10/7/24, 1:42 PM C++ for Programmers: Basic Syntax in C++ Cheatsheet | Codecademy

Cheatsheets / C++ for Programmers

Basic Syntax in C++

User Input

std::cin , which stands for “character input”, reads user int tip = 0;
input from the keyboard.
Here, the user can enter a number, press enter , and
std::cout << "Enter amount: ";
that number will get stored in tip .
std::cin >> tip;

Variables

A variable refers to a storage location in the computer’s // Declare a variable

memory that one can set aside to save, retrieve, and
int score;
manipulate data.

// Initialize a variable
score = 0;

Arithmetic Operators

C++ supports different types of arithmetic operators that int x = 0;

can perform common mathematical operations:
+ addition
- subtraction x = 4 + 2; // x is now 6
* multiplication x = 4 - 2; // x is now 2
/ division x = 4 * 2; // x is now 8
% modulo (yields the remainder)
x = 4 / 2; // x is now 2
x = 4 % 2; // x is now 0

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double Type

double is a type for storing floating point (decimal) double price = 8.99;
numbers. Double variables typically require 8 bytes of
double pi = 3.14159;
memory space.

Chaining the Output

std::cout can output multiple values by chaining them int age = 28;
using the output operator << .
Here, the output would be I'm 28.
std::cout << "I'm " << age << ".\n";

References and Pointers

C++ provides two powerful features for memory int year = 2021;
manipulation:
References: aliases to existing variables
Pointers: store memory address as its value int &ref = year;
Reference variables are created using the & symbol.
& is also used to access the memory address of a
int *ptr = &year;
variable.
Pointer variables are created using the * symbol. * is
also used to obtain the value pointed to by a pointer std::cout << &year << "\n";
variable.

std::cout << *ptr << "\n";

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Input and Output

Input and output make C++ programs more interactive. #include <iostream>
#include <iostream> must be placed at the
beginning of the program to access input and
output. int main() {
std::cout is the “character output” and it is used int age;
together with << to print to the terminal.
std::cout << "How old are you? ";
std::cin is the “character input” and it is used
std::cin >> age;
together with >> to read user input.
std::endl or \n can be used to insert a new std::cout << "You are " << age << "
line. years old.";

return 0;
}

Variables

Variables are used to store and retrieve data. When int number = 100;
declaring a variable, it must be given a data type and a
name.
Multiple variables of the same type can be declared in a char letter;
single statement using a comma-separated list. letter = 'c';
Variables can be declared with the const keyword,
which prevents their value from being changed later.
const int pi = 3.14;

Program Structure

C++ programs run line by line and generally follow the #include <iostream>
same program structure:
using namespace std;
#include statements at the beginning of the
program, which allow access to library
functionalities. int main() {
main() function, which is run when the program
cout << "Hello, world!";
is executed.
return 0 at the end of the main() function, return 0;
which indicates that the program ran without }
issues.

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Comments

Comments are notes left by the programmer that explain // I am a single-line comment
complex code. Comments do not affect the performance
of a program because they are ignored by the compiler.
In C++, there are two types of comments: /*
Single-line: begin with // . I am a
Multi-line: begin with /* and end with */ .
multi-line
As a rule of thumb, comments should always go above
the code they are commenting on. comment
*/

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