of applications.C++ is used for variety of application domains.

Example

The following text is C++ source code and it will write the words "Hello World!" on the screen when it has been compiled and is executed. This program is typically the first program a programmer would write while learning about programming languages.

// This is a comment. It's for *people* to read, not computers. It's usually used to describe the program.

// Make the I/O standard library available for use in the program.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
// We are now defining the main function; it is the function run when the program starts.
int main()
{
    // Printing a message to the screen using the standard output stream std::cout.
    cout << "Hello World!";
}

This program is similar to the last, except it will add 3 + 2 and print the answer instead of "Hello World!".

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    // Print a simple calculation.
    std::cout << 3 + 2;
}

This program subtracts, multiplies, divides and then prints the answer on the screen.

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    // Create and initialize 3 variables, a, b, and c, to 5, 10, and 20.
    int a = 5;
    int b = 10;
    int c = 20;

    // Print calculations.
    std::cout << a-b-c;
    std::cout << a*b*c;
    std::cout << a/b/c;
}

Images for kids

• 

  A quiz on C++11 features being given in Paris in 2015

• 

  Scene during the C++ standards committee meeting in Stockholm in 1996

• 

  The draft "Working Paper" standard that became approved as C++98; half of its size was devoted to the C++ Standard Library.