About the Tutorial

C++ is a middle-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup

starting in 1979 at Bell Labs. C++ runs on a variety of platforms, such as
Windows, Mac OS, and the various versions of UNIX.

This tutorial adopts a simple and practical approach to describe the concepts of
C++.

Audience

This tutorial has been prepared for the beginners to help them understand the
basic to advanced concepts related to C++.

Prerequisites

Before you start practicing with various types of examples given in this
tutorial,we are making an assumption that you are already aware of the basics
of computer program and computer programming language.

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 Copyright 2014 by Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd.

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Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. The user of this e-book is prohibited to reuse, retain,
copy, distribute or republish any contents or a part of contents of this e-book in
any manner without written consent of the publisher.

We strive to update the contents of our website and tutorials as timely and as
precisely as possible, however, the contents may contain inaccuracies or errors.
Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. provides no guarantee regarding the accuracy,
timeliness or completeness of our website or its contents including this tutorial.
If you discover any errors on our website or in this tutorial, please notify us at
[email protected]

Table of Contents

About the Tutorial .................................................................................................................................... i

Audience .................................................................................................................................................. i

Prerequisites ............................................................................................................................................ i

i
 Copyright & Disclaimer............................................................................................................................. i

Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... i

1. OVERVIEW........................................................................................................................... 1

Object-Oriented Programming ................................................................................................................ 1

Standard Libraries ................................................................................................................................... 1

The ANSI Standard .................................................................................................................................. 1

Learning C++............................................................................................................................................ 2

Use of C++ ............................................................................................................................................... 2

2. ENVIORNMENT SETUP......................................................................................................... 3

Try it Option Online ................................................................................................................................. 3

Local Environment Setup......................................................................................................................... 3

Installing GNU C/C++ Compiler: ............................................................................................................... 4

3. BASIC SYNTAX ...................................................................................................................... 6

C++ Program Structure: ........................................................................................................................... 6

Compile & Execute C++ Program: ............................................................................................................ 7

Semicolons & Blocks in C++ ..................................................................................................................... 7

C++ Identifiers ......................................................................................................................................... 8

C++ Keywords.......................................................................................................................................... 8

Trigraphs ................................................................................................................................................. 9

Whitespace in C++ ................................................................................................................................. 10

4. COMMENTS IN C++ ........................................................................................................... 11

5. DATA TYPES ....................................................................................................................... 13

Primitive Built-in Types ......................................................................................................................... 13

typedef Declarations ............................................................................................................................. 15

ii
 Enumerated Types ................................................................................................................................ 16

6. VARIABLE TYPES ................................................................................................................ 17

Variable Definition in C++ ...................................................................................................................... 17

Variable Declaration in C++ ................................................................................................................... 18

Lvalues and Rvalues .............................................................................................................................. 20

7. VARIABLE SCOPE ............................................................................................................... 21

Local Variables ...................................................................................................................................... 21

Global Variables .................................................................................................................................... 22

Initializing Local and Global Variables ................................................................................................... 23

8. CONSTANTS/LITERALS ....................................................................................................... 24

Integer Literals ...................................................................................................................................... 24

Floating-point Literals ........................................................................................................................... 24

Boolean Literals..................................................................................................................................... 25

Character Literals .................................................................................................................................. 25

String Literals ........................................................................................................................................ 26

Defining Constants ................................................................................................................................ 27

9. MODIFIER TYPES................................................................................................................ 29

Type Qualifiers in C++............................................................................................................................ 30

10. STORAGE CLASSES ............................................................................................................. 31

The auto Storage Class .......................................................................................................................... 31

The register Storage Class ..................................................................................................................... 31

The static Storage Class ......................................................................................................................... 31

The extern Storage Class ....................................................................................................................... 33

The mutable Storage Class .................................................................................................................... 34

11. OPERATORS ....................................................................................................................... 35

iii
 Arithmetic Operators ............................................................................................................................ 35

Relational Operators ............................................................................................................................. 37

Logical Operators .................................................................................................................................. 40

Bitwise Operators ................................................................................................................................. 41

Assignment Operators........................................................................................................................... 44

Misc Operators...................................................................................................................................... 47

Operators Precedence in C++ ................................................................................................................ 48

12. LOOP TYPES ....................................................................................................................... 51

While Loop ............................................................................................................................................ 52

for Loop................................................................................................................................................. 54

do…while Loop ...................................................................................................................................... 56

nested Loops ......................................................................................................................................... 58

Loop Control Statements....................................................................................................................... 60

Break Statement ................................................................................................................................... 61

continue Statement .............................................................................................................................. 63

goto Statement ..................................................................................................................................... 65

The Infinite Loop ................................................................................................................................... 67

13. DECISION-MAKING STATEMENTS ...................................................................................... 69

If Statement .......................................................................................................................................... 70

if…else Statement ................................................................................................................................. 72

if...else if...else Statement ..................................................................................................................... 73

Switch Statement .................................................................................................................................. 75

Nested if Statement .............................................................................................................................. 78

The ? : Operator .................................................................................................................................... 81

14. FUNCTIONS ....................................................................................................................... 82

Defining a Function ............................................................................................................................... 82

iv
 Function Declarations ........................................................................................................................... 83

Calling a Function .................................................................................................................................. 84

Function Arguments .............................................................................................................................. 85

Call by Value ......................................................................................................................................... 86

Call by Pointer ....................................................................................................................................... 87

Call by Reference................................................................................................................................... 89

Default Values for Parameters .............................................................................................................. 90

15. NUMBERS .......................................................................................................................... 93

Defining Numbers in C++ ....................................................................................................................... 93

Math Operations in C++ ........................................................................................................................ 94

Random Numbers in C++ ....................................................................................................................... 96

16. ARRAYS .............................................................................................................................. 98

Declaring Arrays .................................................................................................................................... 98

Initializing Arrays .................................................................................................................................. 98

Accessing Array Elements ...................................................................................................................... 99

Arrays in C++ ....................................................................................................................................... 100

Pointer to an Array.............................................................................................................................. 103

Passing Arrays to Functions ................................................................................................................. 105

Return Array from Functions ............................................................................................................... 107

17. STRINGS........................................................................................................................... 111

The C-Style Character String ................................................................................................................ 111

The String Class in C++ ......................................................................................................................... 114

18. POINTERS ........................................................................................................................ 116

What are Pointers? ............................................................................................................................. 116

Using Pointers in C++........................................................................................................................... 117

Pointers in C++ .................................................................................................................................... 118

v
 Null Pointers ....................................................................................................................................... 119

Pointer Arithmetic............................................................................................................................... 120

Pointers vs Arrays ............................................................................................................................... 124

Array of Pointers ................................................................................................................................. 126

Pointer to a Pointer ............................................................................................................................. 128

Passing Pointers to Functions .............................................................................................................. 130

Return Pointer from Functions ............................................................................................................ 132

19. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 135

References vs Pointers ........................................................................................................................ 135

Creating References in C++ .................................................................................................................. 135

References as Parameters ................................................................................................................... 137

Reference as Return Value .................................................................................................................. 138

20. DATE AND TIME............................................................................................................... 141

Current Date and Time ........................................................................................................................ 142

Format Time using struct tm ............................................................................................................... 143

21. BASIC INPUT/OUTPUT ..................................................................................................... 145

I/O Library Header Files....................................................................................................................... 145

The Standard Output Stream (cout) .................................................................................................... 145

The Standard Input Stream (cin).......................................................................................................... 146

The Standard Error Stream (cerr) ........................................................................................................ 147

The Standard Log Stream (clog) ........................................................................................................... 148

22. DATA STRUCTURES .......................................................................................................... 149

Defining a Structure ............................................................................................................................ 149

Accessing Structure Members ............................................................................................................. 150

vi
 Structures as Function Arguments....................................................................................................... 151

Pointers to Structures ......................................................................................................................... 153

The typedef Keyword .......................................................................................................................... 155

23. CLASSES AND OBJECTS .................................................................................................... 157

C++ Class Definitions ........................................................................................................................... 157

Define C++ Objects .............................................................................................................................. 157

Accessing the Data Members .............................................................................................................. 158

Classes & Objects in Detail .................................................................................................................. 159

Class Access Modifiers ......................................................................................................................... 163

The public Members............................................................................................................................ 164

The private Members .......................................................................................................................... 165

The protected Members...................................................................................................................... 167

Constructor & Destructor .................................................................................................................... 169

Parameterized Constructor ................................................................................................................. 170

The Class Destructor............................................................................................................................ 173

Copy Constructor ................................................................................................................................ 174

Friend Functions .................................................................................................................................. 179

Inline Functions ................................................................................................................................... 181

this Pointer ......................................................................................................................................... 182

Pointer to C++ Classes ......................................................................................................................... 184

Static Members of a Class ................................................................................................................... 185

Static Function Members .................................................................................................................... 187

24. INHERITANCE................................................................................................................... 190

Base & Derived Classes........................................................................................................................ 190

Access Control and Inheritance ........................................................................................................... 192

vii
 Type of Inheritance ............................................................................................................................. 192

Multiple Inheritance ........................................................................................................................... 193

25. OVERLOADING (OPERATOR & FUNCTION) ....................................................................... 196

Function Overloading in C++ ............................................................................................................... 196

Operators Overloading in C++ ............................................................................................................. 197

Overloadable/Non-overloadable Operators ........................................................................................ 200

Operator Overloading Examples ......................................................................................................... 201

Unary Operators Overloading ............................................................................................................. 201

Increment (++) and Decrement (- -) Operators .................................................................................... 203

Binary Operators Overloading ............................................................................................................. 205

Relational Operators Overloading ....................................................................................................... 208

Input/Output Operators Overloading.................................................................................................. 210

++ and - - Operators Overloading ........................................................................................................ 212

Assignment Operators Overloading .................................................................................................... 214

Function Call () Operator Overloading ................................................................................................. 215

Subscripting [ ] Operator Overloading ................................................................................................. 217

Class Member Access Operator - > Overloading .................................................................................. 219

26. POLYMORPHISM.............................................................................................................. 223

Virtual Function .................................................................................................................................. 226

Pure Virtual Functions ......................................................................................................................... 226

27. DATA ABSTRACTION ........................................................................................................ 227

Access Labels Enforce Abstraction ....................................................................................................... 228

Benefits of Data Abstraction ............................................................................................................... 228

Data Abstraction Example ................................................................................................................... 228

Designing Strategy .............................................................................................................................. 230

28. DATA ENCAPSULATION.................................................................................................... 231

viii
 Data Encapsulation Example ............................................................................................................... 232

Designing Strategy .............................................................................................................................. 233

29. INTERFACES ..................................................................................................................... 234

Abstract Class Example ....................................................................................................................... 234

Designing Strategy .............................................................................................................................. 236

30. FILES AND STREAMS ........................................................................................................ 238

Opening a File ..................................................................................................................................... 238

Closing a File ....................................................................................................................................... 239

Writing to a File ................................................................................................................................... 239

Reading from a File ............................................................................................................................. 239

Read & Write Example ........................................................................................................................ 240

File Position Pointers ........................................................................................................................... 242

31. EXCEPTION HANDLING ...................................................................................................... 243

Throwing Exceptions ........................................................................................................................... 244

Catching Exceptions ............................................................................................................................ 244

C++ Standard Exceptions ..................................................................................................................... 246

Define New Exceptions ....................................................................................................................... 247

32. DYNAMIC MEMORY ......................................................................................................... 249

The new and delete Operators ............................................................................................................ 249

Dynamic Memory Allocation for Arrays .............................................................................................. 251

Dynamic Memory Allocation for Objects ............................................................................................. 251

33. NAMESPACES .................................................................................................................. 253

Defining a Namespace ......................................................................................................................... 253

The using directive .............................................................................................................................. 254

ix
 Discontiguous Namespaces ................................................................................................................. 256

Nested Namespaces ............................................................................................................................ 256

34. TEMPLATES ..................................................................................................................... 258

Function Template .............................................................................................................................. 258

Class Template .................................................................................................................................... 259

35. PREPROCESSOR ............................................................................................................... 263

The #define Preprocessor .................................................................................................................... 263

Function-Like Macros .......................................................................................................................... 264

Conditional Compilation ..................................................................................................................... 264

The # and # # Operators ...................................................................................................................... 266

Predefined C++ Macros ....................................................................................................................... 268

36. SIGNAL HANDLING .......................................................................................................... 270

The signal() Function ........................................................................................................................... 270

The raise() Function............................................................................................................................. 272

37. MULTITHREADING ........................................................................................................... 274

Creating Threads ................................................................................................................................. 274

Terminating Threads ........................................................................................................................... 275

Passing Arguments to Threads ............................................................................................................ 277

Joining and Detaching Threads ............................................................................................................ 278

38. WEB PROGRAMMING...................................................................................................... 282

What is CGI? ........................................................................................................................................ 282

Web Browsing ..................................................................................................................................... 282

CGI Architecture Diagram .................................................................................................................... 282

Web Server Configuration ................................................................................................................... 283

First CGI Program ................................................................................................................................ 284

x
 My First CGI program .......................................................................................................................... 284

HTTP Header ....................................................................................................................................... 285

CGI Environment Variables.................................................................................................................. 285

C++ CGI Library .................................................................................................................................... 289

GET and POST Methods ....................................................................................................................... 289

Passing Information Using GET Method .............................................................................................. 289

Simple URL Example: Get Method ....................................................................................................... 290

Simple FORM Example: GET Method ................................................................................................... 291

Passing Information Using POST Method ............................................................................................ 292

Passing Checkbox Data to CGI Program ............................................................................................... 292

Passing Radio Button Data to CGI Program ......................................................................................... 294

Passing Text Area Data to CGI Program ............................................................................................... 296

Passing Dropdown Box Data to CGI Program....................................................................................... 298

Using Cookies in CGI ............................................................................................................................ 299

How It Works ...................................................................................................................................... 299

Setting up Cookies ............................................................................................................................... 300

Retrieving Cookies............................................................................................................................... 301

File Upload Example ............................................................................................................................ 303

39. STL TUTORIAL .................................................................................................................. 306

40. STANDARD LIBRARY......................................................................................................... 309

The Standard Function Library ............................................................................................................ 309

The Object Oriented Class Library ....................................................................................................... 309

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 C++

1. OVERVIEW

C++ is a statically typed, compiled, general-purpose, case-sensitive, free-form

programming language that supports procedural, object-oriented, and generic
programming.

C++ is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of

both high-level and low-level language features.

C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs in Murray
Hill, New Jersey, as an enhancement to the C language and originally named C
with Classes but later it was renamed C++ in 1983.

C++ is a superset of C, and that virtually any legal C program is a legal C++
program.

Note: A programming language is said to use static typing when type checking
is performed during compile-time as opposed to run-time.

Object-Oriented Programming

C++ fully supports object-oriented programming, including the four pillars of

object-oriented development:

 Encapsulation

 Data hiding

 Inheritance

 Polymorphism

Standard Libraries

Standard C++ consists of three important parts:

 The core language giving all the building blocks including variables, data
types and literals, etc.

 The C++ Standard Library giving a rich set of functions manipulating files,
strings, etc.

 The Standard Template Library (STL) giving a rich set of methods

manipulating data structures, etc.

The ANSI Standard

The ANSI standard is an attempt to ensure that C++ is portable; that code you
write for Microsoft's compiler will compile without errors, using a compiler on a
Mac, UNIX, a Windows box, or an Alpha.

1
 C++

The ANSI standard has been stable for a while, and all the major C++ compiler
manufacturers support the ANSI standard.

Learning C++

The most important thing while learning C++ is to focus on concepts.

The purpose of learning a programming language is to become a better

programmer; that is, to become more effective at designing and implementing
new systems and at maintaining old ones.

C++ supports a variety of programming styles. You can write in the style of
Fortran, C, Smalltalk, etc., in any language. Each style can achieve its aims
effectively while maintaining runtime and space efficiency.

Use of C++

C++ is used by hundreds of thousands of programmers in essentially every

application domain.

C++ is being highly used to write device drivers and other software that rely on
direct manipulation of hardware under real-time constraints.

C++ is widely used for teaching and research because it is clean enough for
successful teaching of basic concepts.

Anyone who has used either an Apple Macintosh or a PC running Windows has
indirectly used C++ because the primary user interfaces of these systems are
written in C++.

2
 C++

2. ENVIORNMENT SETUP

Try it Option Online

You really do not need to set up your own environment to start learning C++
programming language. Reason is very simple, we have already set up C++
Programming environment online, so that you can compile and execute all the
available examples online at the same time when you are doing your theory
work. This gives you confidence in what you are reading and to check the result
with different options. Feel free to modify any example and execute it online.

Try the following example using our online compiler option available at
http://www.compileonline.com/

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
cout << "Hello World";
return 0;
}

For most of the examples given in this tutorial, you will find Try it option in our
website code sections at the top right corner that will take you to the online
compiler. So just make use of it and enjoy your learning.

Local Environment Setup

If you are still willing to set up your environment for C++, you need to have the
following two softwares on your computer.

Text Editor:
This will be used to type your program. Examples of few editors include Windows
Notepad, OS Edit command, Brief, Epsilon, EMACS, and vim or vi.

Name and version of text editor can vary on different operating systems. For
example, Notepad will be used on Windows and vim or vi can be used on
windows as well as Linux, or UNIX.

The files you create with your editor are called source files and for C++ they
typically are named with the extension .cpp, .cp, or .c.

A text editor should be in place to start your C++ programming.

3
 C++

C++ Compiler:
This is an actual C++ compiler, which will be used to compile your source code
into final executable program.

Most C++ compilers don't care what extension you give to your source code, but
if you don't specify otherwise, many will use .cpp by default.

Most frequently used and free available compiler is GNU C/C++ compiler,
otherwise you can have compilers either from HP or Solaris if you have the
respective Operating Systems.

Installing GNU C/C++ Compiler:

UNIX/Linux Installation:
If you are using Linux or UNIX then check whether GCC is installed on your
system by entering the following command from the command line:

$ g++ -v

If you have installed GCC, then it should print a message such as the following:

Using built-in specs.

Target: i386-redhat-linux
Configured with: ../configure --prefix=/usr .......
Thread model: posix
gcc version 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-46)

If GCC is not installed, then you will have to install it yourself using the detailed
instructions available at http://gcc.gnu.org/install/ .

Mac OS X Installation:
If you use Mac OS X, the easiest way to obtain GCC is to download the Xcode
development environment from Apple's website and follow the simple installation
instructions.

Xcode is currently available at developer.apple.com/technologies/tools/.

Windows Installation:
To install GCC at Windows you need to install MinGW. To install MinGW, go to
the MinGW homepage, www.mingw.org, and follow the link to the MinGW
download page. Download the latest version of the MinGW installation program
which should be named MinGW-<version>.exe.

While installing MinGW, at a minimum, you must install gcc-core, gcc-g++,

binutils, and the MinGW runtime, but you may wish to install more.

4
 C++

Add the bin subdirectory of your MinGW installation to your PATH environment
variable so that you can specify these tools on the command line by their simple
names.

When the installation is complete, you will be able to run gcc, g++, ar, ranlib,
dlltool, and several other GNU tools from the Windows command line.

5
 C++

3. BASIC SYNTAX

When we consider a C++ program, it can be defined as a collection of objects

that communicate via invoking each other's methods. Let us now briefly look
into what a class, object, methods, and instant variables mean.

 Object - Objects have states and behaviors. Example: A dog has states -
color, name, breed as well as behaviors - wagging, barking, and eating.
An object is an instance of a class.

 Class - A class can be defined as a template/blueprint that describes the

behaviors/states that object of its type support.

 Methods - A method is basically a behavior. A class can contain many

methods. It is in methods where the logics are written, data is
manipulated and all the actions are executed.

 Instant Variables - Each object has its unique set of instant variables.
An object's state is created by the values assigned to these instant
variables.

C++ Program Structure:

Let us look at a simple code that would print the words Hello World.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// main() is where program execution begins.

int main()
{
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World
return 0;
}

Let us look at the various parts of the above program:

1. The C++ language defines several headers, which contain information

that is either necessary or useful to your program. For this program, the
header <iostream> is needed.

2. The line using namespace std; tells the compiler to use the std
namespace. Namespaces are a relatively recent addition to C++.

6
 C++

3. The next line ‘// main() is where program execution begins.’ is a

single-line comment available in C++. Single-line comments begin with //
and stop at the end of the line.

4. The line int main() is the main function where program execution begins.

5. The next line cout << "This is my first C++ program."; causes the
message "This is my first C++ program" to be displayed on the screen.

6. The next line return 0; terminates main() function and causes it to return
the value 0 to the calling process.

Compile & Execute C++ Program:

Let's look at how to save the file, compile and run the program. Please follow the
steps given below:

1. Open a text editor and add the code as above.

2. Save the file as: hello.cpp

3. Open a command prompt and go to the directory where you saved the
file.

4. Type 'g++ hello.cpp' and press enter to compile your code. If there are no
errors in your code the command prompt will take you to the next line
and would generate a.out executable file.

5. Now, type 'a.out' to run your program.

6. You will be able to see ' Hello World ' printed on the window.

$ g++ hello.cpp
$ ./a.out
Hello World

Make sure that g++ is in your path and that you are running it in the directory
containing file hello.cpp.

You can compile C/C++ programs using makefile. For more details, you can
check our ‘Makefile Tutorial’.

Semicolons & Blocks in C++

In C++, the semicolon is a statement terminator. That is, each individual

statement must be ended with a semicolon. It indicates the end of one logical
entity.

For example, following are three different statements:

x = y;
y = y+1;

7
 C++

add(x, y);

A block is a set of logically connected statements that are surrounded by

opening and closing braces. For example:

{
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World
return 0;
}

C++ does not recognize the end of the line as a terminator. For this reason, it
does not matter where you put a statement in a line. For example:

x = y;
y = y+1;
add(x, y);

is the same as

x = y; y = y+1; add(x, y);

C++ Identifiers

A C++ identifier is a name used to identify a variable, function, class, module, or

any other user-defined item. An identifier starts with a letter A to Z or a to z or
an underscore (_) followed by zero or more letters, underscores, and digits (0 to
9).

C++ does not allow punctuation characters such as @, $, and % within

identifiers. C++ is a case-sensitive programming language.
Thus, Manpower and manpower are two different identifiers in C++.

Here are some examples of acceptable identifiers:

mohd zara abc move_name a_123

myname50 _temp j a23b9 retVal

C++ Keywords

The following list shows the reserved words in C++. These reserved words may
not be used as constant or variable or any other identifier names.

asm else new this

auto enum operator throw

8
 C++

bool explicit private true

break export protected try

case extern public typedef

catch false register typeid

char float reinterpret_cast typename

class for return union

const friend short unsigned

const_cast goto signed using

continue if sizeof virtual

default inline static void

delete int static_cast volatile

do long struct wchar_t

double mutable switch while

dynamic_cast namespace template

Trigraphs

A few characters have an alternative representation, called a trigraph sequence.

A trigraph is a three-character sequence that represents a single character and
the sequence always starts with two question marks.

Trigraphs are expanded anywhere they appear, including within string literals
and character literals, in comments, and in preprocessor directives.

Following are most frequently used trigraph sequences:

Trigraph Replacement

9
 C++

??= #

??/ \

??' ^

??( [

??) ]

??! |

??< {

??> }

??- ~

All the compilers do not support trigraphs and they are not advised to be used
because of their confusing nature.

Whitespace in C++

A line containing only whitespace, possibly with a comment, is known as a blank

line, and C++ compiler totally ignores it.

Whitespace is the term used in C++ to describe blanks, tabs, newline characters
and comments. Whitespace separates one part of a statement from another and
enables the compiler to identify where one element in a statement, such as int,
ends and the next element begins. Statement 1:

int age;

In the above statement there must be at least one whitespace character (usually
a space) between int and age for the compiler to be able to distinguish them.
Statement 2:

fruit = apples + oranges; // Get the total fruit

In the above statement 2, no whitespace characters are necessary between fruit

and =, or between = and apples, although you are free to include some if you
wish for readability purpose.

10
 C++

4. COMMENTS IN C++

Program comments are explanatory statements that you can include in the C++
code. These comments help anyone reading the source code. All programming
languages allow for some form of comments.

C++ supports single-line and multi-line comments. All characters available

inside any comment are ignored by C++ compiler.

C++ comments start with /* and end with */. For example:

/* This is a comment */

/* C++ comments can also

* span multiple lines
*/

A comment can also start with //, extending to the end of the line. For example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main()
{
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled, it will ignore // prints Hello World and final
executable will produce the following result:

Hello World

Within a /* and */ comment, // characters have no special meaning. Within a //

comment, /* and */ have no special meaning. Thus, you can "nest" one kind of
comment within the other kind. For example:

/* Comment out printing of Hello World:

11
 C++

cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World

*/

12
 C++

5. DATA TYPES

While writing program in any language, you need to use various variables to
store various information. Variables are nothing but reserved memory locations
to store values. This means that when you create a variable you reserve some
space in memory.

You may like to store information of various data types like character, wide
character, integer, floating point, double floating point, boolean etc. Based on
the data type of a variable, the operating system allocates memory and decides
what can be stored in the reserved memory.

Primitive Built-in Types

C++ offers the programmer a rich assortment of built-in as well as user defined
data types. Following table lists down seven basic C++ data types:

Type Keyword

Boolean bool

Character char

Integer int

Floating point float

Double floating point double

Valueless void

Wide character wchar_t

Several of the basic types can be modified using one or more of these type
modifiers:

 signed

 unsigned

 short

 long
13
 C++

The following table shows the variable type, how much memory it takes to store
the value in memory, and what is maximum and minimum value which can be
stored in such type of variables.

Type Typical Bit Width Typical Range

char 1byte -127 to 127 or 0 to 255

unsigned char 1byte 0 to 255

signed char 1byte -127 to 127

int 4bytes -2147483648 to 2147483647

unsigned int 4bytes 0 to 4294967295

signed int 4bytes -2147483648 to 2147483647

short int 2bytes -32768 to 32767

unsigned short int Range 0 to 65,535

signed short int Range -32768 to 32767

long int 4bytes -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647

signed long int 4bytes same as long int

unsigned long int 4bytes 0 to 4,294,967,295

float 4bytes +/- 3.4e +/- 38 (~7 digits)

double 8bytes +/- 1.7e +/- 308 (~15 digits)

long double 8bytes +/- 1.7e +/- 308 (~15 digits)

wchar_t 2 or 4 bytes 1 wide character

The size of variables might be different from those shown in the above table,
depending on the compiler and the computer you are using.
14
 C++

Following is the example, which will produce correct size of various data types
on your computer.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
cout << "Size of char : " << sizeof(char) << endl;
cout << "Size of int : " << sizeof(int) << endl;
cout << "Size of short int : " << sizeof(short int) << endl;
cout << "Size of long int : " << sizeof(long int) << endl;
cout << "Size of float : " << sizeof(float) << endl;
cout << "Size of double : " << sizeof(double) << endl;
cout << "Size of wchar_t : " << sizeof(wchar_t) << endl;
return 0;
}

This example uses endl, which inserts a new-line character after every line and
<< operator is being used to pass multiple values out to the screen. We are also
using sizeof() function to get size of various data types.

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result
which can vary from machine to machine:

Size of char : 1
Size of int : 4
Size of short int : 2
Size of long int : 4
Size of float : 4
Size of double : 8
Size of wchar_t : 4

typedef Declarations

You can create a new name for an existing type using typedef. Following is the
simple syntax to define a new type using typedef:

typedef type newname;

For example, the following tells the compiler that feet is another name for int:

15
 C++

typedef int feet;

Now, the following declaration is perfectly legal and creates an integer variable
called distance:

feet distance;

Enumerated Types

An enumerated type declares an optional type name and a set of zero or more
identifiers that can be used as values of the type. Each enumerator is a constant
whose type is the enumeration.

Creating an enumeration requires the use of the keyword enum. The general
form of an enumeration type is:

enum enum-name { list of names } var-list;

Here, the enum-name is the enumeration's type name. The list of names is
comma separated.

For example, the following code defines an enumeration of colors called colors
and the variable c of type color. Finally, c is assigned the value "blue".

enum color { red, green, blue } c;

c = blue;

By default, the value of the first name is 0, the second name has the value 1,
and the third has the value 2, and so on. But you can give a name, a specific
value by adding an initializer. For example, in the following
enumeration, green will have the value 5.

enum color { red, green=5, blue };

Here, blue will have a value of 6 because each name will be one greater than
the one that precedes it.

16
 C++

6. VARIABLE TYPES

A variable provides us with named storage that our programs can manipulate.
Each variable in C++ has a specific type, which determines the size and layout
of the variable's memory; the range of values that can be stored within that
memory; and the set of operations that can be applied to the variable.

The name of a variable can be composed of letters, digits, and the underscore
character. It must begin with either a letter or an underscore. Upper and
lowercase letters are distinct because C++ is case-sensitive:

There are following basic types of variable in C++ as explained in last chapter:

Type Description

bool Stores either value true or false.

char Typically a single octet (one byte). This is an integer

type.

int The most natural size of integer for the machine.

float A single-precision floating point value.

double A double-precision floating point value.

void Represents the absence of type.

wchar_t A wide character type.

C++ also allows to define various other types of variables, which we will cover in
subsequent chapters like Enumeration, Pointer, Array, Reference, Data
structures, and Classes.

Following section will cover how to define, declare and use various types of
variables.

Variable Definition in C++

A variable definition tells the compiler where and how much storage to create for
the variable. A variable definition specifies a data type, and contains a list of one
or more variables of that type as follows:
17
 C++

type variable_list;

Here, type must be a valid C++ data type including char, w_char, int, float,
double, bool or any user-defined object, etc., and variable_list may consist of
one or more identifier names separated by commas. Some valid declarations are
shown here:

int i, j, k;
char c, ch;
float f, salary;
double d;

The line int i, j, k; both declares and defines the variables i, j and k; which
instructs the compiler to create variables named i, j and k of type int.

Variables can be initialized (assigned an initial value) in their declaration. The

initializer consists of an equal sign followed by a constant expression as follows:

type variable_name = value;

Some examples are:

extern int d = 3, f = 5; // declaration of d and f.

int d = 3, f = 5; // definition and initializing d and f.
byte z = 22; // definition and initializes z.
char x = 'x'; // the variable x has the value 'x'.

For definition without an initializer: variables with static storage duration are
implicitly initialized with NULL (all bytes have the value 0); the initial value of all
other variables is undefined.

Variable Declaration in C++

A variable declaration provides assurance to the compiler that there is one

variable existing with the given type and name so that compiler proceed for
further compilation without needing complete detail about the variable. A
variable declaration has its meaning at the time of compilation only, compiler
needs actual variable declaration at the time of linking of the program.

A variable declaration is useful when you are using multiple files and you define
your variable in one of the files which will be available at the time of linking of
the program. You will use extern keyword to declare a variable at any place.
Though you can declare a variable multiple times in your C++ program, but it
can be defined only once in a file, a function or a block of code.

Example:

18
 C++

Try the following example where a variable has been declared at the top, but it
has been defined inside the main function:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// Variable declaration:
extern int a, b;
extern int c;
extern float f;

int main ()
{
// Variable definition:
int a, b;
int c;
float f;

// actual initialization
a = 10;
b = 20;
c = a + b;

cout << c << endl ;

f = 70.0/3.0;
cout << f << endl ;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

30
23.3333

19
 C++

Same concept applies on function declaration where you provide a function

name at the time of its declaration and its actual definition can be given
anywhere else. For example:

// function declaration
int func();

int main()
{
// function call
int i = func();
}

// function definition
int func()
{
return 0;
}

Lvalues and Rvalues

There are two kinds of expressions in C++:

 lvalue : Expressions that refer to a memory location is called "lvalue"

expression. An lvalue may appear as either the left-hand or right-hand
side of an assignment.

 rvalue : The term rvalue refers to a data value that is stored at some
address in memory. An rvalue is an expression that cannot have a value
assigned to it which means an rvalue may appear on the right- but not
left-hand side of an assignment.

Variables are lvalues and so may appear on the left-hand side of an assignment.
Numeric literals are rvalues and so may not be assigned and cannot appear on
the left-hand side. Following is a valid statement:

int g = 20;

But the following is not a valid statement and would generate compile-time
error:

10 = 20;

20
 C++

7. VARIABLE SCOPE

A scope is a region of the program and broadly speaking there are three places,
where variables can be declared:

 Inside a function or a block which is called local variables,

 In the definition of function parameters which is called formal parameters.

 Outside of all functions which is called global variables.

We will learn what a function is, and it's parameter in subsequent chapters. Here
let us explain what local and global variables are.

Local Variables

Variables that are declared inside a function or block are local variables. They
can be used only by statements that are inside that function or block of code.
Local variables are not known to functions outside their own. Following is the
example using local variables:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main ()
{
// Local variable declaration:
int a, b;
int c;

// actual initialization
a = 10;
b = 20;
c = a + b;

cout << c;

return 0;
}

21
 C++

Global Variables

Global variables are defined outside of all the functions, usually on top of the
program. The global variables will hold their value throughout the life-time of
your program.

A global variable can be accessed by any function. That is, a global variable is
available for use throughout your entire program after its declaration. Following
is the example using global and local variables:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// Global variable declaration:

int g;

int main ()
{
// Local variable declaration:
int a, b;

// actual initialization
a = 10;
b = 20;
g = a + b;

cout << g;

return 0;
}

A program can have same name for local and global variables but value of local
variable inside a function will take preference. For example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// Global variable declaration:

int g = 20;

22
 C++

int main ()
{
// Local variable declaration:
int g = 10;

cout << g;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

10

Initializing Local and Global Variables

When a local variable is defined, it is not initialized by the system, you must
initialize it yourself. Global variables are initialized automatically by the system
when you define them as follows:

Data Type Initializer

int 0

char '\0'

float 0

double 0

pointer NULL

It is a good programming practice to initialize variables properly, otherwise

sometimes program would produce unexpected result.

23
 C++

8. CONSTANTS/LITERALS

Constants refer to fixed values that the program may not alter and they are
called literals.

Constants can be of any of the basic data types and can be divided into Integer
Numerals, Floating-Point Numerals, Characters, Strings and Boolean Values.

Again, constants are treated just like regular variables except that their values
cannot be modified after their definition.

Integer Literals

An integer literal can be a decimal, octal, or hexadecimal constant. A prefix

specifies the base or radix: 0x or 0X for hexadecimal, 0 for octal, and nothing for
decimal.

An integer literal can also have a suffix that is a combination of U and L, for
unsigned and long, respectively. The suffix can be uppercase or lowercase and
can be in any order.

Here are some examples of integer literals:

212 // Legal
215u // Legal
0xFeeL // Legal
078 // Illegal: 8 is not an octal digit
032UU // Illegal: cannot repeat a suffix

Following are other examples of various types of Integer literals:

85 // decimal
0213 // octal
0x4b // hexadecimal
30 // int
30u // unsigned int
30l // long
30ul // unsigned long

Floating-point Literals

A floating-point literal has an integer part, a decimal point, a fractional part, and
an exponent part. You can represent floating point literals either in decimal form
or exponential form.
24
 C++

While representing using decimal form, you must include the decimal point, the
exponent, or both and while representing using exponential form, you must
include the integer part, the fractional part, or both. The signed exponent is
introduced by e or E.

Here are some examples of floating-point literals:

3.14159 // Legal
314159E-5L // Legal
510E // Illegal: incomplete exponent
210f // Illegal: no decimal or exponent
.e55 // Illegal: missing integer or fraction

Boolean Literals

There are two Boolean literals and they are part of standard C++ keywords:

 A value of true representing true.

 A value of false representing false.

You should not consider the value of true equal to 1 and value of false equal to
0.

Character Literals

Character literals are enclosed in single quotes. If the literal begins with L
(uppercase only), it is a wide character literal (e.g., L'x') and should be stored
in wchar_t type of variable. Otherwise, it is a narrow character literal (e.g., 'x')
and can be stored in a simple variable of char type.

A character literal can be a plain character (e.g., 'x'), an escape sequence (e.g.,
'\t'), or a universal character (e.g., '\u02C0').

There are certain characters in C++ when they are preceded by a backslash
they will have special meaning and they are used to represent like newline (\n)
or tab (\t). Here, you have a list of some of such escape sequence codes:

Escape sequence Meaning

\\ \ character

\' ' character

\" " character

\? ? character

25
 C++

\a Alert or bell

\b Backspace

\f Form feed

\n Newline

\r Carriage return

\t Horizontal tab

\v Vertical tab

\ooo Octal number of one to three digits

\xhh . . . Hexadecimal number of one or more digits

Following is the example to show a few escape sequence characters:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
cout << "Hello\tWorld\n\n";
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Hello World

String Literals

String literals are enclosed in double quotes. A string contains characters that
are similar to character literals: plain characters, escape sequences, and
universal characters.
26
 C++

You can break a long line into multiple lines using string literals and separate
them using whitespaces.

Here are some examples of string literals. All the three forms are identical
strings.

"hello, dear"

"hello, \

dear"

"hello, " "d" "ear"

Defining Constants

There are two simple ways in C++ to define constants:

 Using #define preprocessor.

 Using const keyword.

The #define Preprocessor

Following is the form to use #define preprocessor to define a constant:

#define identifier value

Following example explains it in detail:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

#define LENGTH 10
#define WIDTH 5
#define NEWLINE '\n'

int main()
{

int area;

area = LENGTH * WIDTH;

27
 C++

cout << area;

cout << NEWLINE;
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

50

The const Keyword

You can use const prefix to declare constants with a specific type as follows:

const type variable = value;

Following example explains it in detail:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
const int LENGTH = 10;
const int WIDTH = 5;
const char NEWLINE = '\n';
int area;

area = LENGTH * WIDTH;

cout << area;
cout << NEWLINE;
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

50

Note that it is a good programming practice to define constants in CAPITALS.

28
 C++

9. MODIFIER TYPES

C++ allows the char, int, and double data types to have modifiers preceding
them. A modifier is used to alter the meaning of the base type so that it more
precisely fits the needs of various situations.

The data type modifiers are listed here:

 signed

 unsigned

 long

 short

The modifiers signed, unsigned, long, and short can be applied to integer base
types. In addition, signed and unsigned can be applied to char, and long can
be applied to double.

The modifiers signed and unsigned can also be used as prefix

to long or short modifiers. For example, unsigned long int.

C++ allows a shorthand notation for declaring unsigned,

short, or long integers. You can simply use the word unsigned, short, or long,
without int. It automatically implies int. For example, the following two
statements both declare unsigned integer variables.

unsigned x;
unsigned int y;

To understand the difference between the way signed and unsigned integer
modifiers are interpreted by C++, you should run the following short program:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

/* This program shows the difference between

* signed and unsigned integers.
*/
int main()
{
short int i; // a signed short integer
short unsigned int j; // an unsigned short integer
29
 C++

j = 50000;

i = j;
cout << i << " " << j;

return 0;
}

When this program is run, following is the output:

-15536 50000

The above result is because the bit pattern that represents 50,000 as a short
unsigned integer is interpreted as -15,536 by a short.

Type Qualifiers in C++

The type qualifiers provide additional information about the variables they
precede.

Qualifier Meaning

const Objects of type const cannot be changed by your program during

execution

volatile The modifier volatile tells the compiler that a variable's value may
be changed in ways not explicitly specified by the program.

restrict A pointer qualified by restrict is initially the only means by which

the object it points to can be accessed. Only C99 adds a new type
qualifier called restrict.

30
 C++

10. STORAGE CLASSES

A storage class defines the scope (visibility) and life-time of variables and/or
functions within a C++ Program. These specifiers precede the type that they
modify. There are following storage classes, which can be used in a C++
Program

 auto

 register

 static

 extern

 mutable

The auto Storage Class

The auto storage class is the default storage class for all local variables.

{
int mount;
auto int month;
}

The example above defines two variables with the same storage class, auto can
only be used within functions, i.e., local variables.

The register Storage Class

The register storage class is used to define local variables that should be stored
in a register instead of RAM. This means that the variable has a maximum size
equal to the register size (usually one word) and can't have the unary '&'
operator applied to it (as it does not have a memory location).

{
register int miles;
}

The register should only be used for variables that require quick access such as
counters. It should also be noted that defining 'register' does not mean that the
variable will be stored in a register. It means that it MIGHT be stored in a
register depending on hardware and implementation restrictions.

The static Storage Class

31
 C++

The static storage class instructs the compiler to keep a local variable in
existence during the life-time of the program instead of creating and destroying
it each time it comes into and goes out of scope. Therefore, making local
variables static allows them to maintain their values between function calls.

The static modifier may also be applied to global variables. When this is done, it
causes that variable's scope to be restricted to the file in which it is declared.

In C++, when static is used on a class data member, it causes only one copy of
that member to be shared by all objects of its class.

#include <iostream>

// Function declaration
void func(void);

static int count = 10; /* Global variable */

main()
{
while(count--)
{
func();
}
return 0;
}
// Function definition
void func( void )
{
static int i = 5; // local static variable
i++;
std::cout << "i is " << i ;
std::cout << " and count is " << count << std::endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

i is 6 and count is 9
i is 7 and count is 8

32
 C++

i is 8 and count is 7
i is 9 and count is 6
i is 10 and count is 5
i is 11 and count is 4
i is 12 and count is 3
i is 13 and count is 2
i is 14 and count is 1
i is 15 and count is 0

The extern Storage Class

The extern storage class is used to give a reference of a global variable that is
visible to ALL the program files. When you use 'extern' the variable cannot be
initialized as all it does is point the variable name at a storage location that has
been previously defined.

When you have multiple files and you define a global variable or function, which
will be used in other files also, then extern will be used in another file to give
reference of defined variable or function. Just for understanding extern is used to
declare a global variable or function in another file.

The extern modifier is most commonly used when there are two or more files
sharing the same global variables or functions as explained below.

First File: main.cpp

#include <iostream>

int count ;
extern void write_extern();

main()
{
count = 5;
write_extern();
}

Second File: support.cpp

#include <iostream>

33
 C++

extern int count;

void write_extern(void)
{
std::cout << "Count is " << count << std::endl;
}

Here, extern keyword is being used to declare count in another file. Now compile
these two files as follows:

$g++ main.cpp support.cpp -o write

This will produce write executable program, try to execute write and check the
result as follows:

$./write
5

The mutable Storage Class

The mutable specifier applies only to class objects, which are discussed later in
this tutorial. It allows a member of an object to override const member function.
That is, a mutable member can be modified by a const member function.

34
 C++

11. OPERATORS

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical

or logical manipulations. C++ is rich in built-in operators and provide the
following types of operators:

 Arithmetic Operators

 Relational Operators

 Logical Operators

 Bitwise Operators

 Assignment Operators

 Misc Operators

This chapter will examine the arithmetic, relational, logical, bitwise, assignment
and other operators one by one.

Arithmetic Operators

There are following arithmetic operators supported by C++ language:

Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then:

Operator Description Example

+ Adds two operands A + B will give 30

- Subtracts second operand from A - B will give -10

the first

* Multiplies both operands A * B will give 200

/ Divides numerator by de- B / A will give 2

numerator

% Modulus Operator and B % A will give 0

remainder of after an integer
division

35
 C++

++ Increment operator, increases A++ will give 11

integer value by one

-- Decrement operator, decreases A-- will give 9

integer value by one

Try the following example to understand all the arithmetic operators available in
C++.

Copy and paste the following C++ program in test.cpp file and compile and run
this program.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main()
{
int a = 21;
int b = 10;
int c ;

c = a + b;
cout << "Line 1 - Value of c is :" << c << endl ;
c = a - b;
cout << "Line 2 - Value of c is :" << c << endl ;
c = a * b;
cout << "Line 3 - Value of c is :" << c << endl ;
c = a / b;
cout << "Line 4 - Value of c is :" << c << endl ;
c = a % b;
cout << "Line 5 - Value of c is :" << c << endl ;
c = a++;
cout << "Line 6 - Value of c is :" << c << endl ;
c = a--;
cout << "Line 7 - Value of c is :" << c << endl ;
return 0;

36
 C++

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Value of c is :31

Line 2 - Value of c is :11
Line 3 - Value of c is :210
Line 4 - Value of c is :2
Line 5 - Value of c is :1
Line 6 - Value of c is :21
Line 7 - Value of c is :22

Relational Operators

There are following relational operators supported by C++ language

Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then:

Operator Description Example

== Checks if the values of two (A == B) is not true.

operands are equal or not, if
yes then condition becomes
true.

!= Checks if the values of two (A != B) is true.

operands are equal or not, if
values are not equal then
condition becomes true.

> Checks if the value of left (A > B) is not true.

operand is greater than the
value of right operand, if yes
then condition becomes true.

< Checks if the value of left (A < B) is true.

operand is less than the value
of right operand, if yes then
condition becomes true.

>= Checks if the value of left (A >= B) is not true.

37
 C++

operand is greater than or equal

to the value of right operand, if
yes then condition becomes
true.

<= Checks if the value of left (A <= B) is true.

operand is less than or equal to
the value of right operand, if
yes then condition becomes
true.

Try the following example to understand all the relational operators available in
C++.

Copy and paste the following C++ program in test.cpp file and compile and run
this program.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main()
{
int a = 21;
int b = 10;
int c ;

if( a == b )
{
cout << "Line 1 - a is equal to b" << endl ;
}
else
{
cout << "Line 1 - a is not equal to b" << endl ;
}
if ( a < b )
{
cout << "Line 2 - a is less than b" << endl ;

38
 C++

}
else
{
cout << "Line 2 - a is not less than b" << endl ;
}
if ( a > b )
{
cout << "Line 3 - a is greater than b" << endl ;
}
else
{
cout << "Line 3 - a is not greater than b" << endl ;
}
/* Let's change the values of a and b */
a = 5;
b = 20;
if ( a <= b )
{
cout << "Line 4 - a is either less than \
or equal to b" << endl ;
}
if ( b >= a )
{
cout << "Line 5 - b is either greater than \
or equal to b" << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - a is not equal to b

Line 2 - a is not less than b
Line 3 - a is greater than b
Line 4 - a is either less than or equal to b

39
 C++

Line 5 - b is either greater than or equal to b

Logical Operators

There are following logical operators supported by C++ language.

Assume variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then:

Operator Description Example

&& Called Logical AND operator. If (A && B) is false.

both the operands are non-zero,
then condition becomes true.

|| Called Logical OR Operator. If (A || B) is true.

any of the two operands is non-
zero, then condition becomes
true.

! Called Logical NOT Operator. !(A && B) is true.

Use to reverses the logical state
of its operand. If a condition is
true, then Logical NOT operator
will make false.

Try the following example to understand all the logical operators available in
C++.

Copy and paste the following C++ program in test.cpp file and compile and run
this program.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main()
{
int a = 5;
int b = 20;
int c ;

40
 C++

if ( a && b )
{
cout << "Line 1 - Condition is true"<< endl ;
}
if ( a || b )
{
cout << "Line 2 - Condition is true"<< endl ;
}
/* Let's change the values of a and b */
a = 0;
b = 10;
if ( a && b )
{
cout << "Line 3 - Condition is true"<< endl ;
}
else
{
cout << "Line 4 - Condition is not true"<< endl ;
}
if ( !(a && b) )
{
cout << "Line 5 - Condition is true"<< endl ;
}
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Condition is true

Line 2 - Condition is true
Line 4 - Condition is not true
Line 5 - Condition is true

Bitwise Operators

41
 C++

Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth tables
for &, |, and ^ are as follows:

p q p&q p|q p^q

0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 1

1 1 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1

Assume if A = 60; and B = 13; now in binary format they will be as follows:

A = 0011 1100

B = 0000 1101

-----------------

A&B = 0000 1100

A|B = 0011 1101

A^B = 0011 0001

~A = 1100 0011

The Bitwise operators supported by C++ language are listed in the following
table. Assume variable A holds 60 and variable B holds 13, then:

Operator Description Example

& Binary AND Operator copies a (A & B) will give 12 which is

bit to the result if it exists in 0000 1100
both operands.

| Binary OR Operator copies a bit (A | B) will give 61 which is

if it exists in either operand. 0011 1101

^ Binary XOR Operator copies the (A ^ B) will give 49 which is

bit if it is set in one operand but 0011 0001
not both.

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~ Binary Ones Complement (~A ) will give -61 which is

Operator is unary and has the 1100 0011 in 2's complement
effect of 'flipping' bits. form due to a signed binary
number.

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The A << 2 will give 240 which is
left operands value is moved 1111 0000
left by the number of bits
specified by the right operand.

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The A >> 2 will give 15 which is
left operands value is moved 0000 1111
right by the number of bits
specified by the right operand.

Try the following example to understand all the bitwise operators available in
C++.

Copy and paste the following C++ program in test.cpp file and compile and run
this program.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main()
{
unsigned int a = 60; // 60 = 0011 1100
unsigned int b = 13; // 13 = 0000 1101
int c = 0;

c = a & b; // 12 = 0000 1100

cout << "Line 1 - Value of c is : " << c << endl ;

c = a | b; // 61 = 0011 1101
cout << "Line 2 - Value of c is: " << c << endl ;

c = a ^ b; // 49 = 0011 0001
cout << "Line 3 - Value of c is: " << c << endl ;

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c = ~a; // -61 = 1100 0011

cout << "Line 4 - Value of c is: " << c << endl ;

c = a << 2; // 240 = 1111 0000

cout << "Line 5 - Value of c is: " << c << endl ;

c = a >> 2; // 15 = 0000 1111

cout << "Line 6 - Value of c is: " << c << endl ;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Value of c is : 12
Line 2 - Value of c is: 61
Line 3 - Value of c is: 49
Line 4 - Value of c is: -61
Line 5 - Value of c is: 240
Line 6 - Value of c is: 15

Assignment Operators

There are following assignment operators supported by C++ language:

Operator Description Example

= Simple assignment operator, C = A + B will assign value of A

Assigns values from right side + B into C
operands to left side operand.

+= Add AND assignment operator, C += A is equivalent to C = C +

It adds right operand to the left A
operand and assign the result to
left operand.

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-= Subtract AND assignment C -= A is equivalent to C = C -

operator, It subtracts right A
operand from the left operand
and assign the result to left
operand.

*= Multiply AND assignment C *= A is equivalent to C = C *

operator, It multiplies right A
operand with the left operand
and assign the result to left
operand.

/= Divide AND assignment C /= A is equivalent to C = C /

operator, It divides left operand A
with the right operand and
assign the result to left
operand.

%= Modulus AND assignment C %= A is equivalent to C = C

operator, It takes modulus %A
using two operands and assign
the result to left operand.

<<= Left shift AND assignment C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2

operator.

>>= Right shift AND assignment C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2

operator.

&= Bitwise AND assignment C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2

operator.

^= Bitwise exclusive OR and C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2

assignment operator.

|= Bitwise inclusive OR and C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2

assignment operator.

Try the following example to understand all the assignment operators available
in C++.

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Copy and paste the following C++ program in test.cpp file and compile and run
this program.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main()
{
int a = 21;
int c ;

c = a;
cout << "Line 1 - = Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c += a;
cout << "Line 2 - += Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c -= a;
cout << "Line 3 - -= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c *= a;
cout << "Line 4 - *= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c /= a;
cout << "Line 5 - /= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c = 200;
c %= a;
cout << "Line 6 - %= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c <<= 2;
cout << "Line 7 - <<= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c >>= 2;
cout << "Line 8 - >>= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

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c &= 2;
cout << "Line 9 - &= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c ^= 2;
cout << "Line 10 - ^= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

c |= 2;
cout << "Line 11 - |= Operator, Value of c = : " <<c<< endl ;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - = Operator, Value of c = : 21

Line 2 - += Operator, Value of c = : 42
Line 3 - -= Operator, Value of c = : 21
Line 4 - *= Operator, Value of c = : 441
Line 5 - /= Operator, Value of c = : 21
Line 6 - %= Operator, Value of c = : 11
Line 7 - <<= Operator, Value of c = : 44
Line 8 - >>= Operator, Value of c = : 11
Line 9 - &= Operator, Value of c = : 2
Line 10 - ^= Operator, Value of c = : 0
Line 11 - |= Operator, Value of c = : 2

Misc Operators

The following table lists some other operators that C++ supports.

Operator Description

sizeof sizeof operator returns the size of a variable. For

example, sizeof(a), where ‘a’ is integer, and will return
4.

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Condition ? X : Y Conditional operator (?). If Condition is true then it

returns value of X otherwise returns value of Y.

, Comma operator causes a sequence of operations to

be performed. The value of the entire comma
expression is the value of the last expression of the
comma-separated list.

. (dot) and -> (arrow) Member operators are used to reference individual
members of classes, structures, and unions.

Cast Casting operators convert one data type to another.

For example, int(2.2000) would return 2.

& Pointer operator ‘&’ returns the address of a variable.

For example &a; will give actual address of the
variable.

* Pointer operator * is pointer to a variable. For example

*var; will pointer to a variable var.

Operators Precedence in C++

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This

affects how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher
precedence than others; for example, the multiplication operator has higher
precedence than the addition operator:

For example x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator *

has higher precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds
into 7.

Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table,
those with the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher
precedence operators will be evaluated first.

Category Operator Associativity

Postfix () [] -> . ++ - - Left to right

Unary + - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeof Right to left

Multiplicative */% Left to right

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Additive +- Left to right

Shift << >> Left to right

Relational < <= > >= Left to right

Equality == != Left to right

Bitwise AND & Left to right

Bitwise XOR ^ Left to right

Bitwise OR | Left to right

Logical AND && Left to right

Logical OR || Left to right

Conditional ?: Right to left

Assignment = += -= *= /= %=>>= <<= &= ^= |= Right to left

Comma , Left to right

Try the following example to understand operator’s precedence concept available

in C++. Copy and paste the following C++ program in test.cpp file and compile
and run this program.

Check the simple difference with and without parenthesis. This will produce
different results because (), /, * and + have different precedence. Higher
precedence operators will be evaluated first:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main()
{
int a = 20;

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int b = 10;
int c = 15;
int d = 5;
int e;

e = (a + b) * c / d; // ( 30 * 15 ) / 5
cout << "Value of (a + b) * c / d is :" << e << endl ;

e = ((a + b) * c) / d; // (30 * 15 ) / 5
cout << "Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is :" << e << endl ;

e = (a + b) * (c / d); // (30) * (15/5)

cout << "Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is :" << e << endl ;

e = a + (b * c) / d; // 20 + (150/5)
cout << "Value of a + (b * c) / d is :" << e << endl ;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Value of (a + b) * c / d is :90
Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is :90
Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is :90
Value of a + (b * c) / d is :50

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12. LOOP TYPES

There may be a situation, when you need to execute a block of code several
number of times. In general, statements are executed sequentially: The first
statement in a function is executed first, followed by the second, and so on.

Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for more
complicated execution paths.

A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements

multiple times and following is the general from of a loop statement in most of
the programming languages:

C++ programming language provides the following type of loops to handle

looping requirements.

Loop Type Description

while loop Repeats a statement or group of statements while a

given condition is true. It tests the condition before
executing the loop body.

for loop Execute a sequence of statements multiple times and

abbreviates the code that manages the loop variable.

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do...while loop Like a ‘while’ statement, except that it tests the

condition at the end of the loop body.

nested loops You can use one or more loop inside any another
‘while’, ‘for’ or ‘do..while’ loop.

While Loop

A while loop statement repeatedly executes a target statement as long as a

given condition is true.

Syntax
The syntax of a while loop in C++ is:

while(condition)
{
statement(s);
}

Here, statement(s) may be a single statement or a block of statements.

The condition may be any expression, and true is any non-zero value. The loop
iterates while the condition is true.

When the condition becomes false, program control passes to the line
immediately following the loop.

Flow Diagram

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