This book demonstrates the efficiency of the C++ programming language in the realm of pattern recognition and pattern analysis. It introduces the basics of software engineering, image and speech processing, as well as fundamental mathematical tools for pattern recognition. Step by step the C++ programming language is discribed. Each step is illustrated by examples based on challenging problems in image und speech processing. Particular emphasis is put on object-oriented programming and the implementation of efficient algorithms. The book proposes a general class hierarchy for image segmentation. The essential parts of an implementation are presented. An object-oriented system for speech classification based on stochastic models is described.