The Problem with Programming
The Problem with Programming
Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of the C++ programming language, defends his legacy and examines what’s wrong with most software code.
By Jason Pontin
In the 1980s and 90s, Bjarne Stroustrup designed and implemented the C++ programming language, which popularized object-oriented programming and influenced numerous other programming languages, including Java.
C++ remains the archetypal ‘high level’ computer language (that is, one that preserves the features of natural, human language), and it is still used by millions of programmers. Many of the systems and applications of the PC and Internet eras were written in C++. For all that, the language remains controversial, largely because it is notoriously difficult to learn and use, and also because Stroustrup’s design allows developers to make serious programming mistakes in the interest of preserving their freedom.
Stroustrup, for many years a researcher at AT&T Bell Labs, is now a professor of computer science in the Department of Engineering, at Texas A&M University, near Houston.
Technology Review: Why is most software so bad?
Bjarne Stroustrup: Some software is actually pretty good by any standards. Think of the Mars Rovers, Google, and the Human Genome Project. That’s quality software! Fifteen years ago, most people, and especially most experts, would have said each”