The Design and Evolution of C++, First Edition

0. Notes to the Reader

Writing is the only art that must he learned by wrote.

– anon

Main themes of this book — how to read this book — a timeline for C++ — C++ and other programming languages — references.

Introduction

C++ was designed to provide Simula’s facilities for program organization together with C’s efficiency and flexibility for systems programming. It was intended to deliver that to real projects within half a year of the idea. It succeeded.

At the time, mid-1979, neither the modesty nor the preposterousness of that goal was realized. The goal was modest in that it did not involve innovation, and preposterous in both its time scale and its Draconian demands on efficiency and flexibility. While a modest amount of innovation did emerge ...