It is now 40 years since C++ (then called C with Classes) had its first non-research user. It is now 35 years since the first commercial release of C++. It is now 30 years since the start of the standards process. So what is C++? I will try to explain what's great about C++, C++20, as a modern language, not treating it as a layer cake of features. Imagine you have never heard of C, C with Classes, or C++11. How do classes, templates, and lambdas fit together? What have constructors and destructors to do with exceptions? What's in the standard library? How can we start using C++?
Finally, I will make a few comments about how to get from older styles of C++ use to modern C++ and point to areas where we need to improve C++ further.
