HANDOUT IN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

What is an Identifier?
 An identifier is the name to denote labels, types, variables, What is an Expression in C++?
constants or functions, in a C++ program.  An expression is a valid arrangement of variables, constants,
 C++ is a case-sensitive language. and operators.
 Work is not work  In C++, each expression can be evaluated to compute a
value of a given type
 In C++, an expression can be:
 Identifiers should be descriptive using meaningful identifiers  A variable or a constant (count, 100)
is a good programming practice  An operation (a + b, a * 2)
 Function call (getRectangleArea(2, 4))
Rules in Naming Identifiers
Assignment Operator
 Identifiers must be unique  An operator to give (assign) a value to a variable.
 Identifiers cannot be reserved words (keywords)  Denote as ‘=‘
double main return  Only variable can be on the left side.
 Identifier must start with a letter or underscore, and be  An expression is on the right side.
followed by zero or more letters (A-Z, a-z), digits (0-9), or  Variables keep their assigned values until changed by
underscores another assignment statement or by reading in a new value.
VALID
age_of_dog _taxRateY2K Assignment Operator Syntax
PrintHeading ageOfHorse
NOT VALID  Variable = Expression
age# 2000TaxRate Age-Of-Dog main  First, expression on right is evaluated.
 Then the resulting value is stored in the memory
Primitive Data Types in C++ location of Variable on left.
 Integral Types NOTE: An automatic type coercion occurs after evaluation but before
 represent whole numbers and their negatives the value is stored if the types differ for Expression and Variable
 declared as int, short, or long
 Character Types Input and Output
 represent single characters
 declared as char  C++ treats input and output as a stream of characters.
 Stored by ASCII values  stream: sequence of characters (printable or nonprintable)
 Boolean Type  The functions to allow standard I/O are in iostream header
 declared as bool file or iostream.h.
 has only 2 values true/false
 Thus, we start every program with
 will not print out directly
#include <iostream>
 Floating Types using namespace std;
 represent real numbers with a decimal point
 declared as float, or double Include Directives and Namespaces
 Scientific notation where e (or E) stand for “times 10 to
the ” (.55-e6)
 include: directive copies that file into your program
 namespace: a collection of names and their definitions.
Samples of C++ Data Values
Allows different namespaces to use the same names without
confusion
int sample values
4578 -4578 0
Insertion Operator ( << )
bool values
true false  Variable cout is predefined to denote an output stream that
goes to the standard output device (display screen).
float sample values  The insertion operator << called “put to” takes 2 operands.
95.274 95.0 .265  The left operand is a stream expression, such as cout. The
right operand is an expression of simple type or a string
char sample values constant.
‘B’ ‘d’ ‘4’ ‘?’ ‘*’
Output Statements
What is a Variable?
SYNTAX
 A variable is a memory address where data can be stored cout << Expression << Expression . . . ;
and changed.
 cout statements can be linked together using << operator.
 Declaring a variable means specifying both its name and its  These examples yield the same output:
data type. cout << “The answer is “ ;
cout << 3 * 4 ;
What Does a Variable Declaration Do?

 A declaration tells the compiler to allocate enough memory cout << “The answer is “ << 3 * 4 ;
to hold a value of this data type, and to associate the
identifier with this location. Output Statements (String constant)

Variable Declaration  String constants (in double quotes) are to be printed as is,
without the quotes.
 All variables must declared before use. cout<<“Enter the number of candy bars ”;
 At the top of the program OUTPUT: Enter the number of candy bars
 Just before use.  “Enter the number of candy bars ” is called a prompt.
 Commas are used to separate identifiers of the same type.  All user inputs must be preceded by a prompt to tell the user
 int count, age; what is expected.
 Variables can be initialized to a starting value when they are  You must insert spaces inside the quotes if you want them in
declared the output.
 int count = 0;  Do not put a string in quotes on multiple lines.
 int age, count = 0;
Output Statements (Expression)
 All expressions are computed and then outputted.
cout << “The answer is ” << 3 * 4 ;
 OUTPUT: The answer is 12  Mixed type expressions: Both must be int to return int,
Escape Sequences otherwise float.
Type compatibilities (Implicit Conversion)
 The backslash is called the escape character.
 It tells the compiler that the next character is “escaping” its  The compiler tries to be value-preserving.
typical definition and is using its secondary definition.  General rule: promote up to the first type that can contain the
 Examples: value of the expression.
 new line: \n  Note that representation doesn’t change but values can be
 horizontal tab: \t altered .
 backslash: \\  Promotes to the smallest type that can hold both values.
 double quote \”  If assign float to int will truncate

Newline int_variable = 2.99; // results in 2 being stored in int_variable

 cout<<“\n” and cout<<endl both are used to insert a blank
line.  If assign int to float will promote to double:
 Advances the cursor to the start of the next line rather than
to the next space. double dvar = 2; // results in 2.0 being stored in dvar
 Always end the output of all programs with this statement.
Type compatibilities (Explicit Conversion)
Extraction Operator (>>)  Casting - forcing conversion by putting (type) in front of
variable or expression. Used to insure that result is of
 Variable cin is predefined to denote an input stream from the desired type.
standard input device (the keyboard)  Example: If you want to divide two integers and get a real
 The extraction operator >> called “get from” takes 2 result you must cast one to double so that a real divide
operands. The left operand is a stream expression, such as occurs and store the result in a double.
cin--the right operand is a variable of simple type.
 Operator >> attempts to extract the next item from the input int x=5, y=2; double z; z = static_cast <double>(x)/y; // 2.5
stream and store its value in the right operand variable. int x=5, y=2; double z; z = (double)x/y; //
2.5
Input Statements int x=5, y=2; double z; z = static_cast <double>(x/y) ; // 2.0

SYNTAX  converts x to double and then does mixed division, not

integer divide
cin >> Variable >> Variable . . . ;  static_cast<int> (z) - will truncate z
 static_cast <int> (x + 0.5) - will round positive x {use () to
 cin statements can be linked together using >> operator. cast complete expression)
 These examples yield the same output:  Cast division of integers to give real result:

cin >> x; int x=5, y=2; double z; z = static_cast <double>(x/y) ; // 2.0

cin >> y;
Arithmetic Operators
cin >> x >> y;
 Operators: +, -, * /
How Extraction Operator works?  For floating numbers, the result as same as Math operations.
 Note on integer division: the result is an integer. 7/2 is 3.
 Input is not entered until user presses <ENTER> key.  % (remainder or modulo) is the special operator just for
 Allows backspacing to correct. integer. It yields an integer as the result. 7%2 is 1.
 Skips whitespaces (space, tabs, etc.)  Both / and % can only be used for positive integers.
 Multiple inputs are stored in the order entered:  Precedence rule is similar to Math.

cin>>num1>>num2; Arithmetic Expressions

User inputs: 3 4  Arithmetic operations can be used to express the

Assigns num1 = 3 and num2 = 4 mathematic expression in C++:

Numeric Input b 2  4ac b*b  4*a *c

 Leading blanks for numbers are ignored. x( y  z )
1
x * ( y  z)
 If the type is double, it will convert integer to double.
 Keeps reading until blank or <ENTER>. x2  x  3 1 /( x * x  x  3)
 Remember to prompt for inputs ab
cd
(a  b) /( c  d )
C++ Data Type String
Simple Flow of Control
 A string is a sequence of characters enclosed in double
quotes  Three processes a computer can do:
 string sample values  Sequential
“Hello” “Year 2000” “1234”  expressions, insertion and extraction operations
 The empty string (null string) contains no displayed  Selection (Branching)
characters and is written as “ ”.  if statement, switch statement
 string is not a built-in (standard) type  Repetition/Iteration (Loop)
 it is a programmer-defined data type  while loop, do-while loop, for loop
 it is provided in the C++ standard library
 Need to include the following two lines: bool Data Type
#include <string>
using namespace std;  Type bool is a built-in type consisting of just 2 values, the
 string operations include constants true and false
 comparing 2 string values  We can declare variables of type bool
 searching a string for a particular character bool hasFever; // true if has high temperature
 joining one string to another (concatenation) bool isSenior; // true if age is at least 55
 The value 0 represents false
Type compatibilities  ANY non-zero value represents true

 Warning: If you store values of one type in variable of Boolean Expression

another type the results can be inconsistent:
 Can store integers in floating point or in char (assumes  Expression that yields bool result
ASCII value)  Include:
 bool can be stored as int: (true = nonzero, false = 0)  6 Relational Operators
 Implicit promotion: integers are promoted to doubles < <= > >= == !=
double var = 2; // results in var = 2.0  3 Logical Operators
 On integer and doubles together: ! && ||
  Separate processes with blank lines
 Blank lines are also ignored and are used to increase
readability.
Relational Operators  indent statements within statements (loop body)
 Comments:
 are used in boolean expressions of form:  // tells the computer to ignore this line.
ExpressionA Operator ExpressionB  for internal documentation. This is done for program
temperature > humidity clarity and to facilitate program maintenance.
B * B - 4.0 * A * C > 0.0
abs (number) == 35 General rules for Comments
initial != ‘Q’
Notes:  Place a comment at the beginning of every file with the file
 == (equivalency) is NOT = (assignment) name, version number, a brief program description,
 characters are compared alphabetically. However, programmer’s name.
lowercase letters are higher ASCII value.  Place a descriptive comment after each variable declared.
 An integer variable can be assigned the result of a logical  Use a blank line before and after variable declarations
expression  Place a descriptive comment and a blank line before each
 You cannot string inequalities together: subtask.
 Bad Code: 4<x<6 Good Code: (x > 4) &&(x < 6)
Constants
int x, y ;
x = 4;  Syntax: const type identifier = value;
y = 6;  Ex: const double TAX_RATE = 0.08;
EXPRESSION VALUE  Convention: use upper case for constant ID.
x<y true
x+2<y false Why use constants?
x != y true
x + 3 >= y true
 Clarity: Tells the user the significance of the number. There
y == x false
may be the number 0.08 elsewhere in the program, but you
y == x+2 true
know that it doesn’t stand for TAXRATE.
y=x+3 7
 Maintainability. Allows the program to be modified easily.
y=x<3 0
 Ex: Program tax compute has const double
y=x>3 1
TAXRATE=0.0725. If taxes rise to 8%, programmer
only has to change the one line to const double
Logical Operators
TAXRATE=0.08
 Safety: Cannot be altered during program execution
 are used in boolean expressions of form:
 Notes:
Increment and Decrement Operators
 Highest precedence for NOT, AND and OR are low
precedence.
 Denoted as ++ or --
 Associate left to right with low precedence. Use parenthesis
to override priority or for clarification  Mean increase or decrease by 1
o x && y || z will evaluate “x && y ” first  Pre increment/decrement: ++a, --a
o x && (y || z) will evaluate “y || z” first  Increase/decrease by 1 before use.
 Post increment/decrement: a++, a--
 Increase/decrease by 1 after use.
int age ;
bool isSenior, hasFever ;  Pre and Post increment/decrement yield different results
float temperature ; when combining with another operation.
age = 20;
temperature = 102.0 ;
isSenior = (age >= 55) ; // isSenior is false
hasFever = (temperature > 98.6) ; // hasFever is true

EXPRESSION VALUE
isSenior && hasFever false
isSenior || hasFever true
!isSenior true
!hasFever false

Precedence Chart

Highest
++, --, !, - (unary minus), + (unary plus)
*, /, %
+ (addition), - (subtraction)
<<, >>
<, <=, >, >=
==, !=
&&
||
=
Lowest

Boolean Expression (examples)

 taxRate is over 25% and income is less than $20000

(taxRate > .25) && (income < 20000)

 temperature is less than or equal to 75 or humidity is less

than 70%
(temperature <= 75) || (humidity < .70)

 age is between 21 and 60

(age >= 21) && (age <= 60)
 age is 21 or 22
(age == 21) || (age == 22)

Program Style

 Indenting: