The Evolution of C++ as a Programming Language Essay -- Information Te

The Evolution of C++ as a Programming Language C++ is a very useful programming language. Many educational curriculums will include either C or C++ as the tool entry-level programmers will use to learn the syntax, semantics, and data structures key to effective programming that is required of computer scientists. C++ is such a diverse language, one cannot help but wonder how it became the popular language it is today, and this paper is going to demonstrate just that. Introduction to CPL Cis the great-grandfather of C++, designed in 1963. It is short for â€Å"Combined Programming Language.† Many features within CPL are from, or are largely based on, Algol 60, which was a programming language developed in the early 1960’s. It was designed jointly by members of the University Mathematical Laboratory in Cambridge and the University of London Computer Unit. CPL was designed to be not just a mathematical calculation tool, but had support for uses in many non-mathematical applications as well. One of the biggest differences between Algol and CPL was the attempt to improve upon Algol’s precision with mathematical calculation. Algol commonly generalized different types of data in order to provide ease of manipulation, especially with simulation, but its precision suffered as a result. CPL is generally made up of definitions, different kinds of data types and expressions, and commands, which manipulate that data. Code is split up into sections called blocks, made up of one or more definitions and one or more commands, which was a feature directly drawn from Algol. Numerical and non-numerical data types were referenced through index registers using names, either a single lower-case character or a series of upper-case alphanumeric ch... ... retrieved 10/12/04 from http://www.cplusplus.com/info/history.html Thompson, K. 1996. Users' Reference to B, retrieved 10/12/04 from http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/kbman.html Ritchie, D.M. 2003. The development of the C language. Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies. Retrieved 10/12/04 from http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/chist.html Martin Richards's BCPL Reference Manual, 2002. Published in1967. Retrieved 10/12/04 from http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/bcpl.html Barron, D.W; Buxton, J.N; Hartley, D.F; Nixon, E; Strachey, C. 1963. The main features of CPL. The Computer Journal. Volume 6, Issue 2, pp. 134-143. Cambridge, UK. Retrieved 11/20/04 from http://www3.oup.co.uk/computer_journal/hdb/Volume_06/Issue_02/060134.sgm.abs.html Stroustrup, B. 1997. The C++ programming language, 3rd edition. Published by Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, in 1998.