C++ creator shares tools of the trade

Graduate | Sep 06, 2017 | admin

By Emily Raleigh

If you’re going to build a house, you’re probably going to need a hammer.

If you’re trying to build a digital product, you’re going to need coding. And just like with building tools, someone had to invent the digital hammers.

The designer and original implementer of coding language C++, Bjarne Stroustrup, shared his experience in the ever-evolving computer science world with MS in Global Finance students.

Stroustrup created C++ in 1983 as an object-oriented, general-purpose coding language.

“I needed a tool for building that was practical,” he explained. “Some friends and colleagues began using what I built and it turned out to be useful for a lot of people in many different industries.”

Today, more than 4.5 million people use C++ and it is the third most popular coding language in the world.

“It’s a language used for running our systems and storing data. It’s going to keep doing that for a long time,” he reasoned.

Because Stroustrup has been heavily involved in computer science for more than three decades, he has had a front-row seat to the evolution of modern-day technology.

“The most surprising advancement I’ve seen is the shrinking of computers,” he said. “We are now carrying supercomputers in our pockets.”

Along with devices, he is impressed by the improvements in computer-science languages and the range of applications that are now easily accessible to society. That being said, there is and should be a deep concern for privacy, he expressed.

“The evolution of privacy in the world of computers is scary, and the conversation is far from over. The public tends to be more amazed by [technological improvements] rather than theory. We need to be aware because now, computers are everywhere.”