The designer of C++ recounts its development, dissecting the decisions made in the creation of the language to present a case study in real object-oriented development for the working programmer. In doing so, he presents his views on programming and design in a concrete and useful way. Topics include a prehistory of C++, C with classes, C++ language design rules, standardization, libraries, memory management, multiple inheritance, casting, templates, and exception handling. This book focuses on the principles, process, and decisions made during the development of the C++ programming language. As the "inventor" of the language, Stroustrup presents his unique insight into the decisions which resulted in the features of C++--the universally praised, the controversial, and even some of the rejected ones. The book provides a solid introduction to OOP and C++ for beginners.