Bjarne Stroustrup
| Bjarne Stroustrup | |
|---|---|
| |
| Institutions | AT&T Bell Labs |
| Developer of | C++ |
| Occupations | Computer scientist; Software engineer; Author |
| Fields | Computer science; Software engineering |
| Contributions | Designed C++; Led early ISO C++ standardization |
| Notable works | The C++ Programming Language |
| Known for | Creating C++; Object-oriented programming; ISO C++ standardization |
| Wikidata | Q92620 |
Bjarne Stroustrup (born December 30, 1950) is a Danish computer scientist best known as the designer and original implementer of the C++ programming language. He created C++ in the early 1980s to add high-level features (especially object-oriented programming) to the C language while retaining C’s speed and efficiency Stroustrup first developed C++ at AT&T’s famed Bell Labs research center and later guided its evolution through multiple editions of The C++ Programming Language and formal standardization. He has held senior roles in both academia and industry (including AT&T Bell Labs, Texas A&M University, and Columbia University/Morgan Stanley), and his work has profoundly influenced modern software engineering and programming.
Early Life and Education
Stroustrup was born and raised in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1950 He studied mathematics and computer science at Aarhus University, earning a Cand.Scient. degree (similar to a master’s) in 1975 In 1975 he enrolled at the University of Cambridge in England, where he completed a Ph.D. in computer science in 1979 under supervisor David Wheeler (David Wheeler was a pioneer of early computing.) During this period Stroustrup became interested in high-level language design. In particular, he learned Simula (an early object-oriented language developed by Dahl and Nygaard) and related research at Cambridge, which later shaped his own work.
Career and the Creation of C++
After earning his Ph.D., Stroustrup joined the computing research center of AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, in 1979 Bell Labs was already famous as the home of Unix and the C language. There, Stroustrup set out to extend C by adding “classes” and other features of object-oriented programming (OOP). Object-oriented programming is a paradigm that organizes code into classes and objects, allowing data and functions to be grouped and inherited – Simula had originated many OO ideas in the late 1960s. As Stroustrup later explained, his goal was “a language where I could write programs that were as elegant as Simula programs, yet as efficient as C programs” He began work on what was initially called “C with Classes,” developing a translator named Cfront that turned C++-like code into C for compilation.
By 1984 Stroustrup had produced the first internal reference manual for the language; C++ was officially released in 1985 The language added concepts such as classes, inheritance, virtual functions (for runtime polymorphism), and later templates for generic programming, all while keeping full compatibility with C as much as possible. These features allowed programmers to write more complex software with modular, reusable components without sacrificing performance. C++ quickly gained popularity: by the 1990s it became the dominant object-oriented language in industry, used for everything from embedded systems and games to finance and operating systems (A survey in 2015 estimated the C++ user community at over 4.4 million programmers, and the language remains widely used today.
During his Bell Labs years, Stroustrup not only refined C++ but also led research on large-scale software development. He eventually headed the “Large-scale Programming Research” branch of AT&T Labs (the successor to Bell Labs after corporate reorganizations) until about 2002 He served as a mentor to many younger researchers and collaborated on C++ compilers and libraries.
The C++ Language and Key Publications
Stroustrup’s most influential work is C++ itself, which he carefully designed as a multi-paradigm language. This means C++ supports procedural programming (like C), object-oriented programming (added by Stroustrup), and generic programming (for example, via templates)—allowing programmers to choose the style best suited to the task. He famously advocated a “zero-overhead” principle: features in C++ should not cost anything (in time or memory) if they are not used by a program. Over successive revisions, he guided the language’s evolution by authoring the rules and core library features.
To share C++ with the world, Stroustrup wrote the foundational textbook The C++ Programming Language. First published in 1985, the book served as the definitive guide and reference to C++. It spawned multiple editions as the language grew (the fourth edition appeared in 2013) Other major books by Stroustrup include The Design and Evolution of C++ (1994), which explains the rationale behind language features, and later, more introductory texts like A Tour of C++ and Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++. In the early 1990s he co-authored (with Margaret Ellis) The Annotated C++ Reference Manual, a book that documented the language and compiler prototype, helping to establish the first official standard. Through these publications, Stroustrup educated generations of programmers and codified best practices for using C++.
Standardization of C++
From the start Stroustrup was deeply involved in organizing C++ into an official standard. In the late 1980s the ANSI committee J16 was formed to begin a formal C++ standard. This work eventually led to the first international C++ standard (ISO/IEC 14882:1998, often called “C++98”) in 1998. Stroustrup served as a leading member of the ANSI and later ISO working groups for C++ (usually called WG21), where he helped review proposals and refine language features. He continued this role through subsequent standards: C++11, C++14, C++17, and C++20. In short, Stroustrup steered C++ through much of its past 40-year history. He summarized his involvement by saying he “invented C++, wrote its early definitions, and produced its first implementation; … designed all its major facilities, and was responsible for the processing of extension proposals in the C++ standards committee” His personal website notes that he is “actively involved in the ANSI/ISO standardization of C++” even decades later Thanks in large part to his leadership, the standards committee has maintained strong backward compatibility (preserving 30+ years of C/C++ code) while periodically adding modern features (like move semantics, concurrency support, and modules).
Influence on Programming and Industry
Stroustrup’s work has had a broad and lasting impact on software development. C++ brought object-oriented and generic programming techniques into mainstream systems programming. For this reason, in 2018 Stroustrup was awarded the IEEE Computer Society’s Computer Pioneer Award, which specifically praised him “for bringing object-oriented programming and generic programming to the mainstream with his design and implementation of the C++ programming language” Similarly, he has been elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and is a Fellow of the ACM, IEEE, and the Computer History Museum (CHM) reflecting his stature in the field. In 2018 he also received the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering – a major international honor often called the “Nobel Prize of engineering” – recognizing his creation of C++
C++ itself influenced numerous later languages and software practices. Languages such as Java and C# adopted C++-style syntax and moved semantics, while templates in C++ inspired generics in other languages. The language’s emphasis on performance helped shape careers and industries, as C++ became the de facto standard for large-scale systems, game engines, high-frequency trading, and other performance-critical applications. Stroustrup’s textbooks are still widely used in university courses and professional training. He has also mentored researchers and worked with standards bodies beyond C++, further amplifying his influence. In short, Stroustrup helped set the direction for decades of programming language design and software engineering best practices.
Critiques and Philosophy
While C++ is hugely successful, it has also faced criticism – some of it directed at design choices from Stroustrup’s era. Common critiques include that C++ is very complex, with a long list of features and subtle interactions; that it can be error-prone (for example, manual memory management and pointer misuse can cause bugs); and that it has a steep learning curve. Critics sometimes argue that these flaws make C++ unsuitable for new projects compared to safer languages. Stroustrup has responded by emphasizing the language’s goals: it was never meant to be the simplest language, but rather one that gives programmers maximum control. In his view, performance and flexibility inevitably carry some complexity.
Rather than abandoning C++, Stroustrup has advocated evolving it carefully. He oversaw improvements such as stronger type checking, exceptions for safe error handling, the Standard Library (for safer containers and algorithms), and later features like smart pointers (for automatic memory management) and the Core Guidelines (advice for safer coding). He argues that each new C++ standard has made the language more efficient and safer than before. For example, in discussions about memory safety, he has noted that comparisons between C++ and newer languages must consider that C++ today is very different from early C++: any fair comparison must compare the latest C++ standards with other languages, not old versions In practice, Stroustrup’s philosophy has been to keep C++ evolving (adding, for instance, easier concurrency abstractions and modern syntax) while preserving the old code that still works.
Legacy and Recognition
Today Bjarne Stroustrup is viewed as one of the key figures in computer science. He is often called “the father of C++,” and many credit him with establishing principles that bridge low-level and high-level programming. His career has combined research and communication: he is a prolific author of both technical papers and popular writings on programming. In recent years he moved from AT&T Labs to academia and finance – for example, he was a chaired professor of computer science at Texas A&M University from 2002–2014 and currently (as of 2020s) he is a professor at Columbia University in New York and a managing director at Morgan Stanley.
Throughout, Stroustrup has received many awards: in addition to the Draper Prize and IEEE Computer Pioneer (both 2018), he won the Association for Computing Machinery’s Grace Murray Hopper Award (1993), the Faraday Medal (2017), and numerous honorary doctorates Professional councils and universities frequently cite his creation of C++ as a foundational advance. His legacy is most evident in the countless software systems built with C++, and in continuing work by others who extend and teach his ideas. Even as new languages emerge, the strategies Stroustrup embodied – efficiency-minded design, support for multiple paradigms, and rigorous language standards – remain influential guidelines.
Selected Works
- The C++ Programming Language (Addison-Wesley, 1st ed. 1985; latest 4th ed. 2013) – The definitive tutorial and reference for C++.
- The Design and Evolution of C++ (Addison-Wesley, 1994) – A deep look at C++’s history and the rationale behind its features.
- Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ (Addison-Wesley, 2008; 2nd ed. 2014; 3rd ed. 2024) – An introductory textbook for new programmers.
- A Tour of C++ (Addison-Wesley, 2013; 2nd ed. 2018; 3rd ed. 2022) – A concise overview of modern C++ for experienced programmers.
- Annotated C++ Reference Manual (Addison-Wesley, 1990, co-authored) – The detailed specification that formed the basis of the first C++ standard.
- Numerous research papers on programming languages, software design, and distributed systems (see publications list on his website
Aspiring programmers and experienced developers alike often encounter Stroustrup’s ideas, whether through his books, the C++ standard, or the many tools and applications built on C++. His blend of practical engineering and careful design reasoning has left a lasting imprint on the field.
Sources: Authoritative biographies and interviews with Stroustrup, plus historical retrospectives on Bell Labs and the development of C++ These sources include Stroustrup’s own website and IEEE/ACM award citations, which document his education, career milestones, publications, and honors.