Lesson 1: What is C++? | C++ Tutorial

🚀 Lesson 1: What is C++?

⏱️ Estimated time: 15 minutes | Difficulty: Beginner

The Powerhouse

C++ is a high-performance, object-oriented programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of C. It is widely used in game development, high-frequency trading, and operating systems.

What is C++?

C++ was created by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979 as an extension of C. It adds object-oriented programming (OOP) features like classes, inheritance, and polymorphism while keeping C's speed and low-level access.

C++ = C + Classes + More

🎯 Object-Oriented

Classes, objects, inheritance, polymorphism

⚡ High Performance

Compiled to machine code, zero-cost abstractions

📚 STL

Standard Template Library with vectors, maps, algorithms

🎮 Industry Standard

Game engines, browsers, OS kernels, databases

What Can You Build?

🎮 Game Engines — Unreal Engine, Unity (core), CryEngine
🌐 Browsers — Chrome, Firefox, Edge
🗄️ Databases — MongoDB, MySQL
🤖 AI/ML — TensorFlow, PyTorch backends
💻 Operating Systems — Windows, macOS components

Your First C++ Program

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    cout << "Hello, World!" << endl;
    return 0;
}

Key Differences from C:

iostream instead of stdio.h
cout << instead of printf()
cin >> instead of scanf()
using namespace std; to avoid typing std:: everywhere

✅ Quick Quiz

❓ Who created C++?

A) Dennis Ritchie B) Bjarne Stroustrup C) James Gosling

❓ What does cout do?

A) Reads input B) Prints output to screen C) Creates a file

❓ C++ adds what major feature over C?

A) Variables B) Object-oriented programming C) Loops

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