C++ language
During the late 1970s and
early 1980s, C became the dominant computer programming language, and it is
still widely used today. Since C is a successful and useful language, you might
ask why a need for something else existed. The answer is complexity. Throughout
the history of programming, the increasing complexity of programs has driven
the need for better ways to manage that complexity.
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C++ is a response to that
need. To better understand why managing program complexity is fundamental to
the creation of C++, consider the following. Approaches to programming have
changed dramatically since the invention of the computer. For example, when
computers were first invented, programming was done by manually toggling in the
binary machine instructions by use of the front panel.
As long as programs
were just a few hundred instructions long, this approach worked. As programs
grew, assembly language was invented so that a programmer could deal with
larger, increasingly complex programs by using symbolic representations of the
machine instructions. As programs continued to grow, high-level languages were
introduced that gave the programmer more tools with which to handle complexity.
The first widespread language was, of course, FORTRAN. While FORTRAN was an
impressive first step, it is hardly a language that encourages clear and
easy-to-understand programs.
The 1960s gave
birth to structured programming. This is the method of programming championed
by languages such as C. The use of structured languages enabled programmers to
write, for the first time, moderately complex programs fairly easily. However,
even with structured programming methods, once a project reaches a certain
size, its complexity exceeds what a programmer can manage. By the early 1980s,
many projects were pushing the structured approach past its limits. To solve
this problem, a new way to program was invented, called object-oriented
programming (OOP). Object-oriented programming is discussed in detail later in
this book, but here is a brief definition: OOP is a programming methodology
that helps organize complex programs through the use of inheritance,
encapsulation, and polymorphism. In the final analysis, although C is one of
the world’s great programming languages, there is a limit to its ability to
handle complexity. Once the size of a program exceeds a certain point, it
becomes so complex that it is difficult to grasp as a totality. While the
precise size at which this occurs differs, depending upon both the nature of
the program and the programmer, there is always a threshold at which a program
becomes unmanageable.
C++ added features that enabled this
threshold to be broken, allowing programmers to comprehend and manage larger
programs. C++ was invented by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979, while he was working
at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Stroustrup initially called
the new language “C with Classes.” However, in 1983, the name was changed to
C++. C++ extends C by adding object-oriented features. Because C++ is built on
the foundation of C, it includes all of C’s features, attributes, and benefits.
This is a crucial reason for the success of C++ as a language. The invention of
C++ was not an attempt to create a completely new programming language.
Instead, it was an enhancement to an already highly successful one.
The Stage Is Set for Java
By
the end of the 1980s and the early 1990s, object-oriented programming using C++
took hold. Indeed, for a brief moment it seemed as if programmers had finally
found the perfect language. Because C++ blended the high efficiency and
stylistic elements of C with the object-oriented paradigm, it was a language
that could be used to create a wide range of programs. However, just as in the
past, forces were brewing that would, once again, drive computer language
evolution forward. Within a few years, the World Wide Web and the Internet
would reach critical mass. This event would precipitate another revolution in
programming
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