Not Your Grandparent's C++ - The Evolution of Cpp

C++ has been around, by that name, since the early 80s - but started in the 70s (as “C with Classes"). Reaching its heyday in the mid-late 90s, many people’s impressions of it were formed in that time frame, or during the 13 year C++98/03 period! But C++ has evolved considerably since then and, despite what you might have heard, mostly in ways that make it safer and simpler to use. This talk takes us on a tour of the evolution of C++ - from it’s genesis, following the PhD thesis of Bjarne Stroustrup - up to “modern” C++20 and C++23 - and a look ahead at what C++26 and beyond may bring. The question is: is it too late to prevent C++’s decline into being “the next Cobol”?