Question 1

True or false: Stroustrup has never written a book about C++ himself; all guides are by other authors.

Accepted Answer

False. He authored 'The C++ Programming Language' (first edition 1985) and several other definitive texts on the language.

Question 2

True or false: The name 'C++' was coined by Stroustrup as a pun on the increment operator in C.

Accepted Answer

True. He derived 'C++' from the C increment operator (++), symbolizing an evolutionary step beyond C. The name was suggested by Rick Mascitti.

Question 3

True or false: Bjarne Stroustrup designed C++ while working on his PhD thesis at Bell Labs.

Accepted Answer

True. He created C++ in 1979 at Bell Labs as an extension of C, originally called 'C with Classes,' based on his PhD work on distributed systems.

Question 4

True or false: Stroustrup is a Danish computer scientist who still holds dual citizenship with the United States.

Accepted Answer

True. Born in Aarhus, Denmark, he moved to the US in 1979 and later became a US citizen while retaining his Danish citizenship.

Question 5

True or false: Bjarne Stroustrup holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Cambridge.

Accepted Answer

True. He earned his PhD in 1979 from Cambridge under David Wheeler, focusing on distributed systems and programming languages.

Question 6

True or false: Stroustrup personally wrote the very first C++ compiler entirely from scratch.

Accepted Answer

False. The first C++ compiler, Cfront, was written in C and used a preprocessor; Stroustrup led its design but didn't code it single-handedly.

Question 7

True or false: Stroustrup has publicly stated that he regrets adding exception handling to C++.

Accepted Answer

False. He has defended exception handling as essential for error management, though he acknowledges it adds complexity. No known regret statement exists.

Question 8

True or false: Stroustrup initially wanted to name the language 'C with Classes' but was forced to change it by his manager.

Accepted Answer

False. He voluntarily renamed it 'C++' in 1983 to highlight its evolution; no manager forced the change.

Bjarne Stroustrup Trivia Questions