Wrap-Up

This chapter introduced basic hardware and software concepts, and explored C++'s role in developing distributed client/server applications. You studied the history of the Internet and the World Wide Web. We discussed the different types of programming languages, their history and which programming languages are most widely used. We also discussed the C++ Standard Library which contains reusable classes and functions that help C++ programmers create portable C++ programs.

We presented basic object technology concepts, including classes, objects, attributes, behaviors, encapsulation and inheritance. You also learned about the history and purpose of the UMLthe industry-standard graphical language for modeling software systems.

You learned the typical steps for creating and executing a C++ application. Finally, you "test-drove" a sample C++ application similar to the types of applications you will learn to program in this book.

In the next chapter, you will create your first C++ applications. You will see several examples that demonstrate how programs display messages on the screen and obtain information from the user at the keyboard for processing. We analyze and explain each example to help you ease your way into C++ programming.