A programming language derived from C. C++ is a superset of C that adds type checking, operator overloading, abstract data types, and classes to the original language. It thus combines the power of object-oriented programming with the efficiency and notational convenience of C. C++ has become the language of choice for implementing applications to run under Microsoft Windows.

http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/ The C++ standards committee Web page