Up to eleven
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven

From C++ 1.0 to C++ 11

Ah, C++. The language that has been confusing and empowering developers since 1983. If you’ve ever felt the pain of debugging a memory leak at 3 AM or stared at template errors that look like encrypted alien messages, then this trip down memory lane is for you. Let’s look at how we got from C++ 1.0 to C++ 11 and why each version mattered.

The Birth of C++: C++ 1.0 (1985)

Back in the days when programmers wrote code on stone tablets (okay, maybe just on mainframes), Bjarne Stroustrup decided that C needed a bit more pizzazz. Inspired by Simula, he wanted a language that supported object-oriented programming while keeping C’s performance.

And thus, C with Classes was born, which eventually became C++ 1.0 in 1985. It introduced:

• Classes and Objects – Because writing everything in struct was getting old.
• Constructors & Destructors – Automated cleanup before garbage collection was cool.
• Operator Overloading – Because + and - shouldn’t just be for numbers.

NO TEMPLATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13

class Animal {
public:
    Animal(const std::string& name) : name(name) {}
    void speak() { std::cout << "I am " << name << std::endl; }
private:
    std::string name;
};

int main() {
    Animal cat("Whiskers");
    cat.speak(); // I am Whiskers
    return 0;
}

C++ 1.0 was cool, but it was just the beginning…

C++ 2.0 (1989) – The One with Multiple Inheritance

By 1989, programmers realized that one base class wasn’t enough. We needed Multiple Inheritance – because why not make diamond problems a thing?

New Features:

• Multiple Inheritance – Why inherit from one class when you can inherit from many?
• Abstract Classes & Pure Virtual Functions – Interfaces, but not quite.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

class Animal {
public:
    virtual void makeSound() = 0; // Pure virtual function
};

class Mammal {
public:
    void breathe() { std::cout << "Breathing..." << std::endl; }
};

class Dog : public Animal, public Mammal {
public:
    void makeSound() override { std::cout << "Woof!" << std::endl; }
};

int main() {
    Dog myDog;
    myDog.makeSound(); // Woof!
    myDog.breathe();   // Breathing...
    return 0;
}

C++ 98 (1998) – The Standardization Era

A decade later, developers wanted a standard. Enter C++ 98, the first ISO standardized C++. The goal? Make C++ reliable, predictable, and slightly less chaotic.

Big Features:

• STL (Standard Template Library) – Because we needed vector instead of raw arrays.
• Exceptions – Now you could throw errors instead of just suffering through them.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

int main() {
    std::vector<int> numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4};
    for (int n : numbers) {
        std::cout << n << " ";
    }
    return 0;
}

C++ 03 (2003) – The Fixer Update

Think of C++ 03 as C++ 98.1. It fixed annoying edge cases, like how vector<bool> was behaving weirdly. Nothing major happened here, just bug fixes and some quality-of-life improvements.

C++ 11 (2011) – The Big Modernization

After years of minor updates, C++ 11 came in like a wrecking ball. It was the biggest change since C++ 1.0, introducing modern C++ with powerful new features.

The Game-Changing Features:

• Auto Keyword – Less typing, more magic.
• Range-Based For Loops – No more for(int i=0; i<vec.size(); i++) nonsense.
• Lambda Expressions – Anonymous functions FTW.
• Smart Pointers – unique_ptr and shared_ptr to prevent memory leaks.
• Move Semantics – Because copying is expensive.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

int main() {
    std::vector<int> numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4};

    // Range-based for loop
    for (auto n : numbers) {
        std::cout << n << " ";
    }

    return 0;
}

With C++ 11, the language became safer, faster, and easier to use. It set the stage for modern C++ and led the way for further versions like C++ 14, C++ 17, and beyond.

Key Ideas

Reference Links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B
• https://en.cppreference.com/w/
• https://isocpp.org/std/the-standard