C++ Data Types

1. Fundamental Data Types:

• int:
• Characteristics: Represents whole numbers, both positive and negative.
• Storage Requirement: Typically, 4 bytes on most platforms.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for counting, indexing, and arithmetic operations involving
integers.
• float:
• Characteristics: Represents single-precision floating-point numbers with a limited
decimal precision.
• Storage Requirement: Typically, 4 bytes.
• Usage Scenarios: Suitable for representing real numbers with moderate precision,
such as scientific calculations.
• double:
• Characteristics: Represents double-precision floating-point numbers with higher
decimal precision compared to float.
• Storage Requirement: Typically, 8 bytes.
• Usage Scenarios: Preferred for more precise calculations in scientific and
engineering applications.
• char:
• Characteristics: Represents a single character, enclosed in single quotes ('').
• Storage Requirement: Typically, 1 byte.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for handling individual characters and strings.
• bool:
• Characteristics: Represents boolean values, either true or false.
• Storage Requirement: Typically, 1 byte, but the exact size may vary.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for logical conditions and control flow.
• void:
• Characteristics: Lacks a value and is often used to indicate functions that don't
return a value.
• Storage Requirement: No storage is allocated for void.
• Usage Scenarios: Used as a return type for functions that don't return a value.
2. Enumerated Types (enum):
• Characteristics: User-defined data types consisting of named values (enumerators).
• Storage Requirement: Usually, the size of an enum is implementation-dependent but is
typically 4 bytes.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for defining sets of related constant values with meaningful
names.
3. Derived Data Types:
• Array:
• Characteristics: Represents a collection of elements of the same data type.
• Storage Requirement: Depends on the size and type of the elements.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for storing multiple values of the same data type
sequentially.
• Pointer:
• Characteristics: Stores memory addresses of variables.
 • Storage Requirement: Typically, 4 bytes on 32-bit systems and 8 bytes on 64-bit
systems.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for dynamic memory allocation, function pointers, and
data structures like linked lists.
• Reference:
• Characteristics: Provides an alias to an existing variable.
• Storage Requirement: References do not consume additional storage.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for passing values to functions by reference, avoiding
unnecessary copying.
• Structure (struct):
• Characteristics: Groups variables of different data types under a single name.
• Storage Requirement: The size of a struct is the sum of the sizes of its members.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for creating user-defined data structures with multiple
fields.
• Union (union):
• Characteristics: Similar to a struct but allows only one member to be active at a
time.
• Storage Requirement: The size is determined by the largest member.
• Usage Scenarios: Used when memory efficiency is critical, and only one field
needs to be active.
• Class:
• Characteristics: User-defined data type that combines data (attributes) and
functions (methods).
• Storage Requirement: Similar to structs, the size is determined by the sum of
member sizes.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for object-oriented programming, encapsulation, and
abstraction.
4. User-Defined Data Types:
• Typedef:
• Characteristics: Allows creating aliases for existing data types.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for creating more descriptive names for existing data
types, enhancing code readability.
• Enumeration (enum):
• Characteristics: User-defined enumerations with named constants.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for defining custom sets of related constants.
5. STL Data Types:
• The characteristics, storage requirements, and usage scenarios for STL data types like
vector, list, map, set, queue, and stack vary based on their specific implementations and
use cases. Generally, they are used for various data storage and manipulation tasks in
C++.
6. Other Data Types:
• wchar_t:
• Characteristics: Represents wide characters for extended character sets.
• Storage Requirement: Typically 2 or 4 bytes, depending on the platform.
• Usage Scenarios: Used for handling Unicode characters and internationalization.
• long long:
• Characteristics: Represents larger integer values than the 'int' data type.
• Storage Requirement: Typically 8 bytes.
 • Usage Scenarios: Used when a larger range of integer values is required.
• auto:
• Characteristics: Allows the compiler to deduce the data type from the initializer.
• Usage Scenarios: Simplifies code by reducing the need to explicitly specify data
types.
• decltype:
• Characteristics: Determines the type of an expression.
• Usage Scenarios: Useful in advanced scenarios where you need to work with the
type of an expression dynamically.

These characteristics, storage requirements, and usage scenarios should help you choose the
appropriate data types for your C++ programming needs.

Limits for different data types

Limits for Integer Types:

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Minimum value for int: -2147483648
Maximum value for int: 2147483647
Minimum value for unsigned int: 0
Maximum value for unsigned int: 4294967295

Limits for Floating-Point Types:

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Minimum value for float: 1.17549e-38
Maximum value for float: 3.40282e+38
Minimum value for double: 2.22507e-308
Maximum value for double: 1.79769e+308
Minimum value for long double: 3.3621e-4932
Maximum value for long double: 1.18973e+4932

Limits for Char Type:

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Minimum value for char: -128
Maximum value for char: 127
Minimum value for unsigned char: 0
Maximum value for unsigned char: 255