Apache C++ Standard Library User's Guide

## 1.1 Welcome

Congratulations on choosing the Apache C++ Standard Library, developed and donated to the Apache Software Foundation by Rogue Wave Software. You can use this product with confidence: it is based on the final standard for the C++ language and library ratified in 1998 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Standards Organization (ISO).

Since its development by Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup in the 1980s, the C++ language has been widely used by professional programmers for the world's big, complex applications in telecommunications, finance, business, embedded systems, and computer-aided design. The final standardization of the C++ library now makes it easier to learn C++ and to use it across a wide variety of platforms.

Standardization improves portability and stability. You can build reliable applications faster, and maintain them with less cost and effort, using the C++ Standard Library.