TechnoRig

C++ (pronounced see plus plus) is a programming language that is general purpose, statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm and compiled. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises both high-level and low-level language features. Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs, C++ was originally named C with Classes, adding object-oriented features, such as classes, and other enhancements to the C programming language. The language was renamed C++ in 1983, as a pun involving the increment operator.

C++ is one of the most popular programming languages and is implemented on a wide variety of hardware and operating system platforms. As an efficient compiler to native code, its application domains include systems software, application software, device drivers, embedded software, high-performance server and client applications, and entertainment software such as video games. Several groups provide both free and proprietary C++compiler software, including the GNU Project, LLVM, Microsoft and Intel. C++ has greatly influenced many other popular programming languages, most notably C# and Java.

The language began as enhancements to C, first adding classes, then virtual functions, operator overloading, multiple inheritance, templates andexception handling, among other features. After years of development, the C++ programming language standard was ratified in 1998 as ISO/IEC 14882:1998. The standard was amended by the 2003 technical corrigendum, ISO/IEC 14882:2003. The current standard extending C++ with new features was ratified and published by ISO in September 2011 as ISO/IEC 14882:2011 (informally known as C++11).

C++ inherits most of C's syntax. The following is Bjarne Stroustrup's version of the Hello world program that uses the C++ Standard Library stream facility to write a message to standard output:

# include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
   std::cout << "Hello, world!\n";
}

Within functions that define a non-void return type, failure to return a value before control reaches the end of the function results in undefined behaviour (compilers typically provide the means to issue a diagnostic in such a case). The sole exception to this rule is the main function, which implicitly returns a value of zero.