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Question
2 answers
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Fred’s Answer
c++ is a programming language. Many years ago, there was a language call "c". That language was overhauled and extended with many new features (I'm kind of glossing over the details).
In many programming languages, you can increase the value of an integer variable by using the "++" operator. If I had a variable named "age", and a calendar check says it's my birthday, I may write:
age++;
which would increment the value by one.
So the name c++ is kind of a pun on that concept. We had the c language, it was improved, and now it's better, or c plus plus. It may (although I have no source for this theory) be a reference to George Orwell's book "1984", where thing can be "good", "plus good", or even "double plus good".
In many programming languages, you can increase the value of an integer variable by using the "++" operator. If I had a variable named "age", and a calendar check says it's my birthday, I may write:
age++;
which would increment the value by one.
So the name c++ is kind of a pun on that concept. We had the c language, it was improved, and now it's better, or c plus plus. It may (although I have no source for this theory) be a reference to George Orwell's book "1984", where thing can be "good", "plus good", or even "double plus good".
Updated
Dennis’s Answer
Hi Quentin! I like both David's and Fred's answers. I'll take a different tack: I'm assuming you are interested in software or software engineering. If so, then C++ is meaningful because it is one of MANY programming languages in use today. If you pursue a carreer in this field, you will likely hear discussions about "...what is the best programming language..." My take is that there is no right answer for this question. The ORIGINAL programming language that I can think of is written music. (I have surprised many people with that comment.) Written music has been used for over 400 years and is still in use. It could be used to program a computer, but, more likely, it tells a muscian how to produce a certain piece of music. Carrying this concept over to computers - computer code is just a group of instructions that you want the computer or its associated peripherals to perform. So, in that respect, it is similar to how certain pieces of music are produced. Have you guessed by now that I am a musician? Yes, but my training is in Mechanical Engineering, but I have learned to program in C ( not C++) and some other languages as part of my job.
If you pursue a career in ths area, I hope you can learn and use many languages as appropriate for the projects you tackle. Good luck, Quentin.
If you pursue a career in ths area, I hope you can learn and use many languages as appropriate for the projects you tackle. Good luck, Quentin.
I've never thought of sheet music as a programming language, but I think you are right. "Do <this> for <this> long". I like it!!!
Fred Rosenberger