14.

Functions C++

A function is a group of statements that together perform a task. Every C++ program has
at least one function, which is main(), and all the most trivial programs can define
additional functions.

You can divide up your code into separate functions. How you divide up your code among
different functions is up to you, but logically the division usually is such that each function
performs a specific task.

A function declaration tells the compiler about a function's name, return type, and
parameters. A function definition provides the actual body of the function.

The C++ standard library provides numerous built-in functions that your program can call.
For example, function strcat() to concatenate two strings, function memcpy() to copy
one memory location to another location, and many more functions.

A function is known with various names like a method or a sub-routine or a procedure etc.

Defining a Function
The general form of a C++ function definition is as follows:

return_type function_name( parameter list )

{
body of the function
}

A C++ function definition consists of a function header and a function body. Here are all
the parts of a function:

 Return Type: A function may return a value. The return_type is the data type of
the value the function returns. Some functions perform the desired operations
without returning a value. In this case, the return_type is the keyword void.

 Function Name: This is the actual name of the function. The function name and
the parameter list together constitute the function signature.

 Parameters: A parameter is like a placeholder. When a function is invoked, you

pass a value to the parameter. This value is referred to as actual parameter or
argument. The parameter list refers to the type, order, and number of the
parameters of a function. Parameters are optional; that is, a function may contain
no parameters.

 Function Body: The function body contains a collection of statements that define
what the function does.

Example
Following is the source code for a function called max(). This function takes two
parameters num1 and num2 and returns the maximum between the two:
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// function returning the max between two numbers

int max(int num1, int num2)

{
// local variable declaration
int result;

if (num1 > num2)

result = num1;
else
result = num2;

return result;
}

Function Declarations
A function declaration tells the compiler about a function name and how to call the
function. The actual body of the function can be defined separately.

A function declaration has the following parts:

return_type function_name( parameter list );

For the above defined function max(), following is the function declaration:

int max(int num1, int num2);

Parameter names are not important in function declaration only their type is required, so
following is also valid declaration:

int max(int, int);

Function declaration is required when you define a function in one source file and you call
that function in another file. In such case, you should declare the function at the top of
the file calling the function.

Calling a Function
While creating a C++ function, you give a definition of what the function has to do. To use
a function, you will have to call or invoke that function.

When a program calls a function, program control is transferred to the called function. A
called function performs defined task and when it’s return statement is executed or when
its function-ending closing brace is reached, it returns program control back to the main
program.
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To call a function, you simply need to pass the required parameters along with function
name, and if function returns a value, then you can store returned value. For example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// function declaration
int max(int num1, int num2);

int main ()
{
// local variable declaration:
int a = 100;
int b = 200;
int ret;

// calling a function to get max value.

ret = max(a, b);

cout << "Max value is : " << ret << endl;

return 0;
}

// function returning the max between two numbers

int max(int num1, int num2)
{
// local variable declaration
int result;

if (num1 > num2)

result = num1;
else
result = num2;

return result;
}

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I kept max() function along with main() function and compiled the source code. While
running final executable, it would produce the following result:

Max value is : 200

Function Arguments
If a function is to use arguments, it must declare variables that accept the values of the
arguments. These variables are called the formal parameters of the function.

The formal parameters behave like other local variables inside the function and are created
upon entry into the function and destroyed upon exit.

While calling a function, there are two ways that arguments can be passed to a function:

Call Type Description

Call by value This method copies the actual value of an argument into the
formal parameter of the function. In this case, changes made
to the parameter inside the function have no effect on the
argument.

Call by pointer This method copies the address of an argument into the
formal parameter. Inside the function, the address is used to
access the actual argument used in the call. This means that
changes made to the parameter affect the argument.

Call by reference This method copies the reference of an argument into the
formal parameter. Inside the function, the reference is used
to access the actual argument used in the call. This means
that changes made to the parameter affect the argument.

Call by Value
The call by value method of passing arguments to a function copies the actual value of
an argument into the formal parameter of the function. In this case, changes made to the
parameter inside the function have no effect on the argument.

By default, C++ uses call by value to pass arguments. In general, this means that code
within a function cannot alter the arguments used to call the function. Consider the
function swap() definition as follows.

// function definition to swap the values.

void swap(int x, int y)
{
int temp;

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temp = x; /* save the value of x */

x = y; /* put y into x */
y = temp; /* put x into y */

return;
}

Now, let us call the function swap() by passing actual values as in the following example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// function declaration
void swap(int x, int y);

int main ()
{
// local variable declaration:
int a = 100;
int b = 200;

cout << "Before swap, value of a :" << a << endl;

cout << "Before swap, value of b :" << b << endl;

// calling a function to swap the values.

swap(a, b);

cout << "After swap, value of a :" << a << endl;

cout << "After swap, value of b :" << b << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is put together in a file, compiled and executed, it produces the
following result:

Before swap, value of a :100

Before swap, value of b :200
After swap, value of a :100

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After swap, value of b :200

Which shows that there is no change in the values though they had been changed inside
the function.

Call by Pointer
The call by pointer method of passing arguments to a function copies the address of an
argument into the formal parameter. Inside the function, the address is used to access
the actual argument used in the call. This means that changes made to the parameter
affect the passed argument.

To pass the value by pointer, argument pointers are passed to the functions just like any
other value. So accordingly you need to declare the function parameters as pointer types
as in the following function swap(), which exchanges the values of the two integer
variables pointed to by its arguments.

// function definition to swap the values.

void swap(int *x, int *y)
{
int temp;
temp = *x; /* save the value at address x */
*x = *y; /* put y into x */
*y = temp; /* put x into y */

return;
}

To check the more detail about C++ pointers, kindly check C++ Pointers chapter.

For now, let us call the function swap() by passing values by pointer as in the following
example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// function declaration
void swap(int *x, int *y);

int main ()
{
// local variable declaration:
int a = 100;
int b = 200;

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cout << "Before swap, value of a :" << a << endl;

cout << "Before swap, value of b :" << b << endl;

/* calling a function to swap the values.

* &a indicates pointer to a ie. address of variable a and
* &b indicates pointer to b ie. address of variable b.
*/
swap(&a, &b);

cout << "After swap, value of a :" << a << endl;

cout << "After swap, value of b :" << b << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is put together in a file, compiled and executed, it produces the
following result:

Before swap, value of a :100

Before swap, value of b :200
After swap, value of a :200
After swap, value of b :100

Call by Reference
The call by reference method of passing arguments to a function copies the reference of
an argument into the formal parameter. Inside the function, the reference is used to access
the actual argument used in the call. This means that changes made to the parameter
affect the passed argument.

To pass the value by reference, argument reference is passed to the functions just like
any other value. So accordingly you need to declare the function parameters as reference
types as in the following function swap(), which exchanges the values of the two integer
variables pointed to by its arguments.

// function definition to swap the values.

void swap(int &x, int &y)
{
int temp;
temp = x; /* save the value at address x */
x = y; /* put y into x */

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y = temp; /* put x into y */

return;
}

For now, let us call the function swap() by passing values by reference as in the following
example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// function declaration
void swap(int &x, int &y);

int main ()
{
// local variable declaration:
int a = 100;
int b = 200;

cout << "Before swap, value of a :" << a << endl;

cout << "Before swap, value of b :" << b << endl;

/* calling a function to swap the values using variable reference.*/

swap(a, b);

cout << "After swap, value of a :" << a << endl;

cout << "After swap, value of b :" << b << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is put together in a file, compiled and executed, it produces the
following result:

Before swap, value of a :100

Before swap, value of b :200
After swap, value of a :200
After swap, value of b :100

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By default, C++ uses call by value to pass arguments. In general, this means that code
within a function cannot alter the arguments used to call the function and above mentioned
example while calling max() function used the same method.

Default Values for Parameters

When you define a function, you can specify a default value for each of the last parameters.
This value will be used if the corresponding argument is left blank when calling to the
function.

This is done by using the assignment operator and assigning values for the arguments in
the function definition. If a value for that parameter is not passed when the function is
called, the default given value is used, but if a value is specified, this default value is
ignored and the passed value is used instead. Consider the following example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int sum(int a, int b=20)

{
int result;

result = a + b;

return (result);
}

int main ()
{
// local variable declaration:
int a = 100;
int b = 200;
int result;

// calling a function to add the values.

result = sum(a, b);
cout << "Total value is :" << result << endl;

// calling a function again as follows.

result = sum(a);
cout << "Total value is :" << result << endl;
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return 0;
}

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

Total value is :300

Total value is :120

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 15. Numbers C++

Normally, when we work with Numbers, we use primitive data types such as int, short,
long, float and double, etc. The number data types, their possible values and number
ranges have been explained while discussing C++ Data Types.

Defining Numbers in C++

You have already defined numbers in various examples given in previous chapters. Here
is another consolidated example to define various types of numbers in C++:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main ()
{
// number definition:
short s;
int i;
long l;
float f;
double d;

// number assignments;
s = 10;
i = 1000;
l = 1000000;
f = 230.47;
d = 30949.374;

// number printing;
cout << "short s :" << s << endl;
cout << "int i :" << i << endl;
cout << "long l :" << l << endl;
cout << "float f :" << f << endl;
cout << "double d :" << d << endl;

return 0;
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When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

short s :10
int i :1000
long l :1000000
float f :230.47
double d :30949.4

Math Operations in C++

In addition to the various functions you can create, C++ also includes some useful
functions you can use. These functions are available in standard C and C++ libraries and
called built-in functions. These are functions that can be included in your program and
then use.

C++ has a rich set of mathematical operations, which can be performed on various
numbers. Following table lists down some useful built-in mathematical functions available
in C++.

To utilize these functions you need to include the math header file <cmath>.

S.N. Function & Purpose

1 double cos(double);

This function takes an angle (as a double) and returns the cosine.

2 double sin(double);

This function takes an angle (as a double) and returns the sine.

3 double tan(double);

This function takes an angle (as a double) and returns the tangent.

4 double log(double);

This function takes a number and returns the natural log of that number.

5 double pow(double, double);

The first is a number you wish to raise and the second is the power you wish to
raise it t

6 double hypot(double, double);

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If you pass this function the length of two sides of a right triangle, it will return
you the length of the hypotenuse.

7 double sqrt(double);

You pass this function a number and it gives you the square root.

8 int abs(int);

This function returns the absolute value of an integer that is passed to it.

9 double fabs(double);

This function returns the absolute value of any decimal number passed to it.

10 double floor(double);

Finds the integer which is less than or equal to the argument passed to it.

Following is a simple example to show few of the mathematical operations:

#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

int main ()
{
// number definition:
short s = 10;
int i = -1000;
long l = 100000;
float f = 230.47;
double d = 200.374;

// mathematical operations;
cout << "sin(d) :" << sin(d) << endl;
cout << "abs(i) :" << abs(i) << endl;
cout << "floor(d) :" << floor(d) << endl;
cout << "sqrt(f) :" << sqrt(f) << endl;
cout << "pow( d, 2) :" << pow(d, 2) << endl;

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return 0;
}

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

sign(d) :-0.634939
abs(i) :1000
floor(d) :200
sqrt(f) :15.1812
pow( d, 2 ) :40149.7

Random Numbers in C++

There are many cases where you will wish to generate a random number. There are
actually two functions you will need to know about random number generation. The first
is rand(), this function will only return a pseudo random number. The way to fix this is to
first call the srand() function.

Following is a simple example to generate few random numbers. This example makes use
of time() function to get the number of seconds on your system time, to randomly seed
the rand() function:

#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>
#include <cstdlib>

using namespace std;

int main ()
{
int i,j;

// set the seed

srand( (unsigned)time( NULL ) );

/* generate 10 random numbers. */

for( i = 0; i < 10; i++ )
{
// generate actual random number
j= rand();
cout <<" Random Number : " << j << endl;

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return 0;
}

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

Random Number : 1748144778

Random Number : 630873888
Random Number : 2134540646
Random Number : 219404170
Random Number : 902129458
Random Number : 920445370
Random Number : 1319072661
Random Number : 257938873
Random Number : 1256201101
Random Number : 580322989

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