The C++ programming
language invented by Bjarne Stroustrup in the 1980s is one of the
most pervasive computing languages in the world. A C++ compiler exists
for virtually every hardware platform. No compiler is 100% compliant
with the ISO/ANSI C++ Standard published in 1998. ARM C++, described in
The Annotated C++ Reference Manual in 1990, was the basis for the
ISO standardization. The free and open source
GNU Compiler Collection
(GCC) is generally considered to have the most standards compliant
and feature-rich compiler for C++.
Microsoft®
Visual C++®, on the other hand, has been
about 60%
compliant, and Microsoft made no effort to rectify the problem until
2002. As of this writing
it
is still not compliant.
Another significant consideration with the latest version of Visual C++,
dubbed Visual C++ .NET 2003, is extensions to the language for the
writing of "managed C++" code. Any features of the language not
conforming to the C++ standard should be very thoughtfully considered
before use. Using extensions to the language effectively negates code's
portability to other compilers which would not support these extensions.
Use of managed C++ code further locks developers into staying with
Microsoft products.