A Brief Description

A Brief Description
Preface
Computers are some of the most versatile tools that we have available. They are capable of
performing stunning feats of computation, they allow information to be exchanged easily
regardless of their physical location, they simplify many every-day tasks, and they allow us to
automate many processes that would be tedious or boring to perform otherwise. However,
computers are not "intelligent" as we are. They have to be told in no uncertain terms exactly what
they're supposed to do, and their native languages are quite unlike anything we speak. Thus,
there's a formidable language barrier between a person who wishes a computer to do something,
and the computer that typically requires instructions in its native language, machine code, to do
anything. So far, computers cannot figure out what they are supposed to do on their own, and
thus they rely on programs which we create, which are sets of instructions that the computer can
understand and follow.
An Overview of Programs and Programming

Languages
In order to better communicate to our computers what exactly it is we want them to do, we've
developed a wide range of programming languages to make the communication process easier.
Depending on the type of project, there are many factors that have to be considered when
choosing a language. Here is a list of some of the more noteworthy ones:
 Compiled, interpreted, or JIT-compiled

Compiled languages are translated to the target machine's native language by a
program called a compiler. This can result in very fast code, especially if the compiler is
effective at optimizing, however the resulting code may not port well across operating
systems and the compilation process may take a while.
Interpreted languages are read by a program called an interpreter and are executed by
that program. While they are as portable as their interpreter and have no long compile
times, interpreted languages are usually muchslower than an equivalent compiled
program.
Finally, just-in-time compiled (or JIT-compiled) languages are languages that are
quickly compiled when programs written in them need to be run (usually with very little
optimization), offering a balance between performance and portability.
 High or Low Level Level, in this case, refers to how much the nature of the language
reflects the underlying system. In other words, a programming language's level refers to
how similar the language is to a computer's native language. The higher the level,
the less similar it is.
A low-level language is generally quite similar to machine code, and thus is more
suitable for programs like device drivers or very high performance programs that really
need access to the hardware. Generally, the term is reserved for machine code itself and
assembly languages, though many languages offer low-level elements. Since a low-level
language is subject to all the nuances of the hardware it's accessing, however, a program
written in a low-level language is generally difficult to port to other platforms. Low level
languages are practically never interpreted, as this generally defeats the purpose.
A high-level language focuses more on concepts that are easy to understand by the
human mind, such as objects or mathematical functions. A high-level language usually is
easier to understand than a low-level language, and it usually takes less time to develop a
program in a high-level language than it does in a low-level language. As a trade-off one
generally needs to sacrifice some degree of control over what the resulting program
actually does. It is not, however, impossible to mix high-level and low-level functionality in
a language.
 Type System
A type system refers to the rules that the different types of variables of a language have
to follow. Some languages (including most assembly languages) do not have types and
thus this section does not apply to them. However, as most languages (including C++)
have types, this information is important.
o Type Strength: Strong or Weak
A strong typing system puts restrictions on how different types of variables can be
converted to each other without any converting statements. An ideal strong typing
system would forbid implicit "casts" to types that do not make any sense, such as
an integer to a Fruit object. A weak typing system would try to find some way to
make the cast work.
o Type Expression: Manifest or Inferred

This deals with how the compiler/interpreter for a language infers the types of
variables. Many languages require variables' types to be explicitly defined, and
thus rely on manifest typing. Some however, will infer the type of the variable
based on the contexts in which it is used, and thus use inferred typing.
o Type Checking: Static or Dynamic

If a language is statically typed, then the compiler/interpreter does the type
checking once before the program runs/is compiled. If the language is dynamically
type checked, then the types are checked at run-time.
o Type Safety: Safe or Unsafe

These refer to the degree to which a language will prohibit operations on typed
variables that might lead to undefined behavior or errors. A safe language will do
more to ensure that such operations or conversions do not occur, while an unsafe
language will give more responsibility to the user in this regard.
These typing characteristics are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and some languages
mix them.
 Supported paradigms
A programming paradigm is a methodology or way of programming that a programming
language supports. Here is a summary of a few common paradigms:
o Declarative
A declarative language will focus more on specifying what a language is supposed
to accomplish rather than by what means it is supposed to accomplish it. Such a
paradigm might be used to avoid undesired side-effects resulting from having to
write one's own code.
o Functional
Functional programming is a subset of declarative programming that tries to
express problems in terms of mathematical equations and functions. It goes out of
its way to avoid the concepts of states and mutable variables which are common in
imperative languages.
o Generic
Generic programming focuses on writing skeleton algorithms in terms of types that
will be specified when the algorithm is actually used, thus allowing some leniency
to programmers who wish to avoid strict strong typing rules. It can be a very
powerful paradigm if well-implemented.
o Imperative
Imperative languages allow programmers to give the computer ordered lists of
instructions without necessarily having to explicitly state the task. It can be
thought of being the opposite of declarative programming.
o Structured
Structured programming languages aim to provide some form of noteworthy
structure to a language, such as intuitive control over the order in which
statements are executed (if X then do Y otherwise do Z, do X while Y is Z). Such
languages generally deprecate "jumps", such as those provided by the goto
statement in C and C++.
o Procedural
Although it is sometimes used as a synonym for imperative programming, a
procedural programming language can also refer to an imperative structured
programming language which supports the concept of procedures and subroutines
(also known as functions in C or C++).
o Object-Oriented
Object-Oriented programming (sometimes abbreviated to OOP) is a subset of
structured programming which expresses programs in the terms of "objects",
which are meant to model objects in the real world. Such a paradigm allows code
to be reused in remarkable ways and is meant to be easy to understand.
 Standardization
Does a language have a formal standard? This can be very important to ensure that
programs written to work with one compiler/interpreter will work with another. Some
languages are standardized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), some
are standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and some
have an informal but de-facto standard not maintained by any standards organization.
The Features of C++ as a Language

Now that all the necessary theory has been covered, now it is possible to explain what C++ has to
offer as a programming language. C++...
 ...is an open ISO-standardized language.

For a time, C++ had no official standard and was maintained by a de-facto standard,
however since 1998, C++ is standardized by a committee of the ISO. Their page may be
accessed here.
 ...is a compiled language.

C++ compiles directly to a machine's native code, allowing it to be one of the fastest
languages in the world, if optimized.
 ...is a strongly-typed unsafe language.

C++ is a language that expects the programmer to know what he or she is doing, but
allows for incredible amounts of control as a result.
 ...supports both manifest and inferred typing.

As of the latest C++ standard, C++ supports both manifest and inferred typing, allowing
flexibility and a means of avoiding verbosity where desired.
 ...supports both static and dynamic type checking.

C++ allows type conversions to be checked either at compile-time or at run-time, again
offering another degree of flexibility. Most C++ type checking is, however, static.
 ...offers many paradigm choices.

C++ offers remarkable support for procedural, generic, and object-oriented programming
paradigms, with many other paradigms being possible as well.
 ...is portable.
As one of the most frequently used languages in the world and as an open language, C++
has a wide range of compilers that run on many different platforms that support it. Code
that exclusively uses C++'s standard library will run on many platforms with few to no
changes.
 ...is upwards compatible with C

C++, being a language that directly builds off C, is compatible with almost all C code. C++
can use C libraries with few to no modifications of the libraries' code.
 ...has incredible library support.

A search for "library" on the popular project-management website SourceForge will yield
over 3000 results for C++ libraries. A link to the results of the search may be found here.

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A Brief Description

An Overview of Programs and Programming

 Compiled, interpreted, or JIT-compiled

o Type Expression: Manifest or Inferred

o Type Checking: Static or Dynamic

o Type Safety: Safe or Unsafe

The Features of C++ as a Language

 ...is an open ISO-standardized language.

 ...is a compiled language.

 ...is a strongly-typed unsafe language.

 ...supports both manifest and inferred typing.

 ...supports both static and dynamic type checking.

 ...offers many paradigm choices.

 ...is upwards compatible with C

 ...has incredible library support.

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