Introduction to C++ Programming

• C++ remains a general-purpose programming language.
• Bjarne Stroustrup developed it as an extension of the C language.
• C++ continues to support both procedural and object-oriented programming paradigms.

Key Features of C++

• Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) facilitates classes, objects, inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation.
• Memory Management includes manual memory management capabilities via pointers and dynamic memory allocation.
• The Standard Template Library (STL) offers generic classes and functions for data structures and algorithms.
• Portability allows C++ code to run on different platforms and operating systems.
• Performance is high, making it suitable for system programming and performance-critical applications.

Basic C++ Concepts

• Variables are fundamental for storing data values.
• Data Types encompass int, float, double, char, bool, and others.
• Operators include arithmetic, logical, comparison, and bitwise types.
• Control Structures involve if-else, switch statements, and loops (for, while, do-while).
• Functions represent blocks of code that execute specific tasks.

Object-Oriented Concepts in C++

• Class serves as a blueprint for creating objects.
• Object represents an instance of a class.
• Encapsulation bundles data and methods that operate on that data within a class.
• Inheritance permits a class to inherit properties and behaviors from another class.
• Polymorphism allows an object to take on many forms, such as function and operator overloading.

Pointers in C++

• A pointer stores the memory address of another variable.
• Pointers are utilized for dynamic memory allocation and manipulation.
• Key operators are * (dereference) and & (address-of).

Memory Management in C++

• Dynamic memory allocation uses new and delete.
• new allocates memory on the heap.
• delete deallocates memory allocated with new.
• Failure to deallocate memory can lead to memory leaks.

C++ Standard Template Library (STL)

• The STL includes template classes and functions for data structures and algorithms.
• Containers include vector, list, deque, set, and map.
• Algorithms offer capabilities like sort, find, search, and transform.
• Iterators are used for traversing elements within containers.

Input/Output in C++

• The iostream library manages input and output.
• cin handles input from the console.
• cout handles output to the console.
• cerr displays error messages.
• clog handles general logging.

C++ vs. C

• C++ supports object-oriented programming, while C is procedural.
• Classes, inheritance, and polymorphism are features of C++ not found in C.
• C++ has a more extensive standard library compared to that of C.
• Function and operator overloading are permitted in C++ but not in C.

Common C++ Interview Topics

• OOP concepts like inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, and abstraction are key.
• Memory management, including dynamic allocation and deallocation, is essential.
• Pointers, including pointer arithmetic, are important.
• STL knowledge, especially of containers and algorithms, is valuable.
• Exception handling, using try, catch, and throw, is often discussed.
• Multithreading basics, including the creation and management of threads, may be covered.