Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup

2026-05-18 · 119 min · 28 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ references Bjarne Stroustrup person

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup
→ hosted by Ryan Peterman person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Ryan Peterman
→ works at Bell Labs. We company

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evidence rules-v5
researcher at Bell Labs. We
→ works at Bell Labs. We company

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evidence rules-v5
researcher at Bell Labs. We
→ discusses Technology company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
→ references cursor.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://cursor.com/
→ references Quotes website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/quotes.html
→ references developing.dev website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://developing.dev/
→ references @Ryanlpeterman website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
→ references read.compose.llc company

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://read.compose.llc/
→ references workos.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://workos.com/
→ references U46fJ2bJ Co website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://youtu.be/U46fJ2bJ-co
→ references stroustrup.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/
→ references Hopl Almost Final person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/hopl-almost-final.pdf

Entities found in this episode

websites 14

mentioned cursor.com website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://cursor.com/
mentioned Quotes website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/quotes.html
mentioned developing.dev website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://developing.dev/
mentioned @Ryanlpeterman website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://threads.com/@ryanlpeterman
mentioned workos.com website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://workos.com/
mentioned U46fJ2bJ Co website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://youtu.be/U46fJ2bJ-co
mentioned stroustrup.com website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/
references cursor.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://cursor.com/
references Quotes website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/quotes.html
references developing.dev website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://developing.dev/
references @Ryanlpeterman website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
references workos.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://workos.com/
references U46fJ2bJ Co website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://youtu.be/U46fJ2bJ-co
references stroustrup.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/

companys 7

mentioned Bell Labs. We company

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evidence rules-v5
researcher at Bell Labs. We
mentioned Technology company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
works at Bell Labs. We company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
researcher at Bell Labs. We
works at Bell Labs. We company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
researcher at Bell Labs. We
mentioned read.compose.llc company

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://read.compose.llc/
discusses Technology company

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
references read.compose.llc company

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://read.compose.llc/

persons 6

mentioned Bjarne Stroustrup person

0.90

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup
references Bjarne Stroustrup person

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup
mentioned Ryan Peterman person

0.70

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Ryan Peterman
hosted by Ryan Peterman person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Ryan Peterman
mentioned Hopl Almost Final person

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/hopl-almost-final.pdf
references Hopl Almost Final person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup": https://stroustrup.com/hopl-almost-final.pdf

concepts 1

mentioned Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup concept

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evidence rules-v5
Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup

Episode description as stored

Bjarne Stroustrup is the creator of the C++ programming language and a former researcher at Bell Labs. We talked about what Bell Labs was like, programming language design, and interesting anecdotes from his experience. • My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/ 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀: • YouTube: https://youtu.be/U46fJ2bJ-co • Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835 • Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/creator-of-c-bell-labs-negative-overhead 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: • Cursor 3: a unified workspace for building software with agents, check it out at https://cursor.com/ • WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀: 0:00 - Intro 0:50 - The origin of C++ 8:46 - What Bell Labs was like 17:24 - Dennis Ritchie 24:00 - When to build a programming language 31:59 - Bootstrapping a language 33:58 - C++ is not object-oriented 37:32 - Discussing type systems 46:20 - Memory safety 49:26 - Standards committee anecdotes 1:09:40 - Adding automatic garbage collection to C++ 1:18:25 - Template instantiation is Turing complete 1:21:57 - Abstraction and performance 1:28:51 - AI writing code 1:35:54 - His motivation 1:39:18 - Famous quotes 1:46:48 - Reflecting on building C++ 1:49:12 - Top C++ book recommendation 1:50:59 - Advice for his younger self 1:58:06 - Outro 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲: • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup • Personal Website: https://www.stroustrup.com/ 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻: • Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲: • "A History of C++": https://www.stroustrup.com/hopl2.pdf • "Evolving a language in and for the real world": https://www.stroustrup.com/hopl-almost-final.pdf • "Thriving in a Crowded and Changing World": https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2020/p2184r0.pdf • The lecture where he mentioned he lost half his hair: https://youtu.be/69edOm889V4?si=IAZxYNwlUALodEV7&t=474 • Quotes I pulled: https://www.stroustrup.com/quotes.html