• C++ is a cross-platform language that can be used to create high-performance applications.
• C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup, as an extension to the C language.
• C++ gives programmers a high level of control over system resources and memory.
• The language was updated 3 major times in 2011, 2014, and 2017 to C++11, C++14, and C++17.

• C++ is one of the world's most popular programming languages.
• C++ can be found in today's operating systems, Graphical User Interfaces, and embedded systems.
• C++ is an object-oriented programming language which gives a clear structure to programs and allows code to be reused, lowering development costs.
• C++ is portable and can be used to develop applications that can be adapted to multiple platforms.
• C++ is fun and easy to learn!
• As C++ is close to C# and Java, it makes it easy for programmers to switch to C++ or vice versa

• Simple: It is a simple language in the sense that programs can be broken down into logical units and parts, has a rich libray support and a variety of data-types.
• Machine Independent but Platform Dependent: A C++ executable is not platform-independent (compiled programs on Linux won’t run on Windows), however they are machine independent.
• Mid-level language: It is a mid-level language as we can do both systems-programming (drivers, kernels, networking etc.) and build large-scale user applications (Media Players, Photoshop, Game Engines etc.)
• Rich library support: Has a rich library support (Both standard ~ built-in data structures, algorithms etc.) as well 3rd party libraries (e.g. Boost libraries) for fast and rapid development.
• Speed of execution: C++ programs excel in execution speed. Since, it is a compiled language, and also hugely procedural. Newer languages have extra in-built default features such as grabage-collection, dynamic typing etc. which slow the execution of the program overall. Since there is no additional processing overhead like this in C++, it is blazing fast.
• Pointer and direct Memory-Access: C++ provides pointer support which aids users to directly manipulate storage address. This helps in doing low-level programming (where one might need to have explicit control on the storage of variables).
• Object-Oriented: One of the strongest points of the language which sets it apart from C. Object-Oriented support helps C++ to make maintainable and extensible programs. i.e. Large-scale applications ca be built. Procedural code becomes difficult to maintain as code-size grows.
• Compiled Language: C++ is a compiled language, contributing to its speed.

C++ finds varied usage in applications such as:

• Operating Systems & Systems Programming. e.g. Linux-based OS (Ubuntu etc.)
• Browsers (Chrome & Firefox)
• Graphics & Game engines (Photoshop, Blender, Unreal-Engine)
• Database Engines (MySQL, MongoDB, Redis etc.)
• Cloud/Distributed Systems