it is the successor to either Algol 68 or {Ada} (depending on
generation), and a prime example of {second-system effect}.
Almost anything that can be done in any language can be done in
C++, but it requires a {language lawyer} to know what is and
what is not legal-- the design is *almost* too large to hold
in even hackers' heads. Much of the {cruft} results from C++'s
attempt to be backward compatible with C. Stroustrup himself has
said in his retrospective book "The Design and Evolution of
C++" (p. 207), "Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner
language struggling to get out." [Many hackers would now add
"Yes, and it's called Java" --ESR]

:calculator: [Cambridge] /n./ Syn. for {bitty box}.

:Camel Book: /n./ Universally recognized nickname for the book
"Programming Perl", by Larry Wall and Randal L. Schwartz,
O'Reilly Associates 1991, ISBN 0-937175-64-1. The definitive
reference on {Perl}.

:can: /vt./ To abort a job on a time-sharing system. Used
esp. when the person doing the deed is an operator, as in
"canned from the {{console}}". Frequently used in an imperative
sense, as in "Can that print job, the LPT just popped a
sprocket!" Synonymous with {gun}. It is said that the ASCII
character with mnemonic CAN (0011000) was used as a kill-job
character on some early OSes. Alternatively, this term may derive
from mainstream slang `canned' for being laid off or fired.

:can't happen: The traditional program comment for code
executed under a condition that should never be true, for example a