C++ - Introduction

C++ is currently one of the most popular third generation languages. It achieved popularity as a basic development platform for many operating systems. On a PC platform, there are various flavours available to support the creation of applications for virtually all OSes, eg. Turbo C++ for DOS, Borland C++ for Windows, Visual C++ for Win32, GNU C++ for DOS/Win/Unix

This course shall concentrate on the principles of object-orientated programming and its uses and advantages in advanced API environments like that of Windows.

At the very outset of any course, it has to be asked "why study this?". There are a myriad of reasons to study C++, included among which are:

since it is widely available, programmers that know C/C++ can migrate very easily to other platforms/operating systems
object-orientation is a principle component of many programming languages; thus all built-in code is already object-orientated
object-orientation makes it easier to understand the logic in programs since it is a better model of reality than classical programs
object-orientation lends itself to visual programming, which is fast becoming a trend in newer compilers
object-orientation allows for easy re-use, expansion and maintenance

C is a classic third generation procedural language. It is very similar to other 3GLs like Pascal. C++ is an extension of syntax of C, to allow for object-orientation. C is therefore a proper subset of C++, and in order to program in C++ knowledge of C is preferrential.

C++ gets its name from one of the standard C++ operators. Taken literally, it would mean "one more than C".