Can you imagine the uproar if the latest C++ standard  hadn't been approved? However, it was passed unanimously by the ISO committee and is now to be referred to C++11.

This is hardly news - but can you imagine the uproar if the latest C++ standard, i.e. C++0x, hadn't been approved by the committee? So,to put you out of your suspense, I can reveal that it was passed unanimously by the ISO committee (ISO SC22 WG21).

The only real point of note is that we now have to learn to stop calling it C++0x and adopt its new name C++11.

The 0x part of the name wasn't the start of a hexadecimal number but was based on the expectation that the x would be replaced by a digit in the range 0 to 9, i.e. it was supposed that the standard would be complete in the first decade of the 21st century.  I suppose that 11 isn't to bad but perhaps next time we should call it C++xy just to be on the safe side.

It is also worth reflecting that the last C++ standard was issued in 1993 with an update in 2003. If this is the speed that standards work at we can look forward to x and y giving C++32 or thereabouts... The  creator of C++ Bjarne Stroustrup seems to think that C++16 is a good bet and he might know something about it.

When you actually look at what has been included in the new standard you have to conclude that it is welcome but it is hardly radical. We have some new initialization methods, type inferences, lambda functions, a "foreach" loop, improvements to templating and the standard library and so on.

Again apart from lambdas and type inferences there really don't seem to be any big new features in terms of the core language. Perhaps C++ doesn't need them!

It is difficult to judge what the overall effect of the standard will be until the dust has settled and compilers fully implement it.

Related articles:

ISO C++0x makes final draft

The Irrelevance of the New C++ Standard

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