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C++ Basic

C++ is a middle-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup that supports various programming paradigms, including procedural and object-oriented programming. This tutorial is designed for beginners to help them understand both basic and advanced concepts of C++. It covers a wide range of topics from syntax and data types to advanced features like templates and multithreading.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
3 views336 pages

C++ Basic

C++ is a middle-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup that supports various programming paradigms, including procedural and object-oriented programming. This tutorial is designed for beginners to help them understand both basic and advanced concepts of C++. It covers a wide range of topics from syntax and data types to advanced features like templates and multithreading.

Uploaded by

kshiprapandey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 336

About theTutorial

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 basicsof
computer program andcomputer programming language.
Copyright&Disclaimer
Copyright2014byTutorialsPoint(I)Pvt.Ltd.
All the content and graphics published in this e-book are the property
ofTutorialsPoint(I) Pvt.Ltd.Theuserofthise-bookisprohibitedtoreuse,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]

TableofContents

AbouttheTutorial................................................................................................................................... i

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

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

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

TableofContents.................................................................................................................................... i

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

Object-OrientedProgramming............................................................................................................... 1

StandardLibraries................................................................................................................................. 1

TheANSIStandard................................................................................................................................. 1

LearningC++.......................................................................................................................................... 2

UseofC++.............................................................................................................................................. 2

2. ENVIORNMENTSETUP.............................................................................3

TryitOptionOnline................................................................................................................................. 3

LocalEnvironmentSetup........................................................................................................................ 3

InstallingGNUC/C++Compiler................................................................................................................ 4

3. BASICSYNTAX........................................................................................6

C++ProgramStructure........................................................................................................................... 6

Compile&ExecuteC++Program.............................................................................................................. 7

Semicolons&Blocksin C++..................................................................................................................... 7

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

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

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

WhitespaceinC++................................................................................................................................ 10

4. COMMENTSIN C++
.............................................................................................................
11

5. DATATYPES..........................................................................................13

PrimitiveBuilt-inTypes......................................................................................................................... 13

ii
typedefDeclarations............................................................................................................................ 15

EnumeratedTypes............................................................................................................................... 16

6. VARIABLETYPES...................................................................................17

VariableDefinitioninC++...................................................................................................................... 17

VariableDeclarationinC++.................................................................................................................... 18

LvaluesandRvalues.............................................................................................................................. 20

7. VARIABLESCOPE..................................................................................21

LocalVariables..................................................................................................................................... 21

GlobalVariables.................................................................................................................................. 22

InitializingLocalandGlobalVariables..................................................................................................... 23

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

IntegerLiterals..................................................................................................................................... 24

Floating-pointLiterals.......................................................................................................................... 24

BooleanLiterals................................................................................................................................... 25

CharacterLiterals................................................................................................................................. 25

StringLiterals....................................................................................................................................... 26

DefiningConstants............................................................................................................................... 27

9. MODIFIERTYPES...................................................................................29

TypeQualifiersinC++............................................................................................................................ 30

10. STORAGECLASSES...............................................................................31

TheautoStorageClass........................................................................................................................... 31

TheregisterStorageClass...................................................................................................................... 31

ThestaticStorageClass......................................................................................................................... 31

TheexternStorageClass........................................................................................................................ 33

ThemutableStorageClass..................................................................................................................... 34

iii
11. OPERATORS.........................................................................................35
ArithmeticOperators........................................................................................................................... 35

RelationalOperators............................................................................................................................ 37

LogicalOperators................................................................................................................................. 40

BitwiseOperators................................................................................................................................ 41

AssignmentOperators.......................................................................................................................... 44

MiscOperators.................................................................................................................................... 47

OperatorsPrecedenceinC++................................................................................................................. 48

12. LOOPTYPES..........................................................................................51

WhileLoop.......................................................................................................................................... 52

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

do…whileLoop...............................................................................................................................................56

nestedLoops....................................................................................................................................... 58

LoopControlStatements...................................................................................................................... 60

BreakStatement.................................................................................................................................. 61

continueStatement............................................................................................................................. 63

gotoStatement.................................................................................................................................... 65

TheInfiniteLoop.................................................................................................................................. 67

13. DECISION-MAKINGSTATEMENTS...........................................................69

IfStatement........................................................................................................................................ 70

if…elseStatement..........................................................................................................................................72

if...elseif...elseStatement.................................................................................................................... 73

SwitchStatement................................................................................................................................ 75

NestedifStatement.............................................................................................................................. 78

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

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

iv
DefiningaFunction............................................................................................................................... 82

FunctionDeclarations.......................................................................................................................... 83

CallingaFunction................................................................................................................................. 84

FunctionArguments............................................................................................................................ 85

CallbyValue......................................................................................................................................... 86

CallbyPointer...................................................................................................................................... 87

CallbyReference.................................................................................................................................. 89

DefaultValuesforParameters............................................................................................................... 90

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

DefiningNumbersinC++....................................................................................................................... 93

MathOperationsin C++........................................................................................................................ 94

RandomNumbersinC++....................................................................................................................... 96

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

DeclaringArrays.................................................................................................................................. 98

InitializingArrays................................................................................................................................. 98

AccessingArrayElements..................................................................................................................... 99

Arraysin C++...................................................................................................................................... 100

PointertoanArray.............................................................................................................................. 103

PassingArraystoFunctions................................................................................................................. 105

ReturnArrayfromFunctions................................................................................................................ 107

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

TheC-StyleCharacterString................................................................................................................. 111

TheStringClassinC++.......................................................................................................................... 114

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

WhatarePointers?............................................................................................................................. 116

UsingPointersinC++........................................................................................................................... 117

v
Pointersin C++................................................................................................................................... 118
NullPointers...................................................................................................................................... 119

PointerArithmetic............................................................................................................................. 120

PointersvsArrays............................................................................................................................... 124

ArrayofPointers................................................................................................................................ 126

PointertoaPointer............................................................................................................................. 128

PassingPointerstoFunctions............................................................................................................... 130

ReturnPointerfromFunctions............................................................................................................. 132

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

ReferencesvsPointers........................................................................................................................ 135

CreatingReferencesinC++.................................................................................................................. 135

ReferencesasParameters................................................................................................................... 137

ReferenceasReturnValue................................................................................................................... 138

20. DATEANDTIME....................................................................................141

CurrentDateandTime........................................................................................................................ 142

FormatTimeusingstructtm................................................................................................................. 143

21. BASICINPUT/OUTPUT..........................................................................145

I/OLibraryHeaderFiles....................................................................................................................... 145

TheStandardOutputStream(cout)...................................................................................................... 145

TheStandardInputStream(cin)........................................................................................................... 146

TheStandardErrorStream(cerr).......................................................................................................... 147

TheStandardLogStream(clog)............................................................................................................ 148

22. DATASTRUCTURES
............................................................................................................
149

DefiningaStructure............................................................................................................................ 149

vi
AccessingStructureMembers............................................................................................................. 150

vii
StructuresasFunctionArguments........................................................................................................ 151

PointerstoStructures......................................................................................................................... 153

ThetypedefKeyword.......................................................................................................................... 155

23. CLASSESANDOBJECTS........................................................................157

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

DefineC++Objects.............................................................................................................................. 157

AccessingtheDataMembers............................................................................................................... 158

Classes&Objectsin Detail................................................................................................................... 159

ClassAccessModifiers........................................................................................................................ 163

ThepublicMembers........................................................................................................................... 164

TheprivateMembers.......................................................................................................................... 165

TheprotectedMembers..................................................................................................................... 167

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

ParameterizedConstructor................................................................................................................. 170

TheClassDestructor........................................................................................................................... 173

CopyConstructor............................................................................................................................... 174

FriendFunctions................................................................................................................................ 179

InlineFunctions................................................................................................................................. 181

thisPointer........................................................................................................................................ 182

PointertoC++Classes.......................................................................................................................... 184

StaticMembersofa Class.................................................................................................................... 185

StaticFunctionMembers.................................................................................................................... 187

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

Base&DerivedClasses........................................................................................................................ 190

viii
AccessControlandInheritance............................................................................................................ 192

ix
TypeofInheritance............................................................................................................................. 192

MultipleInheritance.......................................................................................................................... 193

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

FunctionOverloadinginC++................................................................................................................ 196

OperatorsOverloadinginC++.............................................................................................................. 197

Overloadable/Non-overloadableOperators........................................................................................200

OperatorOverloadingExamples......................................................................................................... 201

UnaryOperatorsOverloading............................................................................................................. 201

Increment(++)andDecrement(--)Operators........................................................................................203

BinaryOperatorsOverloading............................................................................................................. 205

RelationalOperatorsOverloading....................................................................................................... 208

Input/OutputOperatorsOverloading................................................................................................... 210

++and--OperatorsOverloading........................................................................................................... 212

AssignmentOperatorsOverloading..................................................................................................... 214

FunctionCall()OperatorOverloading................................................................................................... 215

Subscripting[]OperatorOverloading................................................................................................... 217

ClassMemberAccessOperator->Overloading......................................................................................219

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

VirtualFunction................................................................................................................................. 226

PureVirtualFunctions......................................................................................................................... 226

27. DATAABSTRACTION...........................................................................227

AccessLabelsEnforceAbstraction........................................................................................................ 228

BenefitsofDataAbstraction................................................................................................................ 228

DataAbstractionExample................................................................................................................... 228

DesigningStrategy............................................................................................................................. 230

28. DATAENCAPSULATION.......................................................................231
x
DataEncapsulationExample...................................................................................................................... 232

DesigningStrategy.................................................................................................................................... 233

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

AbstractClassExample.............................................................................................................................. 234

DesigningStrategy.................................................................................................................................... 236

30. FILESANDSTREAMS............................................................................238

Openinga File........................................................................................................................................... 238

ClosingaFile............................................................................................................................................. 239

Writingtoa File......................................................................................................................................... 239

Readingfroma File.................................................................................................................................... 239

Read&WriteExample............................................................................................................................... 240

FilePositionPointers................................................................................................................................. 242

31................................................................................EXCEPTIONHANDLING
............................................................................................................243

ThrowingExceptions................................................................................................................................. 244

CatchingExceptions.................................................................................................................................. 244

C++StandardExceptions........................................................................................................................... 246

DefineNewExceptions.............................................................................................................................. 247

32. DYNAMICMEMORY..............................................................................249

ThenewanddeleteOperators.................................................................................................................... 249

DynamicMemoryAllocationforArrays....................................................................................................... 251

DynamicMemoryAllocationforObjects..................................................................................................... 251

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

xi
DefiningaNamespace............................................................................................................................... 253

Theusingdirective.................................................................................................................................... 254

xii
DiscontiguousNamespaces................................................................................................................. 256

NestedNamespaces........................................................................................................................... 256

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

FunctionTemplate............................................................................................................................. 258

ClassTemplate................................................................................................................................... 259

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

The#definePreprocessor.................................................................................................................... 263

Function-LikeMacros......................................................................................................................... 264

ConditionalCompilation..................................................................................................................... 264

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

PredefinedC++Macros....................................................................................................................... 268

36. SIGNALHANDLING..............................................................................270

Thesignal()Function........................................................................................................................... 270

Theraise()Function............................................................................................................................ 272

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

CreatingThreads................................................................................................................................ 274

TerminatingThreads.......................................................................................................................... 275

PassingArgumentstoThreads............................................................................................................. 277

JoiningandDetachingThreads............................................................................................................. 278

38. WEBPROGRAMMING...........................................................................282

Whatis CGI?...................................................................................................................................... 282

WebBrowsing................................................................................................................................... 282

CGIArchitectureDiagram................................................................................................................... 282

WebServerConfiguration................................................................................................................... 283

FirstCGIProgram................................................................................................................................ 284

xiii
MyFirstCGIprogram........................................................................................................................... 284

HTTPHeader...................................................................................................................................... 285

CGIEnvironmentVariables................................................................................................................. 285

C++CGILibrary................................................................................................................................... 289

GETandPOSTMethods....................................................................................................................... 289

PassingInformationUsingGETMethod................................................................................................ 289

SimpleURLExample:GetMethod........................................................................................................ 290

SimpleFORMExample:GETMethod.................................................................................................... 291

PassingInformationUsingPOSTMethod.............................................................................................. 292

PassingCheckboxDatatoCGIProgram.................................................................................................. 292

PassingRadioButtonDatatoCGIProgram.............................................................................................294

PassingTextAreaDatatoCGIProgram.................................................................................................. 296

PassingDropdownBoxDatatoCGIProgram..........................................................................................298

UsingCookiesin CGI........................................................................................................................... 299

HowItWorks...................................................................................................................................... 299

SettingupCookies.............................................................................................................................. 300

RetrievingCookies.............................................................................................................................. 301

FileUploadExample........................................................................................................................... 303

39. STLTUTORIAL.....................................................................................306

40. STANDARDLIBRARY............................................................................309

TheStandardFunctionLibrary............................................................................................................. 309

TheObjectOrientedClassLibrary......................................................................................................... 309

xiv
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 amiddle-levellanguage, 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 checkingis
performed during compile-time as opposed to run-time.
Object-OrientedProgramming
C++ fully supports object-oriented programming, including the four pillars of
object-oriented development:
 Encapsulation
 Datahiding
 Inheritance
 Polymorphism
Standard Libraries
StandardC++consistsofthreeimportantparts:
 The core language giving all the building blocks including variables, data
types and literals, etc.
 TheC++StandardLibrarygiving a richset offunctions manipulating files,
strings, etc.
 TheStandardTemplateLibrary(STL)givingarichsetofmethods manipulating
data structures, etc.
TheANSIStandard
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.
C++

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

2. ENVIORNMENTSETUP

TryitOptionOnline

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 compileroption available at
http://www.compileonline.com/

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
cout<<"HelloWorld";
return 0;
}

For most of the examples given in this tutorial, you will findTry itoption 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.
LocalEnvironmentSetup

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

TextEditor:
Thiswillbeusedtotypeyourprogram.ExamplesoffeweditorsincludeWindows
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.
AtexteditorshouldbeinplacetostartyourC++programming.
C++

C++Compiler:
This is an actual C++ compiler, which will be used to compile your source code
into final executable program.
MostC++compilersdon'tcarewhatextensionyougive toyour sourcecode,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.
InstallingGNUC/C++Compiler:

UNIX/LinuxInstallation:
If you are usingLinux or UNIXthen check whether GCC is installed on your
system by entering the following command from the command line:

$g++-v

IfyouhaveinstalledGCC,thenitshouldprintamessagesuchasthe following:

Using built-in specs.


Target:i386-redhat-linux
Configuredwith:../configure--prefix=/usr.......
Threadmodel:posix
gccversion4.1.220080704(RedHat4.1.2-46)

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

MacOSXInstallation:
If you use Mac OS X, the easiest way to obtain GCC is to download the Xcode
developmentenvironmentfromApple'swebsiteandfollowthesimpleinstallation
instructions.
Xcodeiscurrentlyavailableatdeveloper.apple.com/technologies/tools/.

WindowsInstallation:
To install GCC at Windows you need to install MinGW. To install MinGW, go tothe
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.
C++

Add the bin subdirectory of your MinGW installation to yourPATHenvironment


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.
C++

3. BASICSYNTAX

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 lookinto
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.
 InstantVariables-Each object has its unique set of instant variables. An
object's state is created by the values assigned to these instant variables.
C++ProgramStructure:
LetuslookatasimplecodethatwouldprintthewordsHello World.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

//main()iswhereprogramexecutionbegins.

intmain()
{
cout<<"HelloWorld";//printsHelloWorld
return 0;
}

Letuslookatthe variouspartsoftheaboveprogram:

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


is either necessary or useful to your program. For this program, the header
<iostream>is needed.
2. The lineusing 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. Thelineintmain()isthemainfunctionwhereprogramexecutionbegins.

5. The next linecout <<"This is my first C++ program.";causes the


message "This is my first C++ program" to be displayed on the screen.
6. Thenext linereturn 0;terminates main() function and causes it to return
the value 0 to the calling process.
Compile&ExecuteC++Program:
Let'slookathowtosavethefile,compile andruntheprogram. Pleasefollowthe steps given
below:
1. Openatexteditorandaddthecodeas above.
2. Savethefileas:hello.cpp

3. Open a command prompt and go to the directory where you saved thefile.
4. Type 'g++hello.cpp' andpress entertocompile yourcode.Ifthereare no
errors in your code the command prompt will take you to the next lineand
would generate a.out executable file.
5. Now,type'a.out'torunyourprogram.
6. Youwillbeabletosee'HelloWorld'printedonthewindow.

$g++hello.cpp
$ ./a.out
HelloWorld

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&BlocksinC++
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.
Forexample,followingarethreedifferentstatements:

x=y;
y=y+1;

7
C++

add(x, y);

Ablockisasetoflogicallyconnectedstatementsthataresurroundedby opening and


closing braces. For example:

{
cout<<"HelloWorld";//printsHelloWorld
return 0;
}

C++ does not recognizetheend of thelineas 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);

isthesameas

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

C++Identifiers

AC++identifier isanameusedtoidentifyavariable,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 zeroor moreletters, underscores,and digits (0 to 9).

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


identifiers.C++isacase-sensitiveprogramminglanguage.
Thus,Manpowerandmanpowerare two different identifiers in C++.
Herearesomeexamplesofacceptableidentifiers:

mohd zara abc move_name a_123


myname50 _temp j a23b9 retVa
l
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.
Followingaremostfrequentlyusedtrigraphsequences:

Trigraph Replacement

9
C++

??= #

??/ \

??' ^

??( [

??) ]

??! |

??< {

??> }

??- ~

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

intage;

Intheabovestatementtheremustbeatleastonewhitespacecharacter(usually a
space) between int and age for the compiler to be able to distinguish them.
Statement 2:

fruit=apples+ oranges; //Getthetotalfruit

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. COMMENTSINC++

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 availableinside
any comment are ignored by C++ compiler.
C++commentsstartwith/*andendwith */.Forexample:

/*Thisisacomment*/

/*C++commentscanalso
*spanmultiplelines
*/

Acommentcanalsostartwith//,extendingtotheendoftheline.Forexample:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

main()
{
cout<<"HelloWorld";//printsHelloWorld

return0;
}

Whentheabovecode iscompiled, itwillignore// prints Hello World andfinal


executable will produce the following result:

HelloWorld

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:

/*CommentoutprintingofHelloWorld:

11
C++

cout<<"HelloWorld";//printsHelloWorld

*/

12
C++

5. DATATYPES

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.
PrimitiveBuilt-inTypes

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

Floatingpoint float

Doublefloatingpoint double

Valueless void

Widecharacter 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 TypicalBitWidth TypicalRange

char 1byte -127to127or0to 255

unsignedchar 1byte 0to255

signedchar 1byte -127to127

int 4bytes -2147483648to2147483647

unsignedint 4bytes 0to4294967295

signedint 4bytes -2147483648to2147483647

shortint 2bytes -32768to32767

unsignedshortint Range 0to65,535

signedshortint Range -32768to32767

long int 4bytes -2,147,483,647to2,147,483,647

signedlongint 4bytes sameaslongint

unsignedlongint 4bytes 0to4,294,967,295

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

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

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

wchar_t 2or4 bytes 1widecharacter

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++

Followingistheexample, which will producecorrect sizeof various data types on


your computer.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
cout<<"Sizeofchar:"<<sizeof(char)<<endl; cout
<<"Size of int : "<< sizeof(int) << endl;
cout<<"Sizeofshortint:"<<sizeof(shortint)<<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<<"Sizeofwchar_t:"<<sizeof(wchar_t)<<endl;
return 0;
}
Thisexampleusesendl,whichinsertsanew-linecharacteraftereverylineand
<<operator is being usedtopassmultiple values outto the screen.We are also
usingsizeof()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:

Sizeofchar:1
Size of int : 4
Sizeofshortint:2
Size of long int :
4 Size of float : 4
Size of double : 8
Size of wchar_t : 4

typedefDeclarations

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

typedeftypenewname;

Forexample,thefollowingtellsthecompilerthatfeetisanothernamefor int:

15
C++

typedefintfeet;

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

feetdistance;

EnumeratedTypes

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 keywordenum. The general
form of an enumeration type is:

enumenum-name{listofnames}var-list;

Here,theenum-nameistheenumeration'stypename.Thelistofnamesis comma
separated.
For example, the following code defines an enumeration of colors called
colorsand the variable c of type color. Finally, c is assigned the value "blue".

enumcolor{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
valuebyaddinganinitializer.Forexample,inthefollowing enumeration,green will
have the value 5.

enumcolor{red,green=5,blue};

Here,bluewillhaveavalueof6becauseeachnamewillbeonegreaterthan the one that


precedes it.

16
C++

6. VARIABLETYPES

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 layoutof
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:
TherearefollowingbasictypesofvariableinC++asexplainedinlast chapter:

Type Description

bool Storeseithervaluetrueorfalse.

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


integertype.

int Themostnaturalsize ofintegerforthe machine.

float Asingle-precisionfloatingpointvalue.

double Adouble-precisionfloatingpointvalue.

void Representstheabsenceoftype.

wchar_t Awidecharactertype.

C++also allowstodefinevariousothertypes ofvariables,which wewillcover in


subsequent chapters likeEnumeration, Pointer, Array, Reference, Data
structures, and Classes.
Following section will cover how to define, declare and use various types of
variables.
VariableDefinitioninC++

Avariabledefinition tellsthecompilerwhereandhowmuchstoragetocreatefor the


variable. Avariabledefinitionspecifies adata type, andcontains a list of one or
more variables of that type as follows:

17
C++

typevariable_list;

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

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

Thelineinti,j,k;bothdeclaresanddefinesthevariablesi,jandk;which instructs the


compiler to create variables named i, j and k of type int.
Variablescanbeinitialized(assignedaninitialvalue)intheirdeclaration.The initializer
consists of an equal sign followed by a constant expression as follows:

typevariable_name=value;

Someexamplesare:

externintd=3,f=5; //declarationofdand f.
intd= 3,f=5; //definitionandinitializingdandf.
byte z = 22; charx='x'; //definitionandinitializesz.
//thevariablexhasthevalue'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.
VariableDeclarationinC++

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 useexternkeyword 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:
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>
usingnamespacestd;

//Variabledeclaration:
extern int a, b;
extern int c;
externfloatf;

intmain()
{
//Variabledefinition:
int a, b;
int c;
floatf;

//actualinitialization
a= 10;
b= 20;
c= a +b;

cout<<c<<endl;

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

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

30
23.3333
C++

Same concept applies on function declaration where you provide a functionname


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

//functiondeclaration
int func();

intmain()
{
//functioncall
int i = func();
}

//functiondefinition
int func()
{
return0;
}

LvaluesandRvalues
TherearetwokindsofexpressionsinC++:

 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:

intg= 20;

Butthefollowingisnotavalidstatementandwouldgeneratecompile-time error:

10 =20;
C++

7. VARIABLESCOPE

A scope is a region of the program and broadly speaking there are three places,
where variables can be declared:
 Insideafunctionorablockwhichiscalled localvariables,
 Inthedefinitionoffunctionparameterswhichiscalledformalparameters.
 Outsideofallfunctionswhichiscalledglobalvariables.
We willlearnwhatafunction is, and it'sparameterinsubsequentchapters.Here let us
explain what local and global variables are.
LocalVariables

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>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int a, b;
intc;

//actualinitialization
a= 10;
b= 20;
c= a +b;

cout<<c;

return0;
}

21
C++

GlobalVariables

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>
usingnamespacestd;

//Globalvariabledeclaration:
int g;

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int a, b;

//actualinitialization
a= 10;
b= 20;
g= a +b;

cout<<g;

return0;
}

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>
usingnamespacestd;

//Globalvariabledeclaration:
int g = 20;

22
C++

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int g = 10;

cout<<g;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

10

InitializingLocalandGlobalVariables

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:

DataType 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.
IntegerLiterals

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


specifiesthebaseorradix:0xor0Xforhexadecimal,0foroctal, andnothingfor 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.
Herearesomeexamplesofinteger literals:

212 // Legal
215u // Legal
0xFeeL // Legal
078 // Illegal:8isnotanoctal digit
032UU // Illegal:cannotrepeatasuffix

FollowingareotherexamplesofvarioustypesofIntegerliterals:

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

Floating-pointLiterals

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.
Herearesomeexamplesoffloating-pointliterals:

3.14159 //Legal
314159E-5L //Legal
510E //Illegal:incompleteexponent
210f //Illegal:nodecimalorexponent
.e55 //Illegal:missingintegerorfraction

BooleanLiterals
TherearetwoBooleanliteralsandtheyarepartofstandardC++keywords:
 Avalueoftruerepresentingtrue.
 Avalueoffalserepresentingfalse.
You should not consider the value of true equal to 1 and value of false equal to0.
CharacterLiterals

Character literals are enclosed in single quotes. If the literal begins with L
(uppercaseonly),itisawidecharacterliteral(e.g.,L'x')andshouldbestored
inwchar_ttype of variable. Otherwise, it is a narrow character literal (e.g., 'x')
and can be stored in a simple variable of chartype.

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 backslashthey
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:

Escapesequence Meaning

\\ \ character

\' 'character

\" "character

\? ?character

25
C++

\a Alertorbell

\b Backspace

\f Formfeed

\n Newline

\r Carriagereturn

\t Horizontaltab

\v Verticaltab

\ooo Octalnumberofonetothreedigits

\xhh.. . Hexadecimalnumberofoneormoredigits

Followingistheexampletoshowafewescapesequencecharacters:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

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

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Hello World

StringLiterals

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++

Youcanbreakalonglineintomultiplelinesusingstringliteralsandseparate them using


whitespaces.
Herearesomeexamplesofstringliterals.Allthethreeformsareidenticalstrings.

"hello,dear"

"hello,\

dear"

"hello,""d""ear"

DefiningConstants
TherearetwosimplewaysinC++todefineconstants:
 Using#definepreprocessor.
 Usingconstkeyword.

The#definePreprocessor
Followingistheformtouse#definepreprocessortodefineaconstant:

#defineidentifiervalue

Followingexampleexplainsitindetail:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

#defineLENGTH10
#define WIDTH5
#defineNEWLINE'\n'

intmain()
{

intarea;

area=LENGTH* WIDTH;

27
C++

cout << area;


cout<<NEWLINE;
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

50

TheconstKeyword
Youcanuseconstprefixtodeclareconstantswithaspecifictypeasfollows:

consttypevariable=value;

Followingexampleexplainsitindetail:

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
constint constint
LENGTH=10;
WIDTH = 5;
constcharNEWLINE='\n';
intarea;

area=LENGTH* WIDTH;
cout << area; cout<<NEWLINE;
return0;

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

50

NotethatitisagoodprogrammingpracticetodefineconstantsinCAPITALS.

28
C++

9. MODIFIERTYPES

C++ allows thechar,int,anddoubledata 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.
Thedatatypemodifiersarelistedhere:
 signed
 unsigned
 long
 short
Themodifierssigned, unsigned, long,andshortcanbeappliedtointegerbase
types.Inaddition,signedandunsignedcanbeappliedtochar,andlongcan be
applied to double.
Themodifierssignedandunsignedcanalsobeusedasprefix
tolongorshortmodifiers. For example,unsigned long int.
C++allowsashorthandnotationfordeclaringunsigned, short,orlongintegers. You
can simply use the wordunsigned,short,orlong, without int. It automatically
implies int. For example, the following two statements both declare unsigned
integer variables.

unsigned x;
unsignedinty;

Tounderstandthedifferencebetweenthewaysignedandunsignedinteger modifiers
are interpreted by C++, you should run the following short program:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

/*Thisprogramshowsthedifferencebetween
*signedandunsignedintegers.
*/
intmain()
{
short int i; // a signed short integer
shortunsignedintj;//anunsignedshortinteger

29
C++

j= 50000;

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

return0;
}

Whenthisprogramis run,followingistheoutput:

-1553650000

Theaboveresultisbecausethebitpatternthatrepresents50,000asashort unsigned
integer is interpreted as -15,536 by a short.
TypeQualifiersinC++

Thetypequalifiersprovideadditionalinformationaboutthevariablesthey precede.

Qualifier Meaning

const Objects of typeconstcannot be changed by your program during


execution

volatile The modifiervolatiletells the compiler that a variable's value may


be changed in ways not explicitly specified by the program.

restrict A pointer qualified byrestrictis 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. STORAGECLASSES

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
TheautoStorageClass
Theautostorageclassisthedefaultstorageclassforalllocalvariables.

{
intmount;
autointmonth;
}

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

{
registerintmiles;
}

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.
ThestaticStorageClass

31
C++

Thestaticstorage 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>

//Functiondeclaration
void func(void);

staticintcount=10;/*Globalvariable */

main()
{
while(count--)
{
func();
}
return0;
}
//Functiondefinition
void func( void )
{
staticinti=5;//localstaticvariable i++;
std::cout<<"iis"<<i;
std::cout<<"andcountis"<<count<< std::endl;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

iis6andcountis9
iis7andcountis8

32
C++

iis8andcountis7 iis9andcountis6

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

TheexternStorageClass

Theexternstorage 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, thenexternwill be used in another file to give
reference ofdefinedvariable orfunction.Justforunderstandingexternisusedto
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.

FirstFile:main.cpp
#include<iostream>

intcount;
externvoidwrite_extern();

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

SecondFile:support.cpp
#include<iostream>

33
C++

externintcount;

voidwrite_extern(void)
{
std::cout<<"Countis"<<count<<std::endl;
}

Here,externkeyword is being used to declare count in another file. Now compile


these two files as follows:

$g++main.cppsupport.cpp-owrite

This will producewriteexecutable program, try to executewriteand check the


result as follows:

$./
write 5

ThemutableStorage Class

Themutablespecifier 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:
 ArithmeticOperators
 RelationalOperators
 LogicalOperators
 BitwiseOperators
 AssignmentOperators
 MiscOperators
This chapter will examine the arithmetic, relational, logical, bitwise, assignment
and other operators one by one.
ArithmeticOperators
TherearefollowingarithmeticoperatorssupportedbyC++language:
Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then:

Operator Description Example

+ Addstwooperands A +Bwillgive 30

- Subtractssecondoperandfrom the A -Bwillgive-10


first

* Multipliesbothoperands A *Bwillgive 200

/ Divides numerator by de- B /Awillgive2


numerator

% Modulus Operator and B%Awillgive0


remainder of after an integer
division

35
C++

++ Increment operator, increases A++willgive11


integer value by one

-- Decrementoperator,decreases A--willgive9
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>
usingnamespacestd;

main()
{
inta=21; intb=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<<"Line6 -Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl; c = a--;
cout<<"Line7-Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl;
return0;

36
C++

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

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

RelationalOperators
TherearefollowingrelationaloperatorssupportedbyC++language
Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then:

Operator Description Example

== Checks if the values of two (A ==B)isnottrue.


operands are equal or not, ifyes
then condition becomes true.

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


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

> Checks if the value of left (A >B)isnottrue.


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

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


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

>= Checks if the value of left (A >=B)isnottrue.

37
C++

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

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


operand is less than or equal to
the value of right operand, ifyes
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>
usingnamespacestd;

main()
{
inta=21;
intb=10;
int c ;

if(a==b)
{
cout<<"Line1-aisequaltob"<<endl;
}
else
{
cout<<"Line1 -aisnotequaltob"<<endl;
}
if(a<b)
{
cout<<"Line2 -aislessthanb"<<endl;

38
C++

}
else
{
cout<<"Line2 -aisnotlessthanb"<<endl;
}
if(a>b)
{
cout<<"Line3 -aisgreaterthanb"<<endl;
}
else
{
cout<<"Line3 -aisnotgreaterthanb"<<endl;
}
/*Let'schangethevaluesofaandb*/
a=5;
b=20;
if(a<=b)
{
cout<<"Line4-aiseitherlessthan\
orequaltob"<<endl;
}
if(b>=a)
{
cout<<"Line5 -biseithergreaterthan\
orequaltob"<<endl;
}
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Line 1 - a is not equal to b


Line2-aisnotlessthanb Line 3
- a is greater than b
Line4-aiseitherlessthanorequaltob

39
C++

Line5-biseithergreaterthanorequaltob

LogicalOperators
TherearefollowinglogicaloperatorssupportedbyC++language. Assume
variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then:

Operator Description Example

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


boththeoperandsarenon-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)istrue.


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

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

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

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

40
C++

if(a&&b)
{
cout<<"Line1-Conditionistrue"<<endl;
}
if(a||b)
{
cout<<"Line2-Conditionistrue"<<endl;
}
/*Let'schangethevaluesofaandb*/
a=0;
b=10;
if(a&&b)
{
cout<<"Line3-Conditionistrue"<<endl;
}
else
{
cout<<"Line4-Conditionisnottrue"<<endl;
}
if(!(a&&b))
{
cout<<"Line5 -Conditionistrue"<<endl;
}
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Line 1 - Condition is true


Line 2 - Condition is true
Line4-Conditionisnottrue
Line 5 - Condition is true

BitwiseOperators

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

AssumeifA=60;andB=13;nowinbinaryformattheywillbe as follows:
A=00111100
B=00001101

A&B=0000 1100
A|B=0011 1101
A^B=00110001
~A=11000011

TheBitwiseoperatorssupportedbyC++languagearelistedinthefollowing table.
Assume variable A holds 60 and variable B holds 13, then:

Operator Description Example

& Binary AND Operator copies a (A&B)willgive12whichis 0000


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

| Binary OR Operator copies a bit (A|B)willgive61whichis0011 1101


if it exists in either operand.

^ Binary XOR Operator copies the (A^B)willgive49whichis 0011


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

42
C++

~ Binary Ones Complement (~A ) will give -61 which is1100


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

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The A<<2willgive240whichis 1111


left operands value is movedleft 0000
by the number of bits specified
by the right operand.

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The A>>2willgive15whichis 0000


left operands value is moved 1111
right by the number of bits
specified by the right operand.

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

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

main()
{
unsignedinta=60; unsignedintb=13; int c = 0;
//60=00111100
//13=00001101

c=a&b; //12=00001100
cout<<"Line1-Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl;

c=a|b; //61=00111101
cout<<"Line2 -Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl;

c=a^b; //49=00110001
cout<<"Line3 -Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl;

43
C++

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


cout<<"Line4 -Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl;

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


cout<<"Line5 -Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl;

c=a>>2; //15=00001111
cout<<"Line6-Valueofcis:"<<c<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Line1-Valueofcis:12 Line
2 - Value of c is: 61
Line 3 - Value of c is:
49 Line4-Valueofcis:-61
Line5-Valueofcis:240 Line
6 - Value of c is: 15

AssignmentOperators
TherearefollowingassignmentoperatorssupportedbyC++language:

Operator Description Example

= Simple assignment operator, C=A+BwillassignvalueofA


Assigns values from right side +BintoC
operands to left side operand.

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


It adds right operand to the left A
operandandassigntheresultto
left operand.

44
C++

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


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

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


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

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


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

%= Modulus AND assignment C%=AisequivalenttoC=C


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

<<= Left shift AND assignment C<<=2issameas C=C<<2


operator.

>>= Right shift AND assignment C>>=2issameas C=C>>2


operator.

&= Bitwise AND assignment C&=2issame asC=C&2


operator.

^= Bitwise exclusive OR and C^=2issameasC=C^2


assignment operator.

|= Bitwise inclusive OR and C|=2issame asC=C| 2


assignment operator.

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

45
C++

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

#include
<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

main()
{
inta =21;
intc ;

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

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

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

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

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

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

c<<= 2;
46
C++
cout<<"Line7-<<=Operator,Valueofc=:"<<c<<endl;

c>>=2;
cout<<"Line8->>=Operator,Valueofc=:"<<c<<endl;

47
C++

c&=2;
cout<<"Line9 -&=Operator,Valueofc=:"<<c<<endl;

c^=2;
cout<<"Line10-^=Operator,Valueofc=:"<<c<<endl;

c|=2;
cout<<"Line11-|=Operator,Valueofc=:"<<c<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

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
Line7-<<=Operator,Valueofc=:44 Line8->>=Operator,Valueofc=:11 Line 9 - &= Operat

MiscOperators
ThefollowingtablelistssomeotheroperatorsthatC++supports.

Operator Description

sizeof sizeof operatorreturns the size of a variable. For


example,sizeof(a),where‘a’is integer,andwillreturn 4.

48
C++

Condition?X:Y Conditionaloperator(?).IfConditionistruethenit returns


value of X otherwise returns value of Y.

, Comma operatorcauses 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) Memberoperatorsareusedtoreferenceindividual
members of classes, structures, and unions.

Cast Castingoperatorsconvertonedatatypetoanother. 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.

* Pointeroperator*ispointertoavariable.For example
*var;willpointertoavariablevar.

OperatorsPrecedenceinC++
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 ()[] ->.++- - Lefttoright

Unary +-!~++-- (type)*&sizeof Righttoleft

Multiplicative */ % Lefttoright

49
C++

Additive +- Lefttoright

Shift <<>> Lefttoright

Relational <<=>>= Lefttoright

Equality == != Lefttoright

BitwiseAND & Lefttoright

BitwiseXOR ^ Lefttoright

BitwiseOR | Lefttoright

LogicalAND && Lefttoright

LogicalOR || Lefttoright

Conditional ?: Righttoleft

Assignment =+=-=*=/=%=>>=<<=&=^=|= Righttoleft

Comma , Lefttoright

Trythefollowingexampletounderstandoperator’sprecedenceconceptavailable 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>
usingnamespacestd;

main()
{
inta=20;

50
C++

intb=10;
intc=15; int d = 5; int e;

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

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

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

e=a+(b*c)/d; //20+ (150/5)


cout<<"Valueofa+(b*c)/dis:"<<e<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

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

51
12.LOOPTYPES C++

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.

LoopType 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.

forloop Execute a sequence of statements multiple times and


abbreviates the code that manages the loop variable.

52
C++

do...whileloop Likea‘while’statement,exceptthatitteststhe condition at


the end of the loop body.

nestedloops Youcanuseoneormoreloopinsideanyanother‘while’, ‘for’


or ‘do..while’ loop.

WhileLoop
Awhileloopstatementrepeatedlyexecutesatargetstatementaslongasa given
condition is true.

Syntax
Thesyntaxofawhile loopinC++is:

while(condition)
{
statement(s);
}

Here,statement(s)maybeasinglestatementorablockofstatements.
Theconditionmay 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
C++

Here, key point of thewhileloop is that the loop might not ever run. When the
condition is tested and the result is false, the loop body will be skipped and the
first statement after the while loop will be executed.

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int a = 10;

//whileloopexecution
while( a < 20 )
{
cout<<"valueofa:"<<a<<endl; a++;
}
C++

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:15
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
valueofa:19

forLoop

Aforloopisarepetitioncontrolstructurethatallowsyoutoefficientlywritea loop that


needs to execute a specific number of times.

Syntax
ThesyntaxofaforloopinC++is:

for(init;condition;increment)
{
statement(s);
}

Hereistheflowofcontrolinafor loop:

1. Theinitstep is executed first, and only once. This step allows you to
declare and initialize any loop control variables. You are not required to
put a statement here, as long as a semicolon appears.
2. Next, theconditionis evaluated. If it is true, the body of the loop is
executed. If it is false, the body of the loop does not execute and flow of
control jumps to the next statement just after the for loop.
3. After the body of the for loop executes, the flow of control jumps back up
totheincrementstatement.Thisstatementallowsyoutoupdateany
C++

loopcontrolvariables.Thisstatementcanbeleftblank,aslongasa semicolon
appears after the condition.
4. The condition is now evaluated again. If it is true, the loop executes and
the process repeats itself (body of loop, then increment step, and then
again condition). After the condition becomes false, the for loop
terminates.

Flow Diagram

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//forloopexecution
for(inta=10;a<20;a=a+1 )
C++

{
cout<<"valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
}

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:15
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
valueofa:19

do…whileLoop

Unlikeforandwhileloops, which test the loop condition at the top of the loop, the
do...whileloop checks its condition at the bottom of the loop.
Ado...whileloopissimilartoawhileloop,exceptthatado...whileloopis guaranteed to
execute at least one time.

Syntax
Thesyntaxofado...whileloopinC++is:

do
{
statement(s);
}while(condition);

Noticethattheconditionalexpressionappearsattheendoftheloop,sothe statement(s)
in the loop execute once before the condition is tested.
C++

If the condition is true, the flow of control jumps back up to do, and the
statement(s) in the loop execute again. This process repeats until the given
condition becomes false.

Flow Diagram

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int a = 10;

//doloopexecution
do
{
cout<<"valueofa:"<<a<<endl; a = a
+ 1;
}while(a<20);

return0;
C++

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:15
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
valueofa:19

nestedLoops

Aloopcanbenestedinsideofanotherloop.C++allowsatleast256levelsof nesting.

Syntax
ThesyntaxforanestedforloopstatementinC++isasfollows:

for(init;condition;increment)
{
for(init;condition;increment)
{
statement(s);
}
statement(s);//youcanputmorestatements.
}

ThesyntaxforanestedwhileloopstatementinC++isasfollows:

while(condition)
{
while(condition)
{
statement(s);
C++

}
statement(s);//youcanputmorestatements.
}

Thesyntaxforanesteddo...whileloopstatementinC++ isas follows:

do
{
statement(s);//youcanputmorestatements. do
{
statement(s);
}while(condition);

}while(condition);

Example
The following program uses a nested for loop to find the prime numbers from 2
to 100:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
inti,j;

for(i=2; i<100; i++)


{ for(j=2;j<=(i/j);j++)
if(!(i%j))break;//iffactorfound,notprime
if(j > (i/j)) cout << i <<" is prime\n";
}
return0;
}

Thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:
C++

2 is prime
3 is prime
5 is prime
7 is prime
1 is prime
1
1 is prime
3
1 is prime
7
1 is prime
9
2 is prime
3
2 is prime
9
3 is prime
1
3 is prime
7
4 is prime
1
4 is prime
3
4 is prime
7
5 is prime
3
5 is prime
9
6 is prime
1
6 is prime
7
7 is prime
1
7 is prime
3
7 is prime
9
8 is prime
3
8 is prime
9
9 is prime
7
C++
LoopControlStatements

Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence. When
execution leaves a scope, all automatic objects that were created in that scope
are destroyed.
C++supportsthefollowingcontrolstatements.

ControlStatement Description

breakstatement Terminates the loop or switch statement and


transfersexecutiontothestatementimmediately
C++

followingthelooporswitch.

continuestatement Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body and
immediately retest its condition prior to reiterating.

goto statement Transfers control to the labeled statement. Though itis


not advised to use goto statement in your program.

BreakStatement
ThebreakstatementhasthefollowingtwousagesinC++:

 When thebreakstatement is encountered inside a loop, the loop is


immediately terminated and program control resumes at the next
statement following the loop.
 It can be used to terminate a case in theswitchstatement (covered inthe
next chapter).
If you are using nested loops (i.e., one loop inside another loop), the break
statement will stop the execution of the innermost loop and start executing the
next line of code after the block.

Syntax
ThesyntaxofabreakstatementinC++is:

break;

Flow Diagram
C++

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int a = 10;

//doloopexecution
do
{
cout<<"valueofa:"<<a<<endl; a = a
+ 1;
if(a >15)
{
//terminatetheloop
break;
}
}while(a<20);
C++

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

valueofa:prettyprintnotranslate10
value of a: 11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:15

continueStatement

Thecontinuestatement works somewhat like the break statement. Instead of


forcing termination, however, continue forces the next iteration of the loop to
take place, skipping any code in between.
For theforloop, continue causes the conditional test and increment portions of
the loop to execute. For thewhileanddo...whileloops, program control passes to
the conditional tests.

Syntax
ThesyntaxofacontinuestatementinC++is:

continue;

Flow Diagram
C++

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int a = 10;

//doloopexecution
do
{
if(a==15)
{
//skiptheiteration.
a = a + 1;
continue;
}
cout<<"valueofa:"<<a<<endl; a = a
+ 1;
}while(a<20);
C++

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
valueofa:19

goto Statement
Agotostatement provides an unconditional jump from the goto to a labeled
statement in the same function.
NOTE:Use ofgotostatement is highly discouraged because it makes difficult to
trace the controlflow ofaprogram,making the programhardto understandand hard
to modify. Any program that uses a goto can be rewritten so that it doesn't need
the goto.

Syntax
ThesyntaxofagotostatementinC++is:

gotolabel;
..
.
label:statement;

Wherelabelis an identifier that identifies a labeled statement. A labeled


statement is any statement that is preceded by an identifier followed by a colon
(:).

Flow Diagram
C++

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//Localvariabledeclaration:
int a = 10;

//doloopexecution
LOOP:do
{
if(a==15)
{
//skiptheiteration.
a = a + 1;
gotoLOOP;
}
cout<<"valueofa:"<<a<<endl; a = a
+ 1;
}while(a<20);
C++

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
valueofa:19

Onegooduseofgotoistoexitfromadeeplynestedroutine.Forexample, consider the


following code fragment:

for(...){
for(...) {
while(...){
if(...)goto stop;
.
.
.
}
}
}
stop:
cout<<"Errorin program.\n";

Eliminatingthegotowould forceanumber ofadditionalteststo be performed.A


simplebreakstatement would not work here, because it would only cause the
program to exit from the innermost loop.

TheInfiniteLoop

A loop becomes infinite loop if a condition never becomes false. Theforloop is


traditionallyusedforthispurpose.Sincenoneofthethreeexpressionsthatform
C++

the‘for’looparerequired,youcanmakeanendlessloopbyleavingthe conditional
expression empty.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{

for(;;)
{
printf("Thisloopwillrunforever.\n");
}

return0;
}

When the conditional expression is absent, it is assumed to be true. You may


have an initialization and increment expression, but C++ programmers more
commonly use the ‘for (;;)’ construct to signify an infinite loop.
NOTE:YoucanterminateaninfiniteloopbypressingCtrl+Ckeys.
C++

13.DECISION-
MAKINGSTATEMENTS

Decision making structures require that the programmer specify one or more
conditions to be evaluated or tested by the program, along with a statement or
statements to be executed if the condition is determined to be true, and
optionally, other statements to be executed if the condition is determined to be
false.
Following is the general from of a typical decision making structure found inmost
of the programming languages:

C++ programming language provides following types of decision making


statements.

Statement Description

ifstatement An ‘if’ statement consists of a boolean expression


followed by one or more statements.

if...elsestatement An ‘if’ statement can be followed by an optional


‘else’statement,whichexecuteswhentheboolean
expression is false.

71
switchstatement A‘switch’statementallowsavariabletobetested

72
C++

forequalityagainstalistofvalues.

nestedifstatements Youcanuseone‘if’or‘elseif’statementinside another


‘if’ or ‘else if’ statement(s).

nestedswitchstatements You can use one ‘switch’ statement inside another


‘switch’ statement(s).

IfStatement

Anifstatementconsistsofabooleanexpressionfollowedbyoneormore statements.

Syntax
ThesyntaxofanifstatementinC++is:

if(boolean_expression)
{
//statement(s)willexecuteifthebooleanexpressionistrue
}

If the boolean expression evaluates totrue, then the block of code inside the if
statement will be executed. If boolean expression evaluates tofalse, then the
first set of code after the end of the if statement (after the closing curly brace)
will be executed.

Flow Diagram

73
C++

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=10;

//checkthebooleancondition
if( a < 20 )
{
//ifconditionistruethenprintthefollowing
cout <<"a is less than 20;"<< endl;
}
cout<<"valueofais:"<<a<<endl;

return0;
}

74
C++

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

aislessthan20;
valueofa is:10

if…elseStatement

Anifstatementcanbefollowedbyanoptionalelsestatement,whichexecutes when
the boolean expression is false.

Syntax
Thesyntaxofanif...elsestatementinC++is:

if(boolean_expression)
{
//statement(s)willexecuteifthebooleanexpressionistrue
}
else
{
//statement(s)willexecuteifthebooleanexpressionisfalse
}

Ifthebooleanexpressionevaluatestotrue,thentheifblockofcodewillbe executed,
otherwiseelse blockof code will be executed.

Flow Diagram

75
C++

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;

//checkthebooleancondition
if( a < 20 )
{
//ifconditionistruethenprintthefollowing
cout <<"a is less than 20;"<< endl;
}
else
{
//ifconditionisfalsethenprintthefollowing cout
<<"a is not less than 20;"<< endl;
}
cout<<"valueofais:"<<a<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

aisnotlessthan20;
value of a is : 100

if...elseif...elseStatement

Anifstatement can be followed by an optionalelse if...elsestatement, which is


very usefull to test various conditions using single if...else if statement.
Whenusingif,elseif,elsestatementstherearefewpointstokeepinmind.
 Anifcanhavezerooroneelse'sanditmustcomeafteranyelse if's.

76
C++

 Anifcanhavezerotomanyelseif'sandtheymustcomebeforetheelse.
 Onceanelseifsucceeds,noneofheremainingelseif'sorelse'swillbe tested.

Syntax
Thesyntaxofanif...elseif...elsestatementinC++is:

if(boolean_expression1)
{
//Executeswhenthebooleanexpression1istrue
}
elseif(boolean_expression2)
{
//Executeswhenthebooleanexpression2is true
}
elseif(boolean_expression3)
{
//Executeswhenthebooleanexpression3istrue
}
else
{
//executeswhenthenoneoftheaboveconditionistrue.
}

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
int a = 100;

//checkthebooleancondition
if( a == 10 )

77
C++

{
//ifconditionistruethenprintthefollowing
cout <<"Value of a is 10"<< endl;
}
elseif(a==20)
{
// if else if condition is true
cout<<"Valueofais20"<<endl;
}
elseif(a==30)
{
// if else if condition is true
cout<<"Valueofais30"<<endl;
}
else
{
//ifnoneoftheconditionsistrue
cout<<"Valueofaisnotmatching"<< endl;
}
cout<<"Exactvalueofais:"<<a<< endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Valueofaisnotmatching
Exact value of a is : 100

SwitchStatement

Aswitchstatement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of


values. Each value is called a case, and the variable being switched on is
checked for each case.

Syntax
ThesyntaxforaswitchstatementinC++isasfollows:

78
C++

switch(expression){
caseconstant-expression statement(s);
:
break; //optional caseconstant-expression
statement(s);
break;//optional

//youcanhaveanynumberofcasestatements.
default://Optional statement(s);

Thefollowingrulesapplytoaswitchstatement:

 Theexpressionused in aswitchstatement must have an integral or


enumerated type, or be of a class type in which the class has a single
conversion function to an integral or enumerated type.
 Youcanhaveanynumberofcasestatementswithinaswitch.Eachcaseis
followed by the value to be compared to and a colon.
 Theconstant-expressionfor a case must be the same data type as the
variable in the switch, and it must be a constant or a literal.
 When the variable being switched on is equal to a case, the statements
following that case will execute until abreakstatement is reached.
 When a break statement is reached, the switch terminates, and the flowof
control jumps to the next line following the switch statement.
 Not every case needs to contain a break. If no break appears, the flow of
control willfall throughto subsequent cases until a break is reached.
 Aswitchstatementcanhaveanoptionaldefaultcase,whichmust appear at
the end of the switch. The default case can be used for performing a task
when none of the cases is true. No break is needed in the default case.

Flow Diagram

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C++

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
char grade = 'D';

switch(grade)
{
case'A':
cout<<"Excellent!"<<endl;
break;
case'B':
case'C':
cout<<"Welldone"<<endl;
break;

80
C++

case'D':
cout<<"Youpassed"<<endl;
break;
case'F':
cout<<"Bettertryagain"<<endl;
break;
default:
cout<<"Invalidgrade"<<endl;
}
cout<<"Yourgradeis"<<grade<<endl;

return0;
}

Thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

YoupassedYour
gradeisD

NestedifStatement

It is always legal tonestif-else statements, which means you can use one if or
else if statement inside another if or else if statement(s).

Syntax
Thesyntaxforanestedifstatementisasfollows:

if(boolean_expression1)
{
//Executeswhenthebooleanexpression1istrue
if(boolean_expression 2)
{
//Executeswhenthebooleanexpression2istrue
}
}

Youcannestelseif...elseinthesimilarwayasyouhavenestedifstatement.

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C++

Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;
intb=200;

//checkthebooleancondition
if( a == 100 )
{
//ifconditionistruethencheckthefollowing
if( b == 200 )
{
// if condition is true then print the
following
cout<<"Valueofais100andbis200"<<endl;
}
}
cout<<"Exactvalueofais :"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Exactvalueofbis:"<<b<< endl;

return0;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Valueofais100andbis200
Exact value of a is : 100
Exact value of b is : 200

NestedswitchStatements
It is possible to have a switch as part of the statement sequence of an outer
switch. Even if the case constants of the inner and outer switch contain common
values, no conflicts will arise.

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C++

C++specifiesthatatleast256levelsofnestingbeallowedforswitchstatements.

Syntax
Thesyntaxforanestedswitchstatementisasfollows:

switch(ch1)
{ case
'A':
cout<<"ThisAispartofouterswitch";
switch(ch2) {
case'A':
cout<<"ThisAispartofinnerswitch";
break;
case'B'://...
}
break;
case'B'://...
}
Example
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;
intb=200;

switch(a)
{ case100
:
cout<<"Thisispartofouterswitch"<<endl; switch(b) {
case200:
cout<<"Thisispartofinnerswitch"<<endl;

83
C++

}
}
cout<<"Exactvalueofais:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Exactvalueofbis:"<<b<< endl;

return0;
}

Thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Thisispartofouterswitch
Thisispartofinnerswitch
Exact value of a is : 100
Exact value of b is : 200

The?: Operator

Wehavecoveredconditionaloperator“?:”inpreviouschapterwhichcanbe used to
replace if...elsestatements. It has the following general form:

Exp1?Exp2:Exp3;

Exp1, Exp2, and Exp3 are expressions. Notice the use and placement of the
colon.
The value of a ‘?’ expression is determined like this: Exp1 is evaluated. If it is
true, then Exp2 is evaluated and becomes the value of the entire ‘?’ expression.
If Exp1 is false, then Exp3 is evaluated and its value becomes the value of the
expression.

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C++

14. FUNCTIONS

A function is a group of statements that together perform a task. Every C++


program has at least one function, which ismain(), 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 functiondeclarationtells the compiler about a function's name, return type,
and parameters. A functiondefinitionprovides the actual body of the function.
The C++ standard library provides numerous built-in functions that your
program can call. For example, functionstrcat()to concatenate two strings,
functionmemcpy()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.
DefiningaFunction
ThegeneralformofaC++functiondefinitionisasfollows:

return_typefunction_name(parameterlist)
{
bodyofthefunction
}

AC++functiondefinitionconsistsofafunctionheaderandafunctionbody. Here are all


the parts of a function:
 ReturnType: A function may return a value. Thereturn_typeis the data
type of the value the function returns. Some functions perform the
desiredoperationswithoutreturningavalue.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.

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C++

 FunctionBody:Thefunctionbodycontainsacollectionofstatements that
define what the function does.

Example:
Following is the source code for a function calledmax(). This function takes two
parameters num1 and num2 and returns the maximum between the two:

//functionreturningthemaxbetweentwonumbers

intmax(intnum1,intnum2)
{
//localvariabledeclaration
int result;

if (num1 > num2)


result=num1;
else
result=num2;

returnresult;
}

FunctionDeclarations
A functiondeclarationtells the compiler about a function name and how to call the
function. The actual body of the function can be defined separately.
Afunctiondeclarationhasthefollowingparts:

return_typefunction_name(parameterlist);

Fortheabovedefinedfunctionmax(),followingisthefunctiondeclaration:

intmax(intnum1,intnum2);

Parameternamesarenotimportantinfunctiondeclarationonlytheirtypeis required, so
following is also valid declaration:

intmax(int,int);

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

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C++

CallingaFunction

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.
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>
usingnamespacestd;

//functiondeclaration
intmax(intnum1,intnum2);

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;
intb=200;
int ret;

//callingafunctiontogetmaxvalue.
ret = max(a, b);

cout<<"Maxvalueis:"<<ret<<endl;

return0;
}

//functionreturningthemaxbetweentwonumbers
int max(int num1, int num2)
{
//localvariabledeclaration

87
C++

intresult;

if (num1 > num2)


result=num1;
else
result=num2;

returnresult;
}

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

Maxvalueis:200

FunctionArguments

If a function is to use arguments, it must declare variables that accept thevalues


of the arguments. These variables are called theformal parametersof 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:

CallType Description

Callbyvalue This method copies the actual value of an argument


intotheformalparameterofthefunction.Inthiscase,
changes made to the parameter inside the function
have no effect on the argument.

Callbypointer This method copies the address of an argument into


the formalparameter.Inside the function, the address
is used to access the actual argument used in the call.
This means that changes made to the parameteraffect
the argument.

Callbyreference This method copies the reference of an argument into


the formal parameter. Inside the function, the
referenceisusedtoaccesstheactualargumentused

88
C++

inthecall.Thismeansthatchangesmadetotheparameter
affect the argument.

CallbyValue
Thecall 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.

//functiondefinitiontoswapthevalues.
voidswap(intx,inty)
{
inttemp;

temp=x;/*savethevalueofx*/
x=y; /*putyintox*/
y=temp;/*putxintoy*/

return;
}

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

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

// function declaration
voidswap(intx,inty);

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
int a = 100;
89
C++

intb=200;

cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofb:"<<b<<endl;

//callingafunctiontoswapthevalues. swap(a,
b);

cout<<"Afterswap,valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Afterswap,valueofb:"<<b<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeisputtogetherinafile,compiledandexecuted,it produces the


following result:

Beforeswap,valueofa:100
Beforeswap,valueofb:200
After swap, value of a :100
After swap, value of b :200

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

Thecall by pointermethod 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 othervalue. So accordingly youneedtodeclare the function parameters as
pointer types as in the following functionswap(), which exchanges thevalues of
the two integer variables pointed to by its arguments.

//functiondefinitiontoswapthevalues.
void swap(int *x, int *y)
{
inttemp;

90
C++

temp=*x;/*savethevalueataddressx */
*x=*y;/*putyintox*/
*y=temp;/*putxintoy*/

return;
}

To check the more detail about C++ pointers, kindly checkC++


Pointerschapter.
Fornow, letuscall thefunctionswap()by passing valuesbypointer asin the
following example:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

// function declaration
voidswap(int*x,int*y);

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;
intb=200;

cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofb:"<<b<< endl;

/*callingafunctiontoswapthevalues.
* &aindicatespointertoaie.addressofvariablea and
* &bindicatespointertobie.addressofvariable b.
*/
swap(&a,&b);

cout<<"Afterswap,valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Afterswap,valueofb:"<<b<< endl;

91
C++

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeisputtogetherinafile,compiledandexecuted,it produces the


following result:

Beforeswap,valueofa:100
Beforeswap,valueofb:200
After swap, value of a :200
After swap, value of b :100

CallbyReference

Thecall by referencemethod of passing arguments to a function copies the


reference of an argument into the formal parameter. Inside the function, the
referenceisusedtoaccesstheactualargumentusedinthecall.Thismeansthat 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.

//functiondefinitiontoswapthevalues.
voidswap(int&x,int&y)
{
inttemp;
temp=x;/*savethevalueataddressx*/

x=y; /*putyintox*/
y=temp;/*putxintoy*/

return;
}

Fornow,letuscallthefunction swap()bypassingvaluesbyreferenceasinthe following


example:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

// function declaration
voidswap(int&x,int&y);
92
C++

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;
intb=200;

cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofb:"<<b<<endl;

/*callingafunctiontoswapthevaluesusingvariablereference.*/
swap(a, b);

cout<<"Afterswap,valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Afterswap,valueofb:"<<b<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeisputtogetherinafile,compiledandexecuted,it produces the


following result:

Beforeswap,valueofa:100
Beforeswap,valueofb:200
After swap, value of a :200
After swap, value of b :100

By default, C++ usescall by valueto 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.
DefaultValuesforParameters
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.

93
C++

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>
usingnamespacestd;

intsum(inta,intb=20)
{
int result;

result=a+b;

return(result);
}

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;
intb=200;
int
result;

//callingafunctiontoaddthevalues.
result = sum(a, b);
cout<<"Totalvalueis:"<<result<< endl;

//callingafunctionagainasfollows.
result = sum(a);
cout<<"Totalvalueis:"<<result<< endl;

return0;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:
94
C++

Totalvalueis:300
Totalvalueis:120

95
C++

15. NUMBERS

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.
DefiningNumbersinC++
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>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//numberdefinition:
shorts;
inti;
longl;
floatf;
doubled;

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

//numberprinting;
cout<<"shorts:"<<s<<endl;
cout<<"inti:"<<i<<endl;
cout<<"longl:"<<l<<endl;
cout<<"floatf:"<<f<<endl;

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C++

cout<<"doubled:"<<d<< endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

shorts:10
int i:1000
long l :1000000
floatf:230.47
doubled:30949.4

MathOperationsinC++

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 calledbuilt-infunctions. 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++.
Toutilizethesefunctionsyouneedtoincludethemathheaderfile<cmath>.

S.N. Function&Purpose

1 doublecos(double);
Thisfunctiontakesanangle(asadouble)andreturnsthecosine.

2 doublesin(double);
Thisfunctiontakesanangle(asadouble)andreturnsthesine.

3 doubletan(double);
Thisfunctiontakesanangle(asadouble)andreturnsthetangent.

4 doublelog(double);

Thisfunctiontakesanumberandreturnsthenaturallogofthat number.

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C++

5 doublepow(double,double);

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

6 doublehypot(double,double);
Ifyoupassthis functionthe lengthof twosides of arighttriangle, itwill return
you the length of the hypotenuse.

7 doublesqrt(double);
Youpassthisfunctionanumberanditgivesyouthesquare root.

8 intabs(int);

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

9 doublefabs(double);

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

10 doublefloor(double);

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

Followingisasimpleexampletoshowfewofthemathematicaloperations:

#include
<iostream>
#include <cmath>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//numberdefinition:
shorts = 10;
int i = -
1000; long
l=100000; 98
C++

doubled= 200.374;

//mathematicaloperations;
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;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

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

RandomNumbersinC++

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 oftime()function to get the number of seconds on your system time,
to randomly seed the rand() function:

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

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
inti,j;

99
C++

//settheseed
srand((unsigned)time(NULL) );

/*generate10randomnumbers.*/ for(
i = 0; i < 10; i++ )
{
//generateactualrandomnumber
j= rand();
cout<<"RandomNumber:"<<j<< endl;
}

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

RandomNumber:1748144778
Random Number: 630873888
Random Number: 213454064
6
Random Number: 219404170
Random Number: 902129458
Random Number: 920445370
Random Number: 131907266
1
Random Number: 257938873
Random Number: 125620110
1
Random Number: 580322989

10
0
C++

16. ARRAYS

C++ provides a data structure,the array, which stores a fixed-size sequential


collection of elements of the same type. An array is used to store a collection of
data, but it is often more useful to think of an array as a collection of variablesof
the same type.
Instead of declaring individual variables, such as number0, number1, ..., and
number99, you declare one array variable such as numbers and usenumbers[0],
numbers[1], and..., numbers[99] to represent individualvariables. A specific
element in an array is accessed by an index.

All arrays consist of contiguous memory locations. The lowest address


corresponds to the first element and the highest address to the last element.
DeclaringArrays

To declare an array in C++, the programmer specifies the type of the elements
and the number of elements required by an array as follows:

typearrayName[arraySize];

This is called a single-dimension array. ThearraySizemust be an integer


constant greater than zero andtypecan be any valid C++ data type. For
example, to declare a 10-element array called balance of type double, use this
statement:

doublebalance[10];

InitializingArrays

YoucaninitializeC++arrayelementseitheronebyoneorusingasingle statement as
follows:

doublebalance[5]={1000.0,2.0,3.4,17.0,50.0};

The number of values between braces { } cannot be larger than the number of
elements that we declare for the array between square brackets [ ]. Following is
an example to assign a single element of the array:
If you omit the size of the array, an array just big enough to hold the initialization
is created. Therefore, if you write:

doublebalance[]={1000.0,2.0,3.4,17.0,50.0};

Youwillcreateexactlythesamearrayasyoudid inthepreviousexample.

10
1
C++

balance[4]=50.0;

The above statement assigns element number 5th in the array a value of 50.0.
Array with 4th index will be 5th, i.e., last element because all arrays have 0 as
the index of their first element which is also called base index. Following is the
pictorial representation of the same array we discussed above:

AccessingArrayElements

An element is accessed by indexing the array name. This is done by placing the
index of the element within square brackets after the name of the array. For
example:

doublesalary=balance[9];

The above statement will take 10th element from the array and assign the value
to salary variable. Following is an example, which will use all the above-
mentioned three concepts viz. declaration, assignment and accessing arrays:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

#include<iomanip>
using std::setw;

intmain()
{
intn[10];//nisanarrayof10 integers

//initializeelementsofarraynto0 for
( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ )
{
n[i]=i+100;//setelementatlocationitoi+100
}
cout<<"Element"<<setw(13)<<"Value"<< endl;

//outputeacharrayelement'svalue

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C++

for(intj=0;j<10;j++)
{
cout<<setw(7)<<j<<setw( 13)<<n[j]<<endl;
}

return0;
}

Thisprogrammakesuseofsetw()functiontoformattheoutput.Whenthe above code


is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Element Value
0 100
1 101
2 102
3 103
4 104
5 105
6 106
7 107
8 108
9 109

ArraysinC++

ArraysareimportanttoC++andshouldneedlotsofmoredetail.Thereare following few


important concepts, which should be clear to a C++ programmer:

Concept Description

Multi-dimensionalarrays C++ supports multidimensional arrays. The


simplest form of the multidimensional array is
the two-dimensional array.

Pointertoan array You can generate a pointer to the firstelement


of an array by simply specifying the array
name, without any index.

Passingarraystofunctions Youcanpasstothefunctionapointertoan

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C++

array by specifying the array's name without


an index.

Returnarrayfromfunctions C++allowsafunctiontoreturnanarray.

Multi-dimensionalArrays
C++ allows multidimensional arrays. Here is the general form of a
multidimensional array declaration:

typename[size1][size2]...[sizeN];

Forexample,thefollowingdeclarationcreatesathreedimensional5.10.4 integer
array:

int threedim[5][10][4];

Two-DimensionalArrays
The simplest form of the multidimensional array is the two-dimensional array. A
two-dimensionalarrayis, inessence,alist ofone-dimensionalarrays.Todeclare a
two-dimensional integer array of size x,y, you would write something as follows:

typearrayName[x][y];

Wheretypecanbe any valid C++ data type andarrayNamewill be a valid C++


identifier.
A two-dimensional array can be think as a table, which will have x number of
rows and y number of columns. A 2-dimensional arraya, which contains three
rows and four columns can be shown as below:

Thus,every elementinarrayaisidentifiedbyanelementnameoftheforma[i
][ j ], where a is the name of the array, and i and j are the subscripts that
uniquely identify each element in a.

InitializingTwo-DimensionalArrays

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C++

Multidimensionedarraysmaybeinitializedbyspecifyingbracketedvaluesfor each
row. Following is an array with 3 rows and each row have 4 columns.

inta[3][4]={
{0,1,2,3},
/* initializersforrowindexedby0 */
{4,5,6,7},
/* initializersforrowindexedby1*/ initializersforrowindexedby
{8,9,10,11}
/*
};

The nested braces, which indicate the intended row, are optional. The following
initialization is equivalent to previous example:

inta[3][4]= {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11};

AccessingTwo-DimensionalArrayElements
An element in 2-dimensional array is accessed by using the subscripts, i.e., row
index and column index of the array. For example:

intval=a[2][3];

Theabovestatementwilltake4thelementfromthe3rdrowofthearray.You can verify it


in the above digram.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//anarraywith5rowsand2columns.
inta[5][2]={{0,0},{1,2},{2,4},{3,6},{4,8}};

//outputeacharrayelement'svalue
for ( int i = 0; i < 5; i++ )
for( int j=0; j< 2;j++ )
{
cout<<"a["<<i<<"]["<<j<<"]:";
cout<<a[i][j]<<endl;
}

105
C++

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

a[0][0]: 0
a[0][1]: 0
a[1][0]: 1
a[1][1]: 2
a[2][0]: 2
a[2][1]: 4
a[3][0]: 3
a[3][1]: 6
a[4][0]: 4
a[4][1]: 8

As explained above, you can have arrays with any number of dimensions,
although it is likely that most of the arrays you create will be of one or two
dimensions.
Pointertoan Array
It is most likely that you would not understand this chapter until you go through
the chapter related C++ Pointers.
So assuming you have bit understanding on pointers in C++, let us start: An
array name is a constant pointer to the first element of the array. Therefore, in
the declaration:

doublebalance[50];

balanceis a pointer to &balance[0], which is the address of the first element of


the array balance. Thus, the following program fragment assignspthe address of
the first element ofbalance:

double*p;
doublebalance[10];

p=balance;

Itislegaltousearraynamesasconstantpointers,andviceversa.Therefore,
*(balance+4)isalegitimatewayofaccessingthedataatbalance[4].

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C++

Once you store the address of first element in p, you can access array elements
using *p, *(p+1), *(p+2) and so on. Below is the example to show all the
concepts discussed above:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//anarraywith5 elements.
doublebalance[5]={1000.0,2.0,3.4,17.0,50.0};
double*p;

p=balance;

//outputeacharrayelement'svalue
cout<<"Arrayvaluesusingpointer"<<endl; for
( int i = 0; i < 5; i++ )
{
cout<<"*(p+"<<i<<"):"; cout <<
*(p + i) << endl;
}

cout<<"Arrayvaluesusingbalanceasaddress"<<endl; for (
int i = 0; i < 5; i++ )
{
cout<<"*(balance+"<<i<<"):"; cout <<
*(balance + i) << endl;
}

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Arrayvaluesusingpointer
*(p+0):1000
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C++

*(p +1): 2
*(p +2): 3.4
*(p +3): 17
*(p +4): 50
Arrayvaluesusingbalanceasaddress

*(balance +0): 1000


*(balance +1): 2
*(balance +2): 3.4
*(balance +3): 17
*(balance +4): 50

In the above example, p is a pointer to double which means it can store address
of a variable of double type. Once we have address in p, then *pwill give us
value available at the address stored in p, as we have shown in the above
example.
PassingArraystoFunctions
C++ does not allow to pass an entire array as an argument to a function.
However, You can pass a pointer to an array by specifying the array's name
without an index.
If you want to pass a single-dimension array as an argument in a function, you
would have to declare function formal parameter in one of following three ways
and all three declaration methods produce similar results because each tells the
compiler that an integer pointer is going to be received.

Way-1
Formalparametersasapointerasfollows:

voidmyFunction(int*param)
{
.
.
.
}

Way-2
Formalparametersasasizedarrayasfollows:

voidmyFunction(intparam[10])

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C++

{
.
.
.
}

Way-3
Formalparametersasanunsizedarrayasfollows:

voidmyFunction(intparam[])
{
.
.
.
}

Now, consider the following function, which will take an array as an argument
along with another argument and based on the passed arguments, it will return
average of the numbers passed through the array as follows:

doublegetAverage(intarr[],intsize)
{

int i,sum=0;
doubleavg;

for(i=0;i<size;++i)
{
sum+= arr[i];
}

avg=double(sum)/ size;

returnavg;
}

Now,letuscalltheabovefunctionasfollows:

#include<iostream>
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C++

usingnamespacestd;

//functiondeclaration:
doublegetAverage(intarr[],intsize);

intmain()
{
//anintarraywith5elements.
intbalance[5]={1000,2,3,17,50};
double avg;

//passpointertothearrayasanargument. avg =
getAverage( balance, 5 ) ;

//outputthereturnedvalue
cout<<"Averagevalueis:"<<avg<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledtogetherandexecuted,itproducesthe following
result:

Averagevalueis:214.4

As you can see, the length of the array doesn't matter as far as the function is
concerned because C++ performs no bounds checking for the formalparameters.
ReturnArrayfromFunctions

C++ does not allow to return an entire array as an argument to a function.


However, you can return a pointer to an array by specifying the array's name
without an index.
If you want to return a single-dimension array from a function, you would have to
declare a function returning a pointer as in the following example:

int* myFunction()
{
.

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C++

.
.
}

Second point to remember is that C++ does not advocate to return the address
of a local variable to outside of the function so you would have to define thelocal
variable as staticvariable.
Now, consider the following function, which will generate 10 random numbers
and return them using an array and call this function as follows:

#include<iostream>
#include <ctime>

usingnamespacestd;

//functiontogenerateandretrunrandomnumbers.
int * getRandom( )
{
staticintr[10];

//settheseed
srand((unsigned)time(NULL));
for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
{
r[i]=rand();
cout<<r[i]<<endl;
}

returnr;
}

//mainfunctiontocallabovedefinedfunction.
int main ()
{
//apointertoanint. int
*p;

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C++

p=getRandom();
for(inti =0;i< 10;i++)
{
cout<< "*(p+" <<i<<"):";
cout<< *(p+i) <<endl;
}

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledtogetherandexecuted,itproducesresult something
as follows:

624723190
1468735695
807113585
976495677
613357504
1377296355
1530315259
1778906708
1820354158
667126415

*(p +0): 624723190


*(p +1): 1468735695
*(p +2): 807113585
*(p +3): 976495677
*(p +4): 613357504
*(p +5): 1377296355
*(p +6): 1530315259
*(p +7): 1778906708
*(p +8): 1820354158
*(p +9): 667126415

112
C++

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C++

17. STRINGS

C++providesfollowingtwotypesofstringrepresentations:
 TheC-stylecharacterstring.
 ThestringclasstypeintroducedwithStandardC++. The
C-Style Character String
The C-style character string originated within the C language and continues tobe
supported within C++. This string is actually a one-dimensional array of
characters which is terminated by anullcharacter '\0'. Thus a null-terminated
string contains the characters that comprise the string followed by anull.

The following declaration and initialization create a string consisting of the word
"Hello". To hold the null character at the end of the array, the size of the
character array containing the string is one more than the number of characters
in the word "Hello."

chargreeting[6]={'H','e','l','l','o','\0'};

Ifyoufollowtheruleofarrayinitialization,thenyoucanwritetheabove statement as
follows:

chargreeting[]="Hello";

Followingisthememorypresentationofabovedefinedstringin C/C++:

Actually, you do not place the null character at the end of a string constant. The
C++ compiler automatically places the '\0' at the end of the string when it
initializes the array. Let us try to print above-mentioned string:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
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C++

intmain()
{
chargreeting[6]={'H','e','l','l','o','\0'};

cout<<"Greetingmessage:";
cout << greeting << endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Greetingmessage:Hello

C++supportsawiderangeoffunctionsthatmanipulatenull-terminatedstrings:

S.N. Function&Purpose

1 strcpy(s1,s2);
Copiesstrings2intostrings1.

2 strcat(s1,s2);
Concatenatesstrings2ontotheendofstrings1.

3 strlen(s1);
Returnsthelengthofstrings1.

4 strcmp(s1,s2);

Returns 0 if s1 and s2 are the same; less than 0 if s1<s2; greater than 0
if s1>s2.

5 strchr(s1,ch);
Returnsapointertothefirstoccurrenceofcharacterchinstrings1.

6 strstr(s1,s2);

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C++

Returnsapointertothefirstoccurrenceofstrings2instrings1.

Followingexamplemakesuseoffewoftheabove-mentionedfunctions:

#include<iostream>
#include <cstring>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
charstr1[10]="Hello";
charstr2[10]="World";
char str3[10];
intlen;

//copystr1intostr3
strcpy( str3, str1);
cout<<"strcpy(str3,str1):"<<str3<<endl;

//concatenatesstr1andstr2
strcat( str1, str2);
cout<<"strcat(str1,str2):"<<str1<<endl;

//totallenghthofstr1afterconcatenation len
= strlen(str1);
cout<<"strlen(str1):"<<len<<endl;

return0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as
follows:

strcpy(str3,str1):Hello

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C++

strcat(str1,str2):HelloWorld
strlen(str1) : 10

TheStringClassinC++

The standard C++ library provides astringclass type that supports all the
operations mentioned above, additionally much more functionality. Let us check
the following example:

#include<iostream>
#include <string>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
stringstr1="Hello";
stringstr2="World";
string str3;
intlen;

//copystr1intostr3
str3 = str1;
cout<<"str3:"<<str3<<endl;

//concatenatesstr1andstr2
str3 = str1 + str2;
cout<<"str1+str2:"<<str3<<endl;

//totallengthofstr3afterconcatenation
len = str3.size();
cout<<"str3.size():"<<len<<endl;

return0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as
follows:
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C++

str3:Hello
str1+str2:HelloWorld
str3.size() :10

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C++

18. POINTERS

C++ pointers are easy and fun to learn. Some C++ tasks are performed more
easily with pointers, and other C++ tasks, such as dynamic memory allocation,
cannot be performed without them.
As you know every variable is a memory location and every memory locationhas
its address defined which can be accessed using ampersand (&) operator which
denotes an address in memory. Consider the following which will print the
address of the variables defined:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
intvar1;char
var2[10];

cout<<"Addressofvar1variable:"; cout
<<&var1 << endl;

cout<<"Addressofvar2variable:"; cout
<<&var2 << endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Addressofvar1variable:0xbfebd5c0
Addressofvar2variable:0xbfebd5b6

Whatare Pointers?

Apointeris a variable whose value is the address of another variable. Like any
variableorconstant,youmustdeclareapointerbeforeyoucanworkwithit.The general
form of a pointer variable declaration is:

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C++

type*var-name;

Here,typeis the pointer's base type; it must be a valid C++ type andvar-
nameis the name of the pointer variable. The asterisk you used to declare a
pointer is the same asterisk that you use for multiplication. However, in this
statement the asterisk is being used to designate a variable as a pointer.
Following are the valid pointer declaration:

int *ip; //pointertoaninteger


//pointertoadouble
double*dp;
//pointertoafloat
float*fp; char*ch
//pointertocharacter

The actual data type of the value of all pointers, whether integer, float,
character,orotherwise,isthe same,a longhexadecimalnumberthatrepresents a
memory address. The only difference between pointers of different data types is
the data type of the variable or constant that the pointer points to.
UsingPointersinC++

There are few important operations, which we will do with the pointers very
frequently.(a) We definea pointervariable.(b)Assign the address ofavariable to a
pointer. (c)Finally access the value at the address available in the pointer
variable. This is done by using unary operator*that returns the value of the
variable located at the address specified by its operand. Following example
makes use of these operations:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
intvar = 20;//actualvariabledeclaration. int*ip;// pointer variable

ip=&var; //storeaddressofvarinpointervariable

cout<<"Valueofvarvariable:";
cout<<var<<endl;

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C++

//printtheaddressstoredinippointervariable
cout <<"Address stored in ip variable: ";
cout<<ip<< endl;

//accessthevalueattheaddressavailableinpointer cout
<<"Value of *ip variable: ";
cout<<*ip<<endl;

return0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as
follows:

Valueofvarvariable:20
Addressstoredinipvariable:0xbfc601ac
Value of *ip variable: 20

PointersinC++
Pointers have many but easy concepts and they are very important to C++
programming. There are following few important pointer concepts which should
be clear to a C++ programmer:

Concept Description

C++NullPointers C++supports nullpointer,which is a constant


with a value of zero defined in several
standard libraries.

C++pointerarithmetic Therearefourarithmeticoperatorsthatcan be
used on pointers: ++, --, +, -

C++pointersvsarrays There is a close relationship between pointers


and arrays.

C++arrayofpointers Youcandefinearraystoholdanumberof pointers.

C++pointertopointer C++allowsyoutohavepointeronapointer

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C++

andsoon.

Passingpointerstofunctions Passing an argument by reference or by


address both enable the passed argument to
be changed in the calling function by thecalled
function.

Returnpointerfromfunctions C++ allows a function to return a pointer to


local variable, static variable and dynamically
allocated memory as well.

NullPointers

It is always a good practice to assign the pointer NULL to a pointer variable in


case you do not have exact address to be assigned. This is done at the time of
variable declaration. A pointer that is assigned NULL is called a null pointer.
The NULL pointer is a constant with a value of zero defined in several standard
libraries, including iostream. Consider the following program:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
int*ptr=NULL;

cout<<"Thevalueofptris"<<ptr;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Thevalueofptris0

On most of the operating systems, programs are not permitted to access


memoryataddress0becausethatmemoryisreservedbytheoperatingsystem.
However, the memory address 0 has special significance; it signals that the
pointerisnotintendedtopointtoanaccessiblememorylocation.Butby

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C++

convention, if a pointer contains the null (zero) value, it is assumed to point


tonothing.
Tocheckforanullpointeryoucanuseanifstatementas follows:

if(ptr) //succeedsifpisnotnull
if(!ptr) //succeedsifpisnull

Thus, if all unused pointers are given the null value and you avoid the use of a
null pointer, you can avoid the accidental misuse of an uninitialized pointer.
Many times, uninitialized variables hold some junk values and it becomesdifficult
to debug the program.
PointerArithmetic
As you understood pointer is an address which is a numeric value; therefore,you
can perform arithmetic operations on a pointer just as you can a numeric
value.Therearefourarithmeticoperatorsthatcanbeusedonpointers:++,--,
+,and-

To understand pointer arithmetic, let us consider thatptris an integer pointer


which points to the address 1000. Assuming 32-bit integers, let us perform the
following arithmatic operation on the pointer:

ptr++

theptrwill point to the location 1004 because each time ptr is incremented, it will
point to the next integer. This operation will move the pointer to next memory
location without impacting actual value at the memory location. If ptr points to a
character whose address is 1000, then above operation will point to the location
1001 because next character will be available at 1001.

IncrementingaPointer
We prefer using a pointer in our program instead of an array because the
variable pointer can be incremented, unlike the array name which cannot be
incremented because it is a constant pointer. The following program increments
the variable pointer to access each succeeding element of the array:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
const int MAX = 3;

intmain()
{
intvar[MAX]={10,100,200};

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C++

int*ptr;

//letushavearrayaddressinpointer.
ptr = var;
for(inti=0;i<MAX;i++)
{
cout<<"Addressofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout <<
ptr << endl;

cout<<"Valueofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout
<< *ptr << endl;

//pointtothenextlocation ptr+
+;
}
return0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as
follows:

Addressofvar[0] =0xbfa088b0
Valueofvar[0]= 10
Addressofvar[1] =0xbfa088b4
Valueofvar[1]= 100
Addressofvar[2] =0xbfa088b8
Valueofvar[2]= 200

DecrementingaPointer
Thesameconsiderationsapplytodecrementing apointer, whichdecreasesits value
by the number of bytes of its data type as shown below:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
const int MAX = 3;

124
C++

intmain()
{
intvar[MAX]={10,100,200};
int*ptr;

//letushaveaddressofthelastelementinpointer. ptr =
&var[MAX-1];
for(inti=MAX;i>0;i--)
{
cout<<"Addressofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout <<
ptr << endl;

cout<<"Valueofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout
<< *ptr << endl;

//pointtothepreviouslocation
ptr--;
}
return0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as
follows:

Addressofvar[3] =0xbfdb70f8
Valueofvar[3]= 200
Addressofvar[2] =0xbfdb70f4
Valueofvar[2]= 100
Addressofvar[1] =0xbfdb70f0
Valueofvar[1]= 10

PointerComparisons
Pointers may be compared by using relational operators, such as ==, <, and >.
If p1 and p2 point to variables that are related to each other, such as elements of
the same array, then p1 and p2 can be meaningfully compared.

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C++

The following program modifies the previous example one by incrementing the
variable pointer so long as the address to which it points is either less than or
equal to the address of the last element of the array, which is &var[MAX - 1]:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
const int MAX = 3;

intmain()
{
intvar[MAX]={10,100,200};
int*ptr;

//letushaveaddressofthefirstelementinpointer. ptr =
var;
inti=0;
while(ptr<=&var[MAX-1])
{
cout<<"Addressofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout <<
ptr << endl;

cout<<"Valueofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout
<< *ptr << endl;

//pointtothepreviouslocation ptr+
+;
i++;
}
return0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as
follows:

Addressofvar[0]=0xbfce42d0
Value of var[0] = 10

126
C++

Addressofvar[1]=0xbfce42d4
Value of var[1] = 100
Addressofvar[2]=0xbfce42d8
Value of var[2] = 200

PointersvsArrays
Pointers and arrays are strongly related. In fact, pointers and arrays are
interchangeable in many cases. For example, a pointer that points to the
beginning of an array can access that array by using either pointer arithmetic or
array-style indexing. Consider the following program:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
const int MAX = 3;

intmain()
{
intvar[MAX]={10,100,200};
int*ptr;

//letushavearrayaddressinpointer.
ptr = var;
for(inti=0;i<MAX;i++)
{
cout<<"Addressofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout <<
ptr << endl;

cout<<"Valueofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout
<< *ptr << endl;

//pointtothenextlocation ptr+
+;
}
return0;
}

127
C++

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result something as
follows:

Addressofvar[0] =0xbfa088b0
Valueofvar[0]= 10
Addressofvar[1] =0xbfa088b4
Valueofvar[1]= 100
Addressofvar[2] =0xbfa088b8
Valueofvar[2]= 200

However, pointers and arrays are not completely interchangeable. For example,
consider the following program:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
constintMAX=3;

intmain()
{
intvar[MAX]={10,100,200};

for(inti=0;i<MAX;i++)
{

*var=i; //Thisisacorrectsyntax
var++; //Thisisincorrect.

}
return0;

It is perfectly acceptable to apply the pointer operator * to var but it is illegal to


modify var value. The reason for this is that var is a constant that points to the
beginning of an array and can not be used as l-value.
Because an array name generates a pointer constant, it can still be used in
pointer-style expressions, as long as it is not modified. For example, the following
is a valid statement that assigns var[2] the value 500:

*(var+2)=500;

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C++

Abovestatementisvalidandwillcompilesuccessfullybecausevarisnot changed.
ArrayofPointers

Beforeweunderstandtheconceptofarrayofpointers,letusconsiderthefollowing
example, which makes use of an array of 3 integers:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
const int MAX = 3;

intmain()
{
intvar[MAX]={10, 100,200};

for(inti=0;i<MAX;i++)
{
cout<<"Valueofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout
<< var[i] << endl;
}
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Value of var[0] = 10
Valueofvar[1]=100
Valueofvar[2]=200

There may be a situation, when we want to maintain an array, which can store
pointers to an int or char or any other data type available. Following is the
declaration of an array of pointers to an integer:

int*ptr[MAX];

Thisdeclaresptr asanarray ofMAX integerpointers.Thus,each element inptr, now


holds a pointer to an int value. Following example makes use of three integers
which will be stored in an array of pointers as follows:

#include<iostream>
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C++

usingnamespacestd;
const int MAX = 3;

intmain()
{
intvar[MAX]={10,100,200};
int*ptr[MAX];

for(inti=0;i<MAX;i++)
{
ptr[i]=&var[i];//assigntheaddressofinteger.
}
for(inti=0;i<MAX;i++)
{
cout<<"Valueofvar["<<i<<"]="; cout
<< *ptr[i] << endl;
}
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Value of var[0] = 10
Valueofvar[1]=100
Valueofvar[2]=200

Youcanalsouseanarrayofpointerstocharactertostorealistofstringsas follows:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;
const int MAX = 4;

intmain()
{
130
C++

char*names[MAX]={
"ZaraAli"
,
"HinaAli"
,
"NuhaAli"
,
"SaraAli",
};

for(inti=0;i<MAX;i++)
{
cout<<"Valueofnames["<<i<<"]="; cout <<
names[i] << endl;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Valueofnames[0]=ZaraAli
Valueofnames[1]=HinaAli
Valueofnames[2]=NuhaAli
Valueofnames[3]=SaraAli

PointertoaPointer
A pointer to a pointer is a form of multiple indirection or a chain of pointers.
Normally, a pointer contains the address of a variable. When we define a pointer
to a pointer, the first pointer contains the address of the second pointer, which
points to the location that contains the actual value as shown below.

A variable that is a pointer to a pointer must be declared as such. This is doneby


placing an additional asterisk in front of its name. For example, following is the
declaration to declare a pointer to a pointer of type int:

int**var;

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C++

When a target value is indirectly pointed to by a pointer to a pointer, accessing


that value requires that the asterisk operator be applied twice, as is shownbelow
in the example:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
intvar;
int*ptr;
int**pptr;

var=3000;

//taketheaddressofvar ptr
= &var;

//taketheaddressofptrusingaddressofoperator& pptr =
&ptr;

//takethevalueusing pptr
cout<<"Valueofvar:"<<var<<endl;
cout <<"Value available at *ptr :"<< *ptr << endl;
cout<<"Valueavailableat**pptr:"<<**pptr<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Valueofvar:3000
Value available at
*ptr :3000
Valueavailableat**pptr:3000

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C++

PassingPointerstoFunctions

C++ allows you to pass a pointer to a function. To do so, simply declare the
function parameter as a pointer type.
Following a simple example where we pass an unsigned long pointer to a
function and change the value inside the function which reflects back in the
calling function:

#include<iostream>
#include <ctime>

usingnamespacestd;
voidgetSeconds(unsignedlong*par);

intmain()
{
unsignedlongsec;

getSeconds(&sec);

//printtheactualvalue
cout<<"Numberofseconds:"<<sec<<endl;

return0;
}

voidgetSeconds(unsignedlong*par)
{
//getthecurrentnumberofseconds
*par=time(NULL);
return;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Numberofseconds:1294450468

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C++

Thefunctionwhichcanacceptapointer,canalsoacceptanarrayasshownin the
following example:

#include
<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

//functiondeclaration:
doublegetAverage(int*arr,intsize);

intmain()
{
//anintarraywith5elements.
intbalance[5]={1000,2,3,17,50}; double
avg;

//passpointertothearrayasanargument. avg =
getAverage( balance, 5 ) ;

//outputthereturnedvalue
cout<<"Averagevalueis:"<<avg<<endl;

return0;
}

doublegetAverage(int*arr,intsize)
{
int i,sum=0;
double avg;

for(i=0;i<size;++i)
{
sum+=arr[i];
}

avg=double(sum)/ size;
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C++

returnavg;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledtogetherandexecuted,itproducesthe following
result:

Averagevalueis:214.4

ReturnPointerfromFunctions

As we have seen in last chapter how C++ allows to return an array from a
function, similar way C++ allows you to return a pointer from a function. To do
so, you would have to declare a function returning a pointer as in the following
example:

int* myFunction()
{
.
.
.
}

Second point to remember is that, it is not good idea to return the address of a
local variable to outside of the function, so you would have to define the local
variable as staticvariable.
Now, consider the following function, which will generate 10 random numbers
and return them using an array name which represents a pointer i.e., address of
first array element.

#include<iostream>
#include <ctime>

usingnamespacestd;

//functiontogenerateandretrunrandomnumbers.
int * getRandom( )
{
staticintr[10];

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C++

//settheseed
srand((unsigned)time(NULL));
for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
{
r[i]=rand();
cout<<r[i]<<endl;
}

returnr;
}

//mainfunctiontocallabovedefinedfunction.
int main ()
{
//apointertoanint. int
*p;

p=getRandom();
for(inti=0;i<10;i++)
{
cout<<"*(p+"<<i<<"):"; cout <<
*(p + i) << endl;
}

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledtogetherandexecuted,itproducesresult something
as follows:

624723190
1468735695
807113585
976495677

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C++

613357504
1377296355
1530315259
1778906708
1820354158
667126415

*(p +0): 624723190


*(p +1): 1468735695
*(p +2): 807113585
*(p +3): 976495677
*(p +4): 613357504
*(p +5): 1377296355
*(p +6): 1530315259
*(p +7): 1778906708
*(p +8): 1820354158
*(p +9): 667126415

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C++

19. REFERENCES

A reference variable is an alias, that is, another name for an already existing
variable. Once a reference is initialized with a variable, either the variable name
or the reference name may be used to refer to the variable.
ReferencesvsPointers
Referencesareoftenconfusedwithpointersbutthreemajordifferencesbetween
references and pointers are:
 YoucannothaveNULLreferences.Youmustalwaysbeabletoassume that a
reference is connected to a legitimate piece of storage.
 Once a reference is initialized to an object, it cannot be changed to refer
to another object. Pointers can be pointed to another object at any time.
 Areferencemustbeinitializedwhenitiscreated.Pointerscanbe initialized at
any time.
CreatingReferencesinC++

Think of a variable name as a label attached to the variable's location in


memory. You can then think of a reference as a second label attached to that
memory location.Therefore,youcan accessthe contentsofthe variable through
either the original variable name or the reference. For example, suppose we
have the following example:

int i= 17;

Wecandeclarereferencevariablesforiasfollows.

int& r= i;

Read the & in these declarations asreference. Thus, read the first
declarationas"risanintegerreferenceinitializedtoi"andreadtheseconddeclarationas
"s is a double reference initialized to d." Following example makes use
ofreferences on int and double:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{

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C++

//declaresimple variables
int i;
doubled;

//declarereferencevariables
int& r =i;
double&s= d;

i= 5;
cout<<"Valueofi:"<<i<<endl;
cout<<"Valueofireference:"<<r<< endl;

d= 11.7;
cout<<"Valueofd:"<<d<<endl;
cout<<"Valueofdreference:"<<s<< endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledtogetherandexecuted,itproducesthe following
result:

Valueofi:5
Valueofireference:5 Value
of d : 11.7
Valueofdreference:11.7

References are usually used for function argument lists and function return
values. So following are two important subjects related to C++ references which
should be clear to a C++ programmer:

Concept Description

Referencesasparameters C++ supports passing references as function


parameter more safely than parameters.

Referenceasreturn value YoucanreturnreferencefromaC++function

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C++

likeanyotherdatatype.

ReferencesasParameters

Wehavediscussedhowweimplement callbyreference conceptusing pointers.


Here is another example of call by reference which makes use of C++ reference:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

// function declaration
voidswap(int&x,int&y);

intmain()
{
//localvariabledeclaration:
inta=100;
intb=200;

cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofa:"<<a<<endl;
cout<<"Beforeswap,valueofb:"<<b<<endl;

/*callingafunctiontoswapthevalues.*/
swap(a, b);

cout<<"Afterswap,valueofa:"<<a<< endl;
cout<<"Afterswap,valueofb:"<<b<<endl;

return0;
}

//functiondefinitiontoswapthevalues.
void swap(int& x, int& y)
{

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C++

inttemp;
temp=x;/*savethevalueataddressx*/

x=y; /*putyintox*/
y=temp;/*putxintoy*/

return;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Beforeswap,valueofa:100
Beforeswap,valueofb:200
After swap, value of a :200
After swap, value of b :100

ReferenceasReturnValue

A C++ program can be made easier to read and maintain by using references
ratherthanpointers.AC++functioncanreturnareferenceinasimilarwayasit returns a
pointer.
When a function returns a reference, it returns an implicit pointer to its return
value. This way, a function can be used on the left side of an assignment
statement. For example, consider this simple program:

#include<iostream>
#include <ctime>

usingnamespacestd;

doublevals[]={10.1,12.6,33.1,24.1,50.0};

double&setValues(inti)
{
returnvals[i]; //returnareferencetotheithelement
}

//mainfunctiontocallabovedefinedfunction.
int main ()

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C++

cout<<"Valuebeforechange"<<endl; for
( int i = 0; i < 5; i++ )
{
cout<<"vals["<<i<<"]="; cout
<< vals[i] << endl;
}

setValues(1)=20.23;//change2ndelement
setValues(3)=70.8;//change4thelement

cout<<"Valueafterchange"<<endl; for
( int i = 0; i < 5; i++ )
{
cout<<"vals["<<i<<"]= "; cout
<< vals[i] << endl;
}
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledtogetherandexecuted,itproducesthe following
result:

Valuebeforechange
vals[0] = 10.1
vals[1] = 12.6
vals[2] = 33.1
vals[3] = 24.1
vals[4] = 50
Valueaftercha nge
vals[0] =
10.1
vals[1] = 20.23
vals[2] = 33.1
vals[3] = 70.8

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C++

vals[4]= 50

Whenreturningareference,be carefulthat the objectbeingreferredtodoesnot go


out of scope. So it is not legal to return a reference to local var. But you can
always return a reference on a static variable.

int&func(){
int q;
//!returnq;//Compiletimeerror static int x;

returnx; //Safe,xlivesoutsidethis scope


}

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C++

20. DATEANDTIME

The C++ standard library does not provide a proper date type. C++ inherits the
structs and functions for date and time manipulation from C. To access date and
time related functions and structures, you would need to include <ctime>header
file in your C++ program.
Therearefourtime-relatedtypes:clock_t, time_t, size_t,andtm.Thetypes- clock_t,
size_t and time_t are capable of representing the system time and date as some
sort of integer.
The structure typetmholds the date and time in the form of a C structurehaving
the following elements:

structtm{
int tm_sec; //secondsofminutesfrom0to61
int tm_min; // minutes of hour from 0 to
59 int tm_hour;// hours of day from 0 to 24
int tm_mday;// day of month from 1 to
31 int tm_mon;
//monthofyearfrom0to11 int
tm_year;// year since 1900
inttm_wday;//dayssincesunday
inttm_yday;//dayssinceJanuary1st
inttm_isdst;//hoursofdaylightsavingstime
}
Followingare the importantfunctions, whichweusewhile workingwith dateand time
in Cor C++. Allthese functions are partofstandard Cand C++ library and you can
check their detail using reference to C++ standard library given below.

SN Function&Purpose

1 time_ttime(time_t*time);

This returns the current calendar time of the system in number ofseconds
elapsed since January 1, 1970. If the system has no time, .1 is returned.

2 char*ctime(consttime_t*time);
This returns a pointer to a string of the formday month year

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C++

hours:minutes:secondsyear\n\0.

3 structtm*localtime(consttime_t*time);
Thisreturnsapointertothetmstructurerepresentinglocaltime.

4 clock_tclock(void);

This returns a value that approximates the amount of time the calling
program has been running. A value of .1 is returned if the time is not
available.

5 char*asctime(conststructtm*time);

This returns a pointer to a string that contains the information stored in


the structure pointed to by time converted into the form: day month date
hours:minutes:seconds year\n\0

6 structtm*gmtime(consttime_t*time);

This returns a pointer to the time in the form of a tm structure. The time
is represented in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is essentially
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

7 time_tmktime(structtm*time);

Thisreturnsthecalendar-timeequivalentofthetimefoundinthe structure
pointed to by time.

8 doubledifftime(time_ttime2,time_ttime1);

Thisfunctioncalculatesthedifferenceinsecondsbetweentime1and time2.

9 size_tstrftime();
Thisfunctioncanbeusedtoformatdateandtimeinaspecificformat.

CurrentDateand Time
Suppose youwanttoretrieve the currentsystemdateandtime, eitheras a local time
or as a Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following is the example to achieve
the same:

#include<iostream>
#include <ctime>

145
C++

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//currentdate/timebasedoncurrentsystem
time_t now = time(0);

//convertnowtostringform
char* dt = ctime(&now);

cout<<"Thelocaldateandtimeis:"<<dt<< endl;

//convertnowtotmstructforUTC tm
*gmtm = gmtime(&now);
dt=asctime(gmtm);
cout<<"TheUTCdateandtimeis:"<<dt<< endl;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Thelocaldateandtimeis:SatJan820:07:412011

TheUTCdateandtimeis:SunJan903:07:412011

FormatTimeusingstructtm

Thetmstructure is very important while working with date and time in either C or
C++. This structure holds the date and time in the form of a C structure as
mentioned above. Most of the time related functions makes use of tm structure.
Following is an example which makes use of various date and time related
functions and tm structure:
While using structure in this chapter, I'm making an assumption that you have
basic understanding on C structure and how to access structure members using
arrow -> operator.

#include<iostream>
#include <ctime>

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C++

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
//currentdate/timebasedoncurrentsystem time_t now = time(0);

cout<<"NumberofsecsinceJanuary1,1970:"<<now<<endl;

tm*ltm= localtime(&now);

//printvariouscomponentsoftmstructure.
cout << "Year:"<<1900+ltm->tm_year<<endl;
cout << "Month:"<<1+ltm->tm_mon<<endl;
cout << "Day:"<<ltm->tm_mday<<endl;
cout << "Time:"<<1+ltm->tm_hour<<":";
cout << 1+ltm->tm_min<<":";
cout << 1+ltm->tm_sec<<endl;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

NumberofsecsinceJanuary1,1970:1294548238
Year: 2011
Month:1
Day:8
Time:22:44:59

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C++

21.BASICINPUT/OUTPUT

The C++ standard libraries provide an extensive set of input/output capabilities


which we will see in subsequent chapters. This chapter will discuss very basic
and most common I/O operations required for C++ programming.
C++ I/O occurs in streams, which are sequences of bytes. If bytes flow from a
device like a keyboard, a disk drive, or a network connection etc. to main
memory,thisiscalledinput operationandifbytesflowfrommainmemorytoa device
like a display screen, a printer, a disk drive, or a network connection,etc., this is
called output operation.
I/OLibraryHeaderFiles
TherearefollowingheaderfilesimportanttoC++programs:

HeaderFile FunctionandDescription

<iostream> This file defines thecin,cout,cerrandclogobjects, which


correspond to the standard input stream, the standard output
stream, the un-buffered standard error stream and the
buffered standard error stream, respectively.

<iomanip> This file declares services useful for performing formatted I/O
withso-calledparameterizedstreammanipulators,such as setw
and setprecision.

<fstream> This file declares services for user-controlled file processing.


We will discuss about it in detail in File and Stream related
chapter.

TheStandardOutputStream(cout)
The predefined objectcoutis an instance ofostreamclass. The cout object is said
to be "connected to" the standard output device, which usually is thedisplay
screen. Thecoutis used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator, which
is written as << which are two less than signs as shown in the following
example.

#include<iostream>

148
C++

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
charstr[]="HelloC++";

cout<<"Valueofstris:"<<str<<endl;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Valueofstris:HelloC++

The C++ compiler also determines the data type of variable to be output and
selects the appropriate stream insertion operator to display the value. The <<
operator is overloaded to output data items of built-in types integer, float,
double, strings and pointer values.
The insertion operator << may be used more than once in a single statement as
shown above andendlis used to add a new-line at the end of the line.
TheStandardInputStream (cin)

The predefined objectcinis an instance ofistreamclass. The cin object is said


tobeattachedtothestandardinputdevice,whichusuallyisthekeyboard. Thecinis
used in conjunction with the stream extraction operator, which is written as >>
which are two greater than signs as shown in the following example.

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
charname[50];

cout<<"Pleaseenteryourname:"; cin
>> name;
cout<<"Yournameis:"<<name<<endl;

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C++

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itwillpromptyoutoentera name. You


enter a value and then hit enter to see the following result:

Pleaseenteryourname:cplusplus
Your name is: cplusplus

The C++ compiler also determines the data type of the entered value andselects
the appropriate streamextraction operator to extract the value andstore it in the
given variables.
The stream extraction operator >> may be used more than once in a single
statement. To request more than one datum you can use the following:

cin>>name>> age;

Thiswillbeequivalenttothefollowingtwo statements:

cin>>name;
cin >> age;

TheStandardErrorStream(cerr)

The predefined objectcerris an instance ofostreamclass. The cerr object is said


to be attached to the standard error device, which is also a display screen but
the objectcerris un-buffered and each stream insertion to cerr causes its output
to appear immediately.

Thecerris also used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator as shown
in the following example.

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
charstr[]="Unableto read.....";

cerr<<"Errormessage:"<<str<< endl;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

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C++

Errormessage:Unabletoread....

TheStandardLogStream(clog)

The predefined objectclogis an instance ofostreamclass. The clog object is said


to be attached to the standard error device, which is also a display screen but
the objectclogis buffered. This means that each insertion to clog could cause its
output to be held in a buffer until the buffer is filled or until the bufferis flushed.
Theclogis also used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator as shown
in the following example.

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
charstr[]="Unableto read.....";

clog<<"Errormessage:"<<str<< endl;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Errormessage:Unabletoread....

You would not be able to see any difference in cout, cerr and clog with these
small examples, but while writing and executing big programs the difference
becomes obvious. So it is good practice to display error messages using cerr
stream and while displaying other log messages then clog should be used.

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C++

22. DATASTRUCTURES

C/C++ arrays allow you to define variables that combine several data items of
thesame kind, butstructureis another user defined datatype which allows you to
combine data items of different kinds.
Structures are used to represent a record, suppose you want to keep track of
your books in a library. You might want to track the following attributes about
each book:
 Title
 Author
 Subject
 Book ID
DefiningaStructure
To define a structure, you must use the struct statement. The struct statement
defines a new data type, with more than one member, for your program. The
format of the struct statement is this:

struct[structuretag]
{
memberdefinition;
memberdefinition;
...
memberdefinition;
}[oneormorestructurevariables];

Thestructure tagis optional and each member definition is a normal variable


definition, such as int i; or float f; or any other valid variable definition. At the
end of the structure's definition, before the final semicolon, you can specify one
or more structure variables but it is optional. Here is the way you would declare
the Book structure:

structBooks
{
chartitle[50];
charauthor[50];
charsubject[100];

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C++

int book_id;
}book;

AccessingStructureMembers

To access any member of a structure, we use thememberaccessoperator (.).


The member access operator is coded as a period between the structure
variablenameandthestructurememberthatwewishtoaccess.Youwould
usestructkeyword to define variables of structure type. Following is the example
to explain usage of structure:

#include<iostream>
#include<cstring>

usingnamespacestd;

structBooks
{
chartitle[50]; charauthor[50]; charsubject[100]; intbook_id;
};

intmain()
{
structBooksBook1; structBooksBook2;
//DeclareBook1oftypeBook
//DeclareBook2oftypeBook

//book1specification
strcpy(Book1.title,"LearnC++Programming"); strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miya
strcpy(Book1.subject,"C++Programming");
Book1.book_id=6495407;

//book2specification
strcpy(Book2.title,"TelecomBilling");

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C++

strcpy(Book2.author,"YakitSingha");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;

//PrintBook1info
cout <<"Book 1 title : "<< Book1.title <<endl;
cout <<"Book 1 author : "<< Book1.author
<<endl;
cout<<"Book1subject:"<<Book1.subject<<endl;
cout <<"Book 1 id : "<< Book1.book_id <<endl;

//PrintBook2info
cout <<"Book 2 title : "<< Book2.title <<endl;
cout <<"Book 2 author : "<< Book2.author
<<endl;
cout<<"Book2subject:"<<Book2.subject<<endl;
cout <<"Book 2 id : "<< Book2.book_id <<endl;

return0;
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Book 1 title:LearnC++Programming
Book 1 author:ChandMiyan
Book 1 subject:C++ Programming
Book 1 id: 6495407
Book 2 title:Telecom Billing
Book 2 author:YakitSingha
Book 2 subject:Telecom
Book 2 id: 6495700

StructuresasFunctionArguments

You can pass a structure as a function argument in very similar way as you pass
any other variable or pointer. You would access structure variables in the similar
way as you have accessed in the above example:

#include<iostream>
#include <cstring>

154
C++

usingnamespacestd;
voidprintBook(structBooksbook );

structBooks
{
chartitle[50];
charauthor[50];
charsubject[100];
int book_id;
};

intmain()
{
struct Books Book1; //DeclareBook1oftypeBook
structBooksBook2; //DeclareBook2oftypeBook

//book1specification
strcpy(Book1.title,"LearnC++Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan");
strcpy(Book1.subject,"C++Programming");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;

//book2specification
strcpy(Book2.title,"TelecomBilling");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;

//PrintBook1info
printBook(Book1);

//PrintBook2info
printBook(Book2);

155
C++

return0;
}
voidprintBook(structBooksbook)
{
cout <<"Book title : "<< book.title <<endl;
cout <<"Book author : "<< book.author
<<endl;
cout<<"Booksubject:"<<book.subject<<endl;
cout <<"Book id : "<< book.book_id <<endl;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Booktitle:LearnC++Programming
Book author : Chand Miyan
Booksubject:C++Programming
Book id : 6495407
Booktitle:TelecomBilling
Book author : Yakit Singha
Book subject : Telecom
Bookid:6495700

PointerstoStructures
Youcandefinepointerstostructures in verysimilar way as you definepointer to any
other variable as follows:

structBooks*struct_pointer;

Now, you can store the address of a structure variable in the above defined
pointer variable. To find the address of a structure variable, place the ‘&’
operator before the structure's name as follows:

struct_pointer=&Book1;

Toaccessthemembersofastructureusingapointertothatstructure,youmust use the -


> operator as follows:

struct_pointer->title;

Let us re-write above example using structure pointer, hope this will be easy for
you to understand the concept:

156
C++

#include<iostream>
#include <cstring>

usingnamespacestd;
voidprintBook(structBooks*book);

structBooks
{
chartitle[50];
charauthor[50];
charsubject[100];
int book_id;
};

intmain()
{
struct Books Book1; //DeclareBook1oftypeBook
structBooksBook2; //DeclareBook2oftypeBook

//Book1specification
strcpy(Book1.title,"LearnC++Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan");
strcpy(Book1.subject,"C++Programming");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;

//Book2specification
strcpy(Book2.title,"TelecomBilling");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;

//PrintBook1info,passingaddressofstructure
printBook( &Book1 );

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C++

//PrintBook1info,passingaddressofstructure
printBook( &Book2 );

return0;
}
//Thisfunctionacceptpointertostructureasparameter.
void printBook( struct Books *book )
{
cout <<"Book title : "<< book->title <<endl;
cout <<"Book author : "<< book->author
<<endl; cout<<"Booksubject:"<<book-
>subject<<endl; cout <<"Book id : "<< book-
>book_id <<endl;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Booktitle:LearnC++Programming
Book author : Chand Miyan
Booksubject:C++Programming
Book id : 6495407
Booktitle:TelecomBilling
Book author : Yakit Singha
Book subject : Telecom
Bookid:6495700

ThetypedefKeyword

Thereisaneasierwaytodefinestructsoryoucould"alias"typesyoucreate. For
example:

typedefstruct
{
chartitle[50];
charauthor[50];
charsubject[100];
int book_id;
}Books;

158
C++

Now, you can useBooksdirectly to define variables ofBookstype without using


struct keyword. Following is the example:

BooksBook1,Book2;

Youcanusetypedefkeywordfornon-structsaswellasfollows:

typedeflongint*pint32;

pint32x,y,z;

x,yandzareallpointerstolongints.

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C++

23. CLASSESANDOBJECTS

The main purpose of C++ programming is to add object orientation to the C


programming language and classes are the central feature of C++ that supports
object-oriented programming and are often called user-defined types.
A class is used to specify the form of an object and it combines data
representation and methods for manipulating that data into one neat package.
The data and functions within a class are called members of the class.
C++Class Definitions

When you define a class, you define a blueprint for a data type. This doesn't
actually define any data, but it does define what the class name means, that is,
what an object of the class will consist of and what operations can be performed
on such an object.
A class definition starts with the keywordclassfollowed by the class name; and
the class body, enclosed by a pair of curly braces. A class definition must be
followed either by a semicolon or a list of declarations. For example, we define
the Box data type using the keywordclassas follows:

classBox
{
public:
double length; // Length of a
box
doublebreadth;//Breadthofabox
double height; // Height of a
box
The keywordpublicdetermines the access attributes of the members of the class
that follows it. A public member can be accessed from outside the class
anywherewithin the scope ofthe classobject.Youcanalso specifythe members of a
class asprivateor protectedwhich we will discuss in a sub-section.
DefineC++Objects
A class provides the blueprints for objects, so basically an object is created from
a class. We declare objects of a class with exactly the same sort of declaration
that we declare variables of basic types. Following statements declare two
objects of class Box:

BoxBox1; //DeclareBox1oftypeBox
BoxBox2; //DeclareBox2oftypeBox

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C++

BothoftheobjectsBox1andBox2willhavetheirowncopyofdatamembers.
Accessing the Data Members
The public data members of objects of a class can be accessed using the direct
memberaccessoperator(.).Letustrythe followingexample tomake the things clear:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classBox
{
public:
double length;// Length of a box doublebreadth;//Breadthofabox double height;/
};

intmain()
{
BoxBox1; BoxBox2;
//DeclareBox1oftypeBox
//DeclareBox2oftypeBox

doublevolume= 0.0; //Storethevolumeofabox here

//box1 specification
Box1.height= 5.0;
Box1.length=6.0;
Box1.breadth=7.0;

//box2 specification
Box2.height=10.0;
Box2.length=12.0;
Box2.breadth=13.0;
//volumeofbox1
volume=Box1.height*Box1.length*Box1.breadth;

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C++

cout<<"VolumeofBox1:"<<volume<<endl;

//volumeofbox2
volume=Box2.height*Box2.length*Box2.breadth;
cout <<"Volume of Box2 : "<< volume <<endl;
return 0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Volume of Box1 : 210


VolumeofBox2:1560

It is important to note that private and protected members cannot be accessed


directly using direct member access operator (.). We will learn how private and
protected members can be accessed.
Classes&Objectsin Detail

So far, you have got very basic idea about C++ Classes and Objects. There are
further interesting concepts related to C++ Classes and Objects which we will
discuss in various sub-sections listed below:

Concept Description

Classmemberfunctions Amemberfunctionofaclass isafunctionthat has


its definition or its prototype within the class
definition like any other variable.

Classaccessmodifiers A class member can be defined as public,


private or protected. By default members
would be assumed as private.

Constructor& destructor A class constructor is a special function in a


class that is called when a new object of the
class is created. A destructor is also a special
function which is called when createdobject is
deleted.

C++copyconstructor The copy constructor is a constructor which


creates an object by initializing it with an
objectofthesameclass,whichhasbeen

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createdpreviously.

C++friendfunctions Afriendfunctionispermittedfullaccessto private


and protected members of a class.

C++inlinefunctions With an inline function, the compiler tries to


expand the code in the body of the function in
place of a call to the function.

ThethispointerinC++ Everyobjecthasaspecialpointerthiswhich points


to the object itself.

PointertoC++classes A pointer to a class is done exactly the same


way a pointer to a structure is. In fact a class
is really just a structure with functions in it.

Staticmembersofaclass Both data members and function members of


a class can be declared as static.

Classmemberfunctions
A member function of a class is a function that has its definition or its prototype
within the class definition like any other variable. It operates on any object ofthe
class of which it is a member, and has access to all the members of a class for
that object.
Let us take previously defined class to access the members of the class using a
member function instead of directly accessing them:

class Box
{
public:
doublelength;
doublebreadth; double height;
//Lengthofabox
//Breadthofabox
//Heightofabox

doublegetVolume(void);//Returnsboxvolume
};

Memberfunctionscanbedefinedwithintheclassdefinitionorseparately
usingscoperesolutionoperator,::.Definingamemberfunctionwithinthe

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classdefinitiondeclaresthefunction inline,evenifyoudonotusetheinline specifier.


So either you can defineVolume() function as below:

class Box
{
public:
doublelength;
doublebreadth; double height;
//Lengthofabox
//Breadthofabox
//Heightofabox

doublegetVolume(void)
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}

};

If you like, you can define the same function outside the class usingthe scope
resolution operator (::) as follows:

doubleBox::getVolume(void)
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}

Here,onlyimportantpointisthatyouwouldhavetouseclassnamejustbefore
:: operator.Amemberfunctionwillbe calledusingadotoperator(.) onaobject where it
will manipulate data related to that object only as follows:

BoxmyBox; //Createanobject

myBox.getVolume();//Callmemberfunctionfortheobject

Let us put above concepts to set and get the value of different class members in
a class:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

class Box

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{
public:
double length; // Length of a
box double breadth; //Breadthofabox
double height; // Height of a
box

//Memberfunctionsdeclaration
double getVolume(void);
void setLength( double len );
voidsetBreadth(doublebre);
void setHeight( double hei );
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitions
double Box::getVolume(void)
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}

voidBox::setLength(doublelen)
{
length= len;
}

voidBox::setBreadth(doublebre)
{
breadth=bre;
}

voidBox::setHeight(doublehei)
{
height= hei;
}

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//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
intmain()
{

BoxBox1; //DeclareBox1oftypeBox
BoxBox2; //DeclareBox2oftype Box
doublevolume=0.0; //Storethevolumeofabox here

//box1 specification
Box1.setLength(6.0);
Box1.setBreadth(7.0); Box1.setHeight(5.0);

//box2 specification
Box2.setLength(12.0); Box2.setBreadth(13.0); Box2.setHeight(10.0);

//volumeofbox1
volume=Box1.getVolume();
cout<<"VolumeofBox1:"<<volume<<endl;

//volumeofbox2
volume=Box2.getVolume();
cout<<"VolumeofBox2:"<<volume<<endl; return 0;

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Volume of Box1 : 210


VolumeofBox2:1560

ClassAccessModifiers

DatahidingisoneoftheimportantfeaturesofObjectOrientedProgramming
whichallowspreventingthefunctionsofaprogramtoaccessdirectlythe

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C++

internal representation of a class type. The access restriction to the class


members is specified by the labeledpublic,private,andprotectedsections
within the class body. The keywords public, private, and protected are called
access specifiers.
A class can have multiple public, protected, or private labeled sections. Each
section remains in effect until either another section label or the closing right
brace of the class body is seen. The default access for members and classes is
private.

classBase{

public:

//publicmembersgo here

protected:

//protectedmembersgohere

private:

//privatemembersgohere

};

ThepublicMembers

Apublicmember is accessible from anywhere outside the class but within a


program. You can set and get the value of public variables without any member
function as shown in the following example:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classLine
{
public:
doublelength;

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voidsetLength(doublelen);
double getLength( void );
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitions
double Line::getLength(void)
{
returnlength;
}

voidLine::setLength(doublelen)
{
length=len;
}

//Mainfunctionfortheprogram int
main( )
{
Lineline;

// set line length


line.setLength(6.0
);
cout<<"Lengthofline:"<<line.getLength()<<endl;

// set line length without member function


line.length=10.0;//OK:becauselengthispublic
cout <<"Length of line : "<< line.length
<<endl; return 0;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Length of line : 6
Lengthofline:10

TheprivateMembers

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C++

Aprivatemember variable or function cannot be accessed, or even viewed from


outside the class. Only the class and friend functions can access private
members.
By default all the members of a class would be private, for example in the
following classwidthis a private member, which means until you label a
member, it will be assumed a private member:

classBox
{
doublewidth;
public:
doublelength;
voidsetWidth(doublewid);
double getWidth( void );
};

Practically, we define data in private section and related functions in public


section so that they can be called from outside of the class as shown in the
following program.

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classBox
{
public:
doublelength;
voidsetWidth(doublewid);
double getWidth( void );

private:
doublewidth;
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitions
double Box::getWidth(void)

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{
returnwidth;
}

voidBox::setWidth(doublewid)
{
width=wid;
}

//Mainfunctionfortheprogram int
main( )
{
Boxbox;

// set box length without member function


box.length=10.0;//OK:becauselengthispublic
cout <<"Length of box : "<< box.length <<endl;

//setboxwidthwithoutmemberfunction
//box.width=10.0;//Error:becausewidthisprivate
box.setWidth(10.0);// Use member function to set
it. cout <<"Width of box : "<< box.getWidth()
<<endl;

return0;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Lengthofbox:10
Width of box : 10

TheprotectedMembers

Aprotectedmember variableor functionisvery similar to aprivatemember but it


provided one additional benefit that they can be accessed in child classes which
are called derived classes.

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C++

You will learn derived classes and inheritance in next chapter. For now you can
check following example where I have derived one child classSmallBoxfrom a
parent class Box.
Following example is similar to above example and herewidthmember will be
accessible by any member function of its derived class SmallBox.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classBox
{
protected:
doublewidth
;
};

classSmallBox:Box//SmallBoxisthederivedclass.
{
public:
voidsetSmallWidth(doublewid);
double getSmallWidth( void );
};

// Member functions of child class


doubleSmallBox::getSmallWidth(void
)
{
returnwidth;
}

voidSmallBox::setSmallWidth(doublewid)
{
width=wid;
}

//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( ) 171
C++
{

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C++

SmallBoxbox;

//setboxwidthusingmemberfunction
box.setSmallWidth(5.0);
cout<<"Widthofbox:"<<box.getSmallWidth()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Widthofbox:5

Constructor&Destructor

A classconstructoris a special member function of a class that is executed


whenever we create new objects of that class.
A constructor will have exact same name as the class and it does not have any
return type at all, not even void. Constructors can be very useful for setting
initial values for certain member variables.
Followingexampleexplainstheconceptofconstructor:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classLine
{
public:
voidsetLength(doublelen);
double getLength( void );
Line();//Thisistheconstructor

private:
doublelength;
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitionsincludingconstructor

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Line::Line(void)
{
cout<<"Objectisbeingcreated"<<endl;
}

voidLine::setLength(doublelen)
{
length=len;
}

doubleLine::getLength(void)
{
returnlength;
}
//Mainfunctionfortheprogram int
main( )
{
Lineline;

// set line length


line.setLength(6.0
);
cout<<"Lengthofline:"<<line.getLength()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Objectisbeingcreated
Length of line : 6

ParameterizedConstructor

A default constructor does not have any parameter, but if you need, a
constructor can have parameters. This helps you to assign initial value to an
object at the time of its creation as shown in the following example:

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#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classLine
{
public:
voidsetLength(doublelen);
double getLength( void );
Line(doublelen);//Thisistheconstructor

private:
doublelength;
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitionsincludingconstructor
Line::Line( double len)
{
cout<<"Objectisbeingcreated,length="<<len<<endl; length =
len;
}

voidLine::setLength(doublelen)
{
length=len;
}

doubleLine::getLength(void)
{
returnlength;
}
//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( )
{

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Lineline(10.0);

//getinitiallysetlength.
cout<<"Lengthofline:"<<line.getLength()<<endl;
//setlinelengthagain
line.setLength(6.0);
cout<<"Lengthofline:"<<line.getLength()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Objectisbeingcreated,length=10
Length of line : 10
Lengthofline:6

UsingInitializationListstoInitializeFields
In case of parameterized constructor, you can use following syntax to
initializethe fields:

Line::Line(doublelen):length(len)
{
cout<<"Objectisbeingcreated,length="<<len<<endl;
}

Abovesyntaxisequaltothefollowingsyntax:

Line::Line(doublelen)
{
cout<<"Objectisbeingcreated,length="<<len<<endl;
length = len;
}

If for a class C, you have multiple fields X, Y, Z, etc., to be initialized, then use
can use same syntax and separate the fields by comma as follows:

C::C(doublea,doubleb,doublec):X(a),Y(b),Z(c)
{

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....
}

TheClassDestructor

Adestructoris a special member function of a class that is executed whenever


an object of it's class goes out of scope or whenever the delete expression is
applied to a pointer to the object of that class.
A destructor will have exact same name as the class prefixed with a tilde (~)and
it can neither return a value nor can it take any parameters. Destructor can be
very useful for releasing resources before coming out of the program like closing
files, releasing memories etc.
Followingexampleexplainstheconceptofdestructor:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classLine
{
public:
voidsetLength(doublelen);
double getLength( void );
Line(); //Thisistheconstructordeclaration
~Line();//Thisisthedestructor:declaration

private:
doublelength;
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitionsincludingconstructor
Line::Line(void)
{
cout<<"Objectisbeingcreated"<< endl;
}
Line::~Line(void)
{

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cout<<"Objectisbeingdeleted"<<endl;
}

voidLine::setLength(doublelen)
{
length=len;
}

doubleLine::getLength(void)
{
returnlength;
}
//Mainfunctionfortheprogram int
main( )
{
Lineline;

// set line length


line.setLength(6.0
);
cout<<"Lengthofline:"<<line.getLength()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Objectisbeingcreated
Length of line : 6
Objectisbeingdeleted

CopyConstructor

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C++

Thecopy constructor is a constructor which creates an object by initializing it


with an object of the same class, which has been created previously. The copy
constructor is used to:
 Initializeoneobjectfromanotherofthesametype.
 Copyanobjecttopassit asanargumenttoafunction.
 Copyanobjecttoreturnitfroma function.
If a copy constructor is not defined in a class, the compiler itself defines one.If
the class has pointer variables and has some dynamic memory allocations, then
it is a must to have a copy constructor. The most common form of copy
constructor is shown here:

classname(constclassname&obj){
//bodyofconstructor
}

Here,obj isareferencetoanobjectthatisbeingusedtoinitializeanother object.

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classLine
{
public:
intgetLength(void);
Line( int len ); //simpleconstructor
Line( const Line &obj);// copy constructor
~Line(); //destructor

private:
int*ptr;
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitionsincludingconstructor
Line::Line(int len)
{

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cout<<"Normalconstructorallocatingptr"<<endl;
//allocatememoryforthepointer; ptr
= new int;
*ptr=len;
}

Line::Line(constLine&obj)
{
cout<<"Copyconstructorallocatingptr."<<endl; ptr
= new int;
*ptr=*obj.ptr;//copythe value
}

Line::~Line(void)
{
cout<<"Freeingmemory!"<<endl;
delete ptr;
}
intLine::getLength(void)
{
return*ptr;
}

voiddisplay(Lineobj)
{
cout<<"Lengthofline:"<<obj.getLength()<<endl;
}

//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( )
{
Lineline(10);

display(line);

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return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Normalconstructorallocatingptr
Copy constructor allocating
ptr. Length of line : 10
Freeingmemory!
Freeingmemory!

Let us see the same example but with a small change to create another
objectusing existing object of the same type:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classLine
{
public:
intgetLength(void);
Line( int len ); //simpleconstructor
Line( const Line &obj);// copy constructor
~Line(); //destructor

private:
int*ptr;
};

//Memberfunctionsdefinitionsincludingconstructor
Line::Line(int len)
{
cout<<"Normalconstructorallocatingptr"<<endl;
//allocatememoryforthepointer;
ptr = new int;

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*ptr=len;
}

Line::Line(constLine&obj)
{
cout<<"Copyconstructorallocatingptr."<<endl; ptr
= new int;
*ptr=*obj.ptr;//copythe value
}

Line::~Line(void)
{
cout<<"Freeingmemory!"<<endl;
delete ptr;
}
intLine::getLength(void)
{
return*ptr;
}

voiddisplay(Lineobj)
{
cout<<"Lengthofline:"<<obj.getLength()<<endl;
}

//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( )
{
Lineline1(10);

Lineline2=line1;//Thisalsocallscopyconstructor

display(line1);
display(line2);

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return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Normalconstructorallocatingptr
Copy constructor allocating
ptr. Copy constructor
allocating ptr. Length of
line : 10
Freeingmemory!
Copyconstructorallocatingptr.
Length of line : 10
Freeingmemory
!
Freeingmemory
FriendFunctions

A friend function of a class is defined outside that class' scope but it has theright
to access all private and protected members of the class. Even though the
prototypes for friend functions appear in the class definition, friends are not
member functions.
A friend can be a function, function template, or member function, or a class or
class template, in which case the entire class and all of its members are friends.
Todeclare afunction asafriendof aclass, precede the function prototype in the
class definition with keyword friend as follows:

class Box
{
doublewidth;
public:
doublelength;
friendvoidprintWidth(Boxbox);
void setWidth( double wid );
};

To declare all member functions of class ClassTwo as friends of class ClassOne,


place a following declaration in the definition of class ClassOne:

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friendclassClassTwo;

Considerthefollowingprogram:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

class Box
{
doublewidth;
public:
friendvoidprintWidth(Boxbox);
void setWidth( double wid );
};

// Member function definition


voidBox::setWidth(doublewid)
{
width=wid;
}

//Note:printWidth()isnotamemberfunctionofanyclass. void
printWidth( Box box )
{
/*BecauseprintWidth()isafriendofBox,itcan directly
access any member of this class */
cout<<"Widthofbox:"<<box.width<<endl;
}

//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( )
{
Boxbox;

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//setboxwidthwithoutmemberfunction
box.setWidth(10.0);

//Usefriendfunctiontoprintthewdith.
printWidth( box );

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Widthofbox:10

InlineFunctions

C++inlinefunction ispowerfulconceptthat iscommonlyused with classes.Ifa


function is inline, the compiler places a copy of the code of that function at each
point where the function is called at compile time.
Any change to an inline function could require all clients of the function to be
recompiled because compiler would need to replace all the code once again
otherwise it will continue with old functionality.
To inline a function, place the keywordinline before the function name and
define the function before any calls are made to the function. The compiler can
ignore the inline qualifier in case defined function is more than a line.
A function definition in a class definition is an inline function definition, even
without the use of the inline specifier.
Following isanexample,whichmakesuseofinlinefunctiontoreturnmaxoftwo
numbers:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

inlineintMax(intx,inty)
{
return(x>y)?x:y;
}

//Mainfunctionfortheprogram

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intmain()
{

cout<<"Max(20,10):"<<Max(20,10)<<endl;
cout<<"Max(0,200):"<<Max(0,200)<<endl;
cout<<"Max(100,1010):"<<Max(100,1010)<<endl;
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Max(20,10):20
Max(0,200):200
Max(100,1010):1010

thisPointer

Every object in C++ has access to its own address through an important pointer
calledthispointer. Thethis pointer is an implicit parameter to all member
functions. Therefore, inside a member function, this may be used to refer to the
invoking object.

Friend functions do not have a this pointer, because friends are not members of
a class. Only member functions have a this pointer.
Letustrythefollowingexampletounderstandtheconceptofthispointer:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

class Box
{
public:
//Constructordefinition
Box(doublel=2.0,doubleb=2.0,doubleh=2.0)
{
cout<<"Constructorcalled."<<endl;
length = l;
breadth= b;

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height=h;
}
doubleVolume()
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}
intcompare(Boxbox)
{
returnthis->Volume()>box.Volume();
}
private:
double length; // Length of a
box double breadth;
//Breadthofabox
double height; // Height of a
box
};

intmain(void)
{
Box Box1(3.3, 1.2, 1.5); //Declarebox1
BoxBox2(8.5,6.0,2.0); //Declarebox2

if(Box1.compare(Box2))
{
cout<<"Box2issmallerthanBox1"<<endl;
}
else
{
cout<<"Box2isequaltoorlargerthanBox1"<<endl;
}
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:
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Constructorcalled.
C++

Constructorcalled.
Box2isequaltoorlargerthanBox1

PointertoC++Classes

A pointer to a C++ class is done exactly the same way as a pointer to astructure
and to access members of a pointer to a class you use the member access
operator->operator, just as you do with pointers to structures. Also as with all
pointers, you must initialize the pointer before using it.
Letustrythefollowingexampletounderstandtheconceptofpointertoaclass:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

class Box
{
public:
//Constructordefinition
Box(doublel=2.0,doubleb=2.0,doubleh=2.0)
{
cout<<"Constructorcalled."<<endl; length = l;
breadth=b; height = h;
}
doubleVolume()
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}
private:

doublelength; //Lengthofabox
doublebreadth; double
//Breadthofabox
height;
//Heightofabox

};

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intmain(void)
{
BoxBox1(3.3,1.2,1.5);
BoxBox2(8.5,6.0,2.0); //Declarebox1
Box*ptrBox; //Declarebox2
//Declarepointertoaclass.

//Savetheaddressoffirstobject
ptrBox=&Box1;

//Nowtrytoaccessamemberusingmemberaccessoperator
cout<<"VolumeofBox1:"<<ptrBox->Volume()<<endl;

//Savetheaddressoffirstobject
ptrBox=&Box2;

//Nowtrytoaccessamemberusingmemberaccessoperator
cout<<"VolumeofBox2:"<<ptrBox->Volume()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Constructor called.
Constructor called.
VolumeofBox1:5.94
Volume of Box2: 102

StaticMembersofaClass

We can define class members static usingstatickeyword. When we declare a


member of a class as static it means no matter how many objects of the class
are created, there is only one copy of the static member.
A static member is shared by all objects of the class. All static data is initialized
to zero when the first object is created, if no other initialization is present. We
can't put it in the class definition but it can be initialized outside the class as
done in the following example by redeclaring the static variable, using the scope
resolution operator::to identify which class it belongs to.

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Letustrythefollowingexampletounderstandtheconceptofstaticdata members:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classBox
{
public:
staticintobjectCount;
//Constructordefinition
Box(doublel=2.0,doubleb=2.0,doubleh=2.0)
{
cout<<"Constructorcalled."<<endl;
length = l;
breadth=b;
height = h;
//Increaseeverytimeobjectiscreated
objectCount++;
}
doubleVolume()
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}
private:
double length; // Length of a
box double breadth;
//Breadthofabox
double height; // Height of a
box
};

//InitializestaticmemberofclassBox
int Box::objectCount = 0;

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int main(void)

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{
BoxBox1(3.3,1.2,1.5); //Declarebox1
BoxBox2(8.5,6.0,2.0); //Declarebox2

//Printtotalnumberofobjects.
cout<<"Totalobjects:"<<Box::objectCount<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Constructorcalled
.
Constructorcalled
. Total objects:
StaticFunctionMembers
By declaring a function member as static, you make it independent of any
particular object of the class. A static member function can be called even if no
objects of the class exist and thestaticfunctions are accessed using only the
class name and the scope resolution operator::.
A static member function can only access static data member, other static
member functions and any other functions from outside the class.
Staticmemberfunctionshaveaclassscopeandtheydonothaveaccessto
thethispointer of the class. You could use a static member function to determine
whether some objects of the class have been created or not.
Let us try the following example to understand the concept of static function
members:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

classBox
{
public:
staticintobjectCount;
//Constructordefinition

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Box(doublel=2.0,doubleb=2.0,doubleh=2.0)
{
cout<<"Constructorcalled."<<endl;
length = l;
breadth=b;
height = h;
//Increaseeverytimeobjectiscreated
objectCount++;
}
doubleVolume()
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}
staticintgetCount()
{
returnobjectCount;
}
private:
double length; // Length of a
box double breadth;
//Breadthofabox
double height; // Height of a
box
};

//InitializestaticmemberofclassBox
int Box::objectCount = 0;

int main(void)
{

// Print total number of objects before creating


object.
cout<<"InitalStageCount:"<<Box::getCount()<<endl;

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Box Box1(3.3, 1.2, 1.5); //Declarebox1


BoxBox2(8.5,6.0,2.0); //Declarebox2

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// Print total number of objects after creating


object.
cout<<"FinalStageCount:"<<Box::getCount()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

InitalStageCount:0
Constructor called.
Constructor called.
FinalStageCount:2

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24. INHERITANCE

One of the most important concepts in object-oriented programming is that of


inheritance. Inheritance allows us to define a class in terms of another class,
which makes it easier to create and maintain an application. This also provides
an opportunity to reuse the code functionality and fast implementation time.
When creating a class, instead of writing completely new data members and
member functions, the programmer can designate that the new class should
inheritthemembersofanexistingclass.Thisexistingclassiscalled thebaseclass, and
the new class is referred to as thederivedclass.

The idea of inheritance implements theis arelationship. For example, mammal


IS-A animal, dog IS-A mammal hence dog IS-A animal as well and so on.
Base&DerivedClasses

A class can be derived from more than one classes, which means it can inherit
data and functions from multiple base classes. To define a derived class, we use
a class derivation list to specify the base class(es). A class derivation list names
one or more base classes and has the form:

classderived-class:access-specifierbase-class

Where access-specifier is one ofpublic,protected,orprivate, and base-class is


the name of a previously defined class. If the access-specifier is not used,then it
is private by default.
ConsiderabaseclassShapeanditsderivedclassRectangleas follows:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

//Baseclass
class Shape
{
public:
voidsetWidth(intw)
{
width=w;
}

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C++

voidsetHeight(inth)
{
height=h;
}
protected:
intwidth;
intheight;
};

//Derivedclass
classRectangle:publicShape
{
public:
intgetArea()
{
return(width*height);
}
};

int main(void)
{
RectangleRect;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7)
;

//Printtheareaoftheobject.
cout<<"Totalarea:"<<Rect.getArea()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:
197
C++

Totalarea:35

AccessControlandInheritance

A derived class can access all the non-private members of its base class. Thus
base-class members that should not be accessible to the member functions of
derived classes should be declared private in the base class.
We can summarize the different access types according to - who can access
them, in the following way:

Access public protected private

Same class yes yes yes

Derivedclasses yes yes no

Outsideclasses yes no no

Aderivedclassinheritsallbaseclassmethodswiththefollowingexceptions:
 Constructors,destructorsandcopyconstructorsofthebase class.
 Overloadedoperatorsofthebaseclass.
 Thefriendfunctionsofthebaseclass.
Type of Inheritance
When deriving a class from a base class, the base class may be
inheritedthroughpublic,protectedorprivateinheritance. The type of inheritance
is specified by the access-specifier as explained above.
Wehardlyuseprotectedorprivateinheritance,butpublicinheritanceis commonly
used. While using different type of inheritance, following rules are applied:
 PublicInheritance:Whenderivingaclassfromapublicbase class,public
members of the base class becomepublicmembers of the
derivedclassandprotectedmembersofthebaseclass
becomeprotectedmembersofthederivedclass.Abase
class'sprivatemembers are never accessible directly from a derived
class,butcanbeaccessedthroughcallsto thepublicandprotectedmembers
of the base class.
 ProtectedInheritance:Whenderivingfromaprotectedbase
class,publicandprotectedmembersofthebaseclass become protected
members of the derived class.

198
C++

 PrivateInheritance:Whenderivingfromaprivatebase
class,publicandprotectedmembersofthebaseclass become private
members of the derived class.
MultipleInheritance

AC++classcaninheritmembersfrommorethanoneclassandhereisthe extended syntax:

classderived-class:accessbaseA,accessbaseB....

Where access is one ofpublic,protected,orprivateand would be given for every


base class and they will be separated by comma as shown above. Let us try the
following example:

#include<iostream>

usingnamespacestd;

//BaseclassShape
class Shape
{
public:
voidsetWidth(intw)
{
width=w;
}
voidsetHeight(inth)
{
height=h;
}
protected:
intwidth;
intheight;
};

//BaseclassPaintCost
class PaintCost
{

199
C++

public:
intgetCost(intarea)
{
returnarea*70;
}
};

//Derivedclass
classRectangle:publicShape,publicPaintCost
{
public:
intgetArea()
{
return(width*height);
}
};

int main(void)
{
RectangleRect;
int area;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7)
;

area=Rect.getArea();

//Printtheareaoftheobject.
cout<<"Totalarea:"<<Rect.getArea()<<endl;

//Printthetotalcostofpainting
cout<<"Totalpaintcost:$"<<Rect.getCost(area)<<endl;

200
C++
return0;

201
C++

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Totalarea:35
Totalpaintcost:$2450

202
C++

25. OVERLOADING(O
PERATOR&FUNC
TION)
C++allowsyoutospecifymorethanonedefinitionforafunctionnameor
anoperatorinthesamescope,whichiscalledfunction overloading and operator
overloading respectively.
An overloaded declaration is a declaration that is declared with the same name
as a previously declared declaration in the same scope, except that both
declarations have different arguments and obviously different definition
(implementation).
Whenyou call an overloadedfunctionoroperator, the compiler determines the
most appropriate definition to use, by comparing the argument types you have
used to call the function or operator with the parameter types specified in the
definitions. The process of selecting the most appropriate overloaded function or
operator is called overload resolution.
FunctionOverloadinginC++

Youcanhave multipledefinitionsforthe same functionname in the same scope. The


definition of the functionmust differ from each other by the types and/or the
number of arguments in the argument list. You cannot overload function
declarations that differ only by return type.
Following is the example where same functionprint()is being used to print
different data types:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classprintData
{
public:
voidprint(inti){
cout<<"Printingint:"<<i<<endl;
}

voidprint(doublef){
cout<<"Printingfloat:"<<f<<endl;
}

203
C++

voidprint(char*c){
cout<<"Printingcharacter:"<<c<<endl;
}
};

int main(void)
{
printDatapd;

//Callprinttoprintinteger
pd.print(5);
//Callprinttoprintfloat
pd.print(500.263);
//Callprinttoprintcharacter
pd.print("Hello C++");

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Printingint:5
Printing float: 500.263
Printingcharacter:HelloC++

OperatorsOverloadinginC++

You can redefine or overload most of the built-in operators available in C++.
Thus, a programmer can use operators with user-defined types as well.
Overloaded operators are functions with special names the keyword operator
followed by the symbol for the operator being defined. Like any other function,
an overloaded operator has a return type and a parameter list.

Boxoperator+(constBox&);

Declares the addition operator that can be used toaddtwo Box objects and
returns final Box object. Most overloaded operators may be defined as ordinary
non-member functions or as class member functions. In case we define above
function as non-member function of a class then we would have to pass two
arguments for each operand as follows:

204
C++

Boxoperator+(constBox&,constBox&);

Following is the example to show the concept of operator over loading using a
memberfunction.Hereanobjectispassedasanargumentwhosepropertieswill be
accessed using this object, the object which will call this operator can be
accessed usingthis operator as explained below:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classBox
{
public:

doublegetVolume(void)
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}
voidsetLength(doublelen)
{
length=len;
}

voidsetBreadth(doublebre)
{
breadth=bre;
}

voidsetHeight(doublehei)
{
height=hei;
}
//Overload+operatortoaddtwoBoxobjects. Box
operator+(const Box& b)
{
Boxbox;

205
C++

box.length = this->length +
b.length; box.breadth=this-
>breadth+b.breadth; box.height =
this->height + b.height; return box;
}
private:
double length; // Length of a
box double breadth; //Breadthofabox
double height; // Height of a
box
};
//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( )
{
BoxBox1; //DeclareBox1oftype Box
BoxBox2; //DeclareBox2oftype Box
Box Box3; // Declare Box3 of type Box
double volume = 0.0; //Storethevolumeofaboxhere

//box1specification
Box1.setLength(6.0);
Box1.setBreadth(7.0);
Box1.setHeight(5.0);

//box2specification
Box2.setLength(12.0);
Box2.setBreadth(13.0);
Box2.setHeight(10.0);

//volumeofbox1
volume=Box1.getVolume();
cout<<"VolumeofBox1:"<<volume<<endl;

//volumeofbox2

206
C++
volume=Box2.getVolume();

207
C++

cout<<"VolumeofBox2:"<<volume<<endl;

//Addtwoobjectasfollows:
Box3=Box1+Box2;

//volumeofbox3
volume=Box3.getVolume();
cout<<"VolumeofBox3:"<<volume<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Volume of Box1 : 210


VolumeofBox2:1560
VolumeofBox3:5400

Overloadable/Non-overloadableOperators
Followingisthelistofoperatorswhichcanbeoverloaded:

+ - * / % ^

& | ~ ! , =

< > <= >= ++ --

<< >> == != && ||

+= -= /= %= ^= &=

|= *= <<= >>= [] ()

-> ->* new new[] delete delete[]

Followingisthelistofoperators,whichcannotbeoverloaded:

208
C++

:: .* . ?:

OperatorOverloadingExamples
Here are various operator overloading examples to help you in understandingthe
concept.

S.N. OperatorsandExample

1 Unaryoperatorsoverloading

2 Binaryoperatorsoverloading

3 Relationaloperatorsoverloading

4 Input/Outputoperatorsoverloading

5 ++and--operators overloading

6 Assignmentoperatorsoverloading

7 Functioncall()operatoroverloading

8 Subscripting[]operatoroverloading

9 Classmemberaccessoperator->overloading

UnaryOperatorsOverloading

The unary operatorsoperate ona single operandandfollowing are the examples of


Unary operators:
 Theincrement(++)anddecrement(--) operators.
 Theunaryminus(-) operator.
 Thelogicalnot(!) operator.
The unary operators operate on the object for which they were called and
normally, this operator appears on the left side of the object, as in !obj, -obj,
and++obj butsometime theycanbe usedaspostfix aswell like obj++orobj--.
Following example explain how minus (-) operator can be overloaded for prefix
as well as postfix usage.

209
C++

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classDistance
{
private:
intfeet; //0to infinite
int inches; //0to12
public:
//requiredconstructors
Distance(){
feet=0;
inches=0;
}
Distance(intf,inti)
{ feet = f;
inches=i;
}
//methodtodisplaydistance
void displayDistance()
{
cout<<"F:"<<feet<<"I:"<<inches<<endl;
}
//overloadedminus(-)operator
Distance operator- ()
{
feet = -feet;
inches=-inches;
returnDistance(feet,inches);
}
};
intmain()
{
DistanceD1(11,10),D2(-5,11);

210
C++

-D1; //applynegation
D1.displayDistance(); //displayD1

-D2; //applynegation
D2.displayDistance(); //displayD2

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

F:-11I:-10
F:5I:-11

Hopeaboveexamplemakesyourconceptclearandyoucanapplysimilar concept to
overload Logical Not Operators (!).
Increment(++)andDecrement(--) Operators

Theincrement(++)anddecrement(--)operatorsaretwoimportantunary operators
available in C++.
Following example explain how increment (++) operator can be overloaded for
prefix as well as postfix usage. Similar way, you can overload operator (--).

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classTime
{
private:
int hours; intminutes;
public:
//0to23
//0to59

//requiredconstructors
Time(){
hours=0;
minutes= 0;
}

211
C++

Time(inth,intm)
{ hours = h;
minutes = m;
}
//methodtodisplaytime
void displayTime()
{
cout<<"H:"<<hours<<"M:"<<minutes<<endl;
}
//overloadedprefix++operator
Time operator++ ()
{
++minutes; //incrementthisobject
if(minutes >= 60)
{
++hours;
minutes-=60;
}
returnTime(hours,minutes);
}
//overloadedpostfix++operator
Time operator++( int )
{
//savetheorignalvalue
Time T(hours, minutes);
//incrementthisobject
++minutes;
if(minutes>=60)
{
++hours;
minutes-=60;
}
//returnoldoriginalvalue
return T;

212
C++

}
};
intmain()
{
TimeT1(11,59),T2(10,40);

++T1; // incrementT1
T1.displayTime(); // display T1
++T1; // incrementT1again
T1.displayTime(); // display T1

T2++; // increment T2
T2.displayTime(); // display T2
T2++; // incrementT2again
T2.displayTime(); // display T2
return 0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

H: 12 M:0
H: 12 M:1
H: 10 M:41
H: 10 M:42

BinaryOperatorsOverloading
The unary operators take two arguments and following are the examples of
Binary operators. You use binary operators very frequently like addition (+)
operator, subtraction (-) operator and division (/) operator.
Following example explains how addition (+) operator can be overloaded.Similar
way, you can overload subtraction (-) and division (/) operators.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

213
C++

class Box
{
double length; // Length of a
box double breadth;
//Breadthofabox
double height; // Height of a
box
public:

doublegetVolume(void)
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}
voidsetLength(doublelen)
{
length= len;
}

voidsetBreadth(doublebre)
{
breadth= bre;
}

voidsetHeight(doublehei)
{
height=hei;
}
//Overload+operatortoaddtwoBoxobjects. Box
operator+(const Box& b)
{
Boxbox;
box.length = this->length +
b.length; box.breadth=this-
>breadth+b.breadth; box.height =
214
C++
this->height + b.height; return box;

215
C++

}
};
//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( )
{
BoxBox1; //DeclareBox1oftype Box
BoxBox2; //DeclareBox2oftype Box
Box Box3; // Declare Box3 of type Box
double volume = 0.0; //Storethevolumeofaboxhere

//box1specification
Box1.setLength(6.0);
Box1.setBreadth(7.0);
Box1.setHeight(5.0);

//box2specification
Box2.setLength(12.0);
Box2.setBreadth(13.0);
Box2.setHeight(10.0);

//volumeofbox1
volume=Box1.getVolume();
cout<<"VolumeofBox1:"<<volume<<endl;

//volumeofbox2
volume=Box2.getVolume();
cout<<"VolumeofBox2:"<<volume<<endl;

//Addtwoobjectasfollows:
Box3 = Box1 + Box2;

//volumeofbox3
volume=Box3.getVolume();
cout<<"VolumeofBox3:"<<volume<<endl;

216
C++

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Volume of Box1 : 210


VolumeofBox2:1560
VolumeofBox3:5400

RelationalOperatorsOverloading
TherearevariousrelationaloperatorssupportedbyC++languagelike(<,>,
<=,>=,==,etc.)whichcanbeusedtocompareC++built-indatatypes.

Youcanoverloadanyoftheseoperators,whichcanbeusedtocomparethe objects of a
class.
Following example explains how a < operator can be overloaded andsimilar way
you can overload other relational operators.

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classDistance
{
private:
int feet; intinches;
public:
//0to infinite
//0to12

//requiredconstructors
Distance(){ feet=0;
inches=0;
}
Distance(intf,inti){ feet = f;
inches=i;
}
//methodtodisplaydistance

217
C++

voiddisplayDistance()
{
cout<<"F:"<<feet<<"I:"<<inches<<endl;
}
//overloadedminus(-)operator
Distance operator- ()
{
feet = -feet;
inches=-inches;
returnDistance(feet,inches);
}
//overloaded<operator
booloperator<(constDistance&d)
{
if(feet<d.feet)
{
returntrue;
}
if(feet==d.feet&&inches<d.inches)
{
returntrue;
}
returnfalse;
}
};
intmain()
{
DistanceD1(11,10),D2(5,11);

if(D1<D2)
{
cout<<"D1islessthanD2"<<endl;
}
else

218
C++

{
cout<<"D2islessthanD1"<<endl;
}
return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

D2islessthanD1

Input/OutputOperatorsOverloading
C++ is able to input and output the built-in data types using the stream
extraction operator >> and the stream insertion operator <<. The stream
insertion and stream extraction operators also can be overloaded to perform
input and output for user-defined types like an object.
Here, it is important to make operator overloading function a friend of the class
because it would be called without creating an object.
Followingexampleexplainshowextractionoperator>>andinsertionoperator
<<.

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classDistance
{
private:
int feet; intinches;
public:
//0to infinite
//0to12

//requiredconstructors
Distance(){ feet=0;
inches=0;
}
Distance(intf,inti){ feet = f;
inches=i;

219
C++

}
friendostream&operator<<(ostream&output,
constDistance&D)
{
output<<"F:"<<D.feet<<"I:"<<D.inches; return
output;
}

friendistream&operator>>(istream&input,Distance&D)
{
input>>D.feet>>D.inches;
return input;
}
};
intmain()
{
DistanceD1(11,10),D2(5,11),D3;

cout<<"Enterthevalueofobject:"<<endl; cin
>> D3;
cout<<"FirstDistance:"<<D1<<endl;
cout<<"SecondDistance:"<<D2<<endl;
cout <<"Third Distance :"<< D3 <<
endl;

return0;
}
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

$./a.out
Enterthevalueofobject: 70
10
FirstDistance:F:11I:10

220
C++

SecondDistance:F:5I:11
ThirdDistance:F:70I:10

++and--Operators Overloading

Theincrement(++)anddecrement(--)operatorsaretwoimportantunary operators
available in C++.
Following example explain how increment (++) operator can be overloaded for
prefix as well as postfix usage. Similar way, you can overload operator (--).

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classTime
{
private:

inthours; // 0 to 23
intminutes; // 0 to 59

public:
//requiredconstructors Time(){
hours=0;
minutes= 0;
}
Time(inth,intm){ hours = h; minutes = m;
}
//methodtodisplaytime void displayTime()
{
cout<<"H:"<<hours<<"M:"<<minutes<<endl;
}
//overloadedprefix++operator Time operator++ ()
{

221
C++

++minutes; //incrementthisobject
if(minutes >= 60)
{
++hours;
minutes-=60;
}
returnTime(hours,minutes);
}
//overloadedpostfix++operator
Time operator++( int )
{
//savetheorignalvalue
Time T(hours, minutes);
//incrementthisobject
++minutes;
if(minutes>=60)
{
++hours;
minutes-=60;
}
//returnoldoriginalvalue
return T;
}
};
intmain()
{
TimeT1(11,59),T2(10,40);

++T1; //incrementT1
T1.displayTime(); //displayT1
++T1; //incrementT1again
T1.displayTime(); //displayT1

T2++; //incrementT2

222
C++

T2.displayTime(); //displayT2
T2++; //incrementT2again
T2.displayTime(); return 0;
//displayT2

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

H: 12 M:0
H: 12 M:1
H: 10 M:41
H: 10 M:42

AssignmentOperatorsOverloading

You can overload the assignment operator (=) just as you can other
operatorsand it can be used to create an object just like the copy constructor.
Followingexampleexplainshowanassignmentoperatorcanbeoverloaded.

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classDistance
{
private:
int feet; intinches;
public:
//0to infinite
//0to12

//requiredconstructors
Distance(){ feet=0;
inches=0;
}
Distance(intf,inti){ feet = f;
inches=i;
}

223
C++

voidoperator=(constDistance&D)
{
feet = D.feet;
inches=D.inches;
}
//methodtodisplaydistance
void displayDistance()
{
cout<<"F:"<<feet<<"I:"<<inches<<endl;
}

};
intmain()
{
DistanceD1(11,10),D2(5,11);

cout<<"FirstDistance:";
D1.displayDistance();
cout<<"SecondDistance:";
D2.displayDistance();

//useassignmentoperator
D1 = D2;
cout<<"FirstDistance:";
D1.displayDistance();

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

FirstDistance:F:11I:10
Second Distance :F: 5
I:11 First Distance :F: 5
I:11
FunctionCall()OperatorOverloading

224
C++

The function call operator () can be overloaded for objects of class type. When
you overload ( ), you are not creating a new way to call a function. Rather, you
are creating an operator function that can be passed an arbitrary number of
parameters.
Followingexampleexplainshowafunctioncalloperator()canbe overloaded.

#include
<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classDistance
{
private:
intfeet; //0to infinite
int inches; //0to12
public:
//requiredconstructors
Distance(){
feet=0;
inches=0;
}
Distance(intf,inti)
{ feet = f;
inches=i;
}
//overloadfunctioncall
Distanceoperator()(inta,intb,int c)
{
DistanceD;
//justputrandomcalculation
D.feet = a + c + 10;
D.inches=b+c+100; return
D;
}
//methodtodisplaydistance
void displayDistance()
{ 225
C++

cout<<"F:"<<feet<<"I:"<<inches<<endl;
}

};
intmain()
{
DistanceD1(11,10),D2;

cout<<"FirstDistance:";
D1.displayDistance();

D2=D1(10,10,10);//invokeoperator()
cout <<"Second Distance :";
D2.displayDistance();

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

First Distance : F: 11 I:10


SecondDistance:F:30I:120

Subscripting[]OperatorOverloading

Thesubscriptoperator[]isnormallyusedtoaccessarrayelements.This operator can


be overloaded to enhance the existing functionality of C++ arrays.
Followingexampleexplainshowasubscriptoperator[]canbeoverloaded.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;
constintSIZE=10;

classsafearay
{
private:

226
C++

intarr[SIZE];
public:
safearay()
{
registerinti;
for(i=0;i<SIZE; i++)
{
arr[i]= i;
}
}
int&operator[](inti)
{
if(i>SIZE)
{
cout<<"Indexoutofbounds"<<endl;
//returnfirstelement.
return arr[0];
}
returnarr[i];
}
};
intmain()
{
safearayA;

cout <<"Value of A[2] : "<< A[2]


<<endl; cout <<"Value of A[5] : "<<
A[5]<<endl;
cout<<"ValueofA[12]:"<<A[12]<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

ValueofA[2]:2
227
C++

Value of A[5] : 5
Indexoutofbounds
Value of A[12] : 0

ClassMemberAccessOperator->Overloading

The class member accessoperator (->) can be overloaded but it is bit trickier. It
isdefinedtogive aclasstype a"pointer-like"behavior.Theoperator ->mustbe a
member function. If used, its return type must be a pointer or an object of a class
to which you can apply.
The operator-> is used often in conjunction with the pointer-dereference
operator * to implement "smart pointers." These pointers are objects that behave
like normal pointers except they perform other tasks when you accessan object
through them, such as automatic object deletion either when the pointer is
destroyed, or the pointer is used to point to another object.
The dereferencing operator-> can be defined as a unary postfix operator. Thatis,
given a class:

classPtr{
//...
X*operator->();
};

Objects of classPtr can be used to access members of class X in a very similar


manner to the way pointers are used. For example:

voidf(Ptrp)
{
p->m=10;//(p.operator->())->m= 10
}

The statement p->m is interpreted as (p.operator->())->m. Using the same


concept, following example explains how a class access operator -> can be
overloaded.

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
usingnamespacestd;

//Consideranactualclass.
class Obj {

228
C++

staticinti,j;
public:
voidf()const{cout<<i++<<endl;}
voidg()const{cout<<j++<<endl;}
};

//Staticmemberdefinitions:
int Obj::i = 10;
intObj::j=12;

//Implementacontainerfortheaboveclass
class ObjContainer {
vector<Obj*>a;
public:
voidadd(Obj*obj)
{
a.push_back(obj);//callvector'sstandardmethod.
}
friendclassSmartPointer;
};

//implementsmartpointertoaccessmemberofObjclass.
class SmartPointer {
ObjContaineroc;
int index;
public:
SmartPointer(ObjContainer&objc)
{
oc=objc;
index=0;
}
//Returnvalueindicatesendoflist:
bool operator++() // Prefix version
{

229
C++

if(index>=oc.a.size())returnfalse;
if(oc.a[++index] == 0) return false;
return true;
}
booloperator++(int)//Postfixversion
{
returnoperator++();
}
// overload operator-
> Obj*operator-
>()const
{
if(!oc.a[index])
{
cout<<"Zerovalue";
return (Obj*)0;
}
returnoc.a[index];
}
};

intmain(){
constintsz=10;
Obj o[sz];
ObjContainer oc;
for(inti=0;i<sz;i++)
{
oc.add(&o[i]);
}
SmartPointersp(oc);//Createaniterator
do {
sp->f();//smartpointercall
sp->g();
}while(sp++);

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C++
return 0;

231
C++

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

10
12
11
13
12
14
13
15
14
16
15
17
16
18
17
19
18
20
19
21

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C++

26.POLYMORPHISM

The wordpolymorphismmeans having many forms. Typically, polymorphism


occurs when there is a hierarchy of classes and they are related by inheritance.
C++polymorphismmeansthatacallto a memberfunctionwill cause adifferent
function to be executed depending on the type of object that invokes the
function.
Consider the following example where a base class has been derived by other
two classes:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classShape{ pro
tected:
intwidth,height;
public:
Shape(inta=0,intb=0)
{
width = a;
height=b;
}
intarea()
{
cout<<"Parentclassarea:"<<endl;
return 0;
}
};
classRectangle:publicShape{ pub
lic:
Rectangle(inta=0,intb=0):Shape(a,b){} int
area ()
{
cout<<"Rectangleclassarea:"<<endl;

233
C++

return(width*height);
}
};
classTriangle:publicShape{ pu
blic:
Triangle(inta=0,intb=0):Shape(a,b){}
int area ()
{
cout<<"Triangleclassarea:"<<endl;
return (width * height / 2);
}
};
//Mainfunctionfortheprogram
int main( )
{
Shape *shape;
Rectanglerec(10,7);
Triangletri(10,5);

//storetheaddressofRectangle
shape = &rec;
//callrectanglearea.
shape->area();

//storetheaddressofTriangle
shape = &tri;
//calltrianglearea.
shape->area();

return0;
}

234
C++

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Parentclassarea
Parentclassarea

The reason for the incorrect output is that the call of the function area() is being
setoncebythecompilerastheversiondefinedinthebaseclass.Thisis calledstatic
resolutionof the function call, orstatic linkage- the function call is fixed before
the program is executed. This is also sometimes calledearly bindingbecause
the area() function is set during the compilation of the program.
But now, let's make a slight modification in our program and precede the
declaration of area() in the Shape class with the keywordvirtualso that it looks
like this:

classShape{ pro
tected:
intwidth,height;
public:
Shape(inta=0,intb=0)
{
width = a;
height=b;
}
virtualintarea()
{
cout<<"Parentclassarea:"<<endl;
return 0;
}
};

After this slight modification, when the previous example code is compiled
andexecuted, it produces the following result:

Rectangleclassarea
Triangle class area

This time, the compiler looks at the contents of the pointer instead of its type.
Hence, since addresses of objects of tri and rec classes are stored in *shape the
respective area() function is called.

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C++

As you can see, each of the child classes has a separate implementation for the
functionarea().This is howpolymorphismis generallyused. Youhave different
classes with a function of the same name, and even the same parameters, but
with different implementations.
VirtualFunction
Avirtualfunctionisafunctioninabaseclassthatisdeclaredusingthe
keywordvirtual.Defining in a base class a virtual function, with another version
in a derived class, signals to the compiler that we don't want static linkage for
this function.
What we do want is the selection of the function to be called at any given point
in the program to be based on the kind of object for which it is called. This sort of
operation is referred to asdynamic linkage, orlate binding.
PureVirtualFunctions

It is possible that you want to include a virtual function in a base class so that it
may be redefined in a derived class to suit the objects of that class, but that
there is no meaningful definition you could give for the function in the baseclass.
Wecanchangethevirtualfunctionarea()inthebaseclasstothefollowing:

classShape{ pro
tected:
intwidth,height;
public:
Shape(inta=0,intb=0)
{
width = a;
height=b;
}
//purevirtualfunction
virtual int area() = 0;
};

The=0tellsthecompilerthatthefunctionhasnobodyandabovevirtual function will be


called pure virtual function.

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C++

27. DATAABSTRACTION

Data abstraction refers to providing only essential information to the outside


world and hiding their background details, i.e., to represent the needed
information in program without presenting the details.
Data abstraction is a programming (and design) technique that relies on the
separation of interface and implementation.
Let's take one real life example of a TV, which you can turn on and off, change
the channel, adjust the volume, and add external components such as speakers,
VCRs, and DVD players, BUT you do not know its internal details, that is, you do
not know how it receives signals over the air or through a cable, how it translates
them, and finally displays them on the screen.
Thus, we can say a television clearly separates its internal implementation from
its external interface and you can play with its interfaces like the power button,
channel changer, and volume control without having zero knowledge of its
internals.
In C++, classes provides great level ofdataabstraction. They provide sufficient
public methods to the outside world to play with the functionality ofthe object
and to manipulate object data, i.e., state without actually knowing how class has
been implemented internally.

For example, your program can make a call to thesort()function without


knowing what algorithm the function actually uses to sort the given values. In
fact, the underlying implementation of the sorting functionality could change
between releases of the library, and as long as the interface stays the same,
your function call will still work.
In C++, we useclassesto define our own abstract data types (ADT). You can
usethecoutobjectofclassostreamtostreamdatatostandardoutputlike this:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
cout<<"HelloC++"<<endl;
return 0;
}

237
C++

Here, you don't need to understand howcoutdisplays the text on the user's
screen. You need to only know the public interface and the underlying
implementation of ‘cout’ is free to change.
AccessLabelsEnforceAbstraction

In C++, we use access labels to define the abstract interface to the class. Aclass
may contain zero or more access labels:
 Members defined with a public label are accessible to all parts of the
program. The data-abstraction view of a type is defined by its public
members.
 Members defined with a private label are not accessible to code that uses
the class. The private sections hide the implementation from code that
uses the type.
There are no restrictions on how often an access label may appear. Each access
label specifies the access level of the succeeding member definitions. The
specified access level remains in effect until the next access label is encountered
or the closing right brace of the class body is seen.
BenefitsofDataAbstraction
Dataabstractionprovidestwoimportantadvantages:

 Class internals are protected from inadvertent user-level errors, which


might corrupt the state of the object.
 The class implementation may evolve over time in response to changing
requirements or bug reports without requiring change in user-level code.
By defining data members only in the private section of the class, the class
author is free to make changes in the data. If the implementation changes, only
the class code needs to be examined to see what affect the change may have. If
data is public, then any function that directly access the data members of theold
representation might be broken.
DataAbstractionExample

Any C++ program where you implement a class with public and privatemembers
is an example of data abstraction. Consider the following example:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classAdder{
public:
// constructor
Adder(inti=0)

238
C++

{
total=i;
}
//interfacetooutsideworld
void addNum(int number)
{
total+=number;
}
//interfacetooutsideworld
int getTotal()
{
returntotal;
};
private:
//hiddendatafromoutsideworld
int total;
};
intmain()
{
Addera;

a.addNum(10);
a.addNum(20);
a.addNum(30);

cout<<"Total"<<a.getTotal()<<endl;
return 0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Total60

Above class adds numbers together, and returns the sum. The public members -
addNum andgetTotalare the interfaces to the outside world and a user needs
to know them to use the class. The private membertotalis something that the
userdoesn'tneedtoknowabout,butisneededfortheclasstooperateproperly.

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C++

DesigningStrategy

Abstraction separates code into interface and implementation. So whiledesigning


your component, you must keep interface independent of the implementation so
that if you change underlying implementation then interface would remain
intact.
In this case whatever programs are using these interfaces, they would not be
impacted and would just need a recompilation with the latest implementation.

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C++

28. DATAENCAPSULATION

AllC++programsarecomposedofthefollowingtwofundamentalelements:

 Programstatements(code):Thisisthepartofaprogramthat performs
actions and they are called functions.
 Programdata:Thedataistheinformationoftheprogramwhichgets affected
by the program functions.
Encapsulation is an Object Oriented Programming concept that binds together
the data and functions that manipulate the data, and that keeps both safe from
outside interference and misuse. Data encapsulation led to the important OOP
concept of data hiding.
Dataencapsulationis a mechanism of bundling the data, and the functions that
use them anddata abstractionis a mechanism of exposing only the interfaces
and hiding the implementation details from the user.
C++ supports the properties of encapsulation and data hiding through the
creation of user-defined types, calledclasses. We already have studied that a
class can containprivate,protectedandpublicmembers. By default, all items
defined in a class are private. For example:

classBox
{
public:
doublegetVolume(void)
{
returnlength*breadth*height;
}
private:

doublelength; //Lengthofabox
doublebreadth; double
//Breadthofabox
height;
//Heightofabox

};

The variables length, breadth, and height areprivate. This means that they can
be accessed only by other members of the Box class, and not by any other part
of your program. This is one way encapsulation is achieved.
To make parts of a classpublic(i.e., accessible to other parts of your program),
youmustdeclarethemafterthepublickeyword.Allvariablesorfunctions

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C++

defined after the public specifier are accessible by all other functions in your
program.
Making one class a friend of another, exposes the implementation details and
reduces encapsulation. The ideal is to keep as many of the details of each class
hidden from all other classes as possible.
DataEncapsulationExample

Any C++ program where you implement a class with public and
privatemembersisanexampleofdataencapsulationanddataabstraction.Considerthe
following example:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

classAdder{
public:
// constructor
Adder(inti=0)
{
total=i;
}
//interfacetooutsideworld
void addNum(int number)
{
total+=number;
}
//interfacetooutsideworld
int getTotal()
{
returntotal;
};
private:
//hiddendatafromoutsideworld
int total;
};
intmain()
{

242
C++

Addera;

a.addNum(10);
a.addNum(20);
a.addNum(30);

cout<<"Total"<<a.getTotal()<<endl;
return 0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Total60

Above class adds numbers together, and returns the sum. The public members -
addNum andgetTotalare the interfaces to the outside world and a user needs
to know them to use the class. The private membertotalis something that is
hidden from the outside world, but is needed for the class to operate properly.
DesigningStrategy

Most of us have learnt to make class members private by default unless we


really need to expose them. That's just goodencapsulation.
This is applied most frequently to data members, but it applies equally to all
members, including virtual functions.

243
C++

29. INTERFACES

An interface describes the behavior or capabilities of a C++ class without


committing to a particular implementation of that class.
The C++ interfaces are implemented usingabstract classesand these abstract
classes should not be confused with data abstraction which is a concept of
keeping implementation details separate from associated data.
A classis made abstract by declaring at least one ofits functions aspure
virtualfunction. A pure virtual function is specified by placing "= 0" in its
declaration as follows:

classBox
{
public:
// pure virtual function virtualdoublegetVolume()=0;
private:

doublelength; //Lengthofabox
doublebreadth; double
//Breadthofabox
height;
//Heightofabox

};

The purpose of anabstract class(often referred to as an ABC) is to provide an


appropriate base class from which other classes can inherit. Abstract classes
cannot be used to instantiate objects and serves only as aninterface.
Attempting to instantiate an object of an abstract class causes a compilation
error.
Thus, if a subclass of an ABC needs to be instantiated, it has to implement each
of the virtual functions, which means that it supports the interface declared by
the ABC. Failure to override a pure virtual function in a derived class, then
attempting to instantiate objects of that class, is a compilation error.
Classesthatcanbeusedtoinstantiateobjectsarecalledconcreteclasses. Abstract
Class Example
Consider the following example where parent class provides an interface to the
base class to implement a function calledgetArea():

#include<iostream>

244
C++

usingnamespacestd;

//Baseclass
class Shape
{
public:
//purevirtualfunctionprovidinginterfaceframework.
virtual int getArea() = 0;
voidsetWidth(intw)
{
width=w;
}
voidsetHeight(inth)
{
height= h;
}
protected:
int width;
intheight;
};

//Derivedclasses
classRectangle:publicShape
{
public:
intgetArea()
{
return(width*height);
}
};
classTriangle:publicShape
{
public:

245
C++

intgetArea()
{
return(width*height)/2;
}
};

int main(void)
{
RectangleRect;
Triangle Tri;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7);
//Printtheareaoftheobject.
cout<<"TotalRectanglearea:"<<Rect.getArea()<<endl;

Tri.setWidth(5);
Tri.setHeight(7);
//Printtheareaoftheobject.
cout<<"TotalTrianglearea:"<<Tri.getArea()<<endl;

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

TotalRectanglearea:35
Total Triangle area: 17

Youcansee howanabstractclassdefined an interface interms ofgetArea() and two


other classes implemented same function but with different algorithm to
calculate the area specific to the shape.
DesigningStrategy

An object-oriented system might use an abstract base class to provide a


common and standardized interface appropriate for all the external applications.
Then, through inheritance from that abstract base class, derived classes are
formed that operate similarly.

246
C++

The capabilities (i.e., the public functions) offered by the external applications
are provided as pure virtual functions in the abstract base class. The
implementations of these pure virtual functions are provided in the derived
classes that correspond to the specific types of the application.
This architecture also allows new applications to be added to a system easily,
even after the system has been defined.

247
C++

30. FILESANDSTREAMS

Sofar,wehavebeenusingtheiostreamstandardlibrary,which providescinandcout
methods for reading from standard input and writing to standard output
respectively.
This tutorial will teach you how to read and write from a file. This requires
another standard C++ library calledfstream, which defines three new data
types:

DataType Description

ofstream This data type represents the outputfile streamand is


used to create files and to write information to files.

ifstream This data type represents the input file stream and is
used to read information from files.

fstream This data type represents the file stream generally,


and has the capabilities of both ofstream and ifstream
which means it can create files, write information to
files, and read information from files.

ToperformfileprocessinginC++,headerfiles<iostream>and<fstream>must be
included in your C++ source file.
OpeningaFile
Afilemust beopened beforeyoucan read from it orwritetoit.Either
ofstreamorfstreamobject maybe used to open a file for writing.And ifstream
object is used to open a file for reading purpose only.
Following is the standard syntax for open() function, which is a member of
fstream, ifstream, and ofstream objects.

voidopen(constchar*filename,ios::openmodemode);

Here, the first argument specifies the name and location of the file to be opened
and the second argument of theopen()member function defines the mode in
which the file should be opened.

ModeFlag Description

248
C++

ios::app Appendmode.Alloutputtothatfiletobeappendedto the


end.

ios::ate Open a file for output and move the read/write control
to the end of the file.

ios::in Openafilefor reading.

ios::out Openafilefor writing.

ios::trunc If the file already exists, its contents will be truncated


before opening the file.

You can combine two or more of these values byORing them together. For
example if you want to open a file in write mode and want to truncate it in case
that already exists, following will be the syntax:

ofstreamoutfile;
outfile.open("file.dat",ios::out|ios::trunc);

Similarway,youcanopenafileforreadingandwritingpurposeasfollows:

fstreamafile;
afile.open("file.dat",ios::out|ios::in);

ClosingaFile

When a C++ program terminates it automatically flushes all the streams,release


all the allocated memory and close all the opened files. But it is always a good
practice that a programmer should close all the opened files before program
termination.

Following is the standard syntax for close() function, which is a member of


fstream, ifstream, and ofstream objects.

voidclose();

Writingtoa File

While doing C++ programming, you write information to a file from your
program using the stream insertion operator (<<) just as you use that operator
tooutputinformationtothescreen.Theonlydifferenceisthatyouuse
anofstreamorfstreamobject instead of the coutobject.
ReadingfromaFile

249
C++

You read information from a file into your program using the stream extraction
operator (>>) just as you use that operator to input information from the
keyboard. The only difference is that you use anifstreamorfstreamobject
instead of the cin object.
Read&WriteExample
Following is the C++ program which opens a file in reading and writing mode.
After writing information entered by the user to a file named afile.dat, the
program reads information from the file and outputs it onto the screen:

#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{

chardata[100];

//openafileinwritemode.
ofstream outfile;
outfile.open("afile.dat");

cout<<"Writingtothefile"<<endl; cout
<<"Enter your name: ";
cin.getline(data, 100);

//writeinputteddataintothefile.
outfile << data << endl;

cout<<"Enteryourage:";
cin >> data;
cin.ignore();

//againwriteinputteddataintothefile.
outfile << data << endl;

250
C++

//closetheopenedfile.
outfile.close();

//openafileinreadmode.
ifstream infile;
infile.open("afile.dat");

cout<<"Readingfromthefile"<<endl;
infile >> data;

//writethedataatthescreen. cout
<< data << endl;

//againreadthedatafromthefileanddisplayit. infile
>> data;
cout<<data<<endl;

//closetheopenedfile.
infile.close();

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowing sample input


and output:

$./a.out
Writing to the file
Enteryourname:Zara
Enter your age: 9
Readingfromthefile
Zara
9

Above examples make use of additional functions from cin object, like getline()
function to read the line from outside, and ignore() function to ignore the extra
characters left by previous read statement.

251
C++

FilePositionPointers

Bothistreamandostreamprovide member functions for repositioning the file-


positionpointer.Thesememberfunctionsareseekg("seekget")foristream and
seekp ("seek put") for ostream.
Theargumenttoseekgandseekpnormally isa long integer.Asecondargument
canbespecifiedtoindicatetheseekdirection.Theseekdirectioncan
beios::beg(thedefault)forpositioningrelativetothebeginningofa
stream,ios::curforpositioningrelativetothecurrentpositioninastream
orios::endfor positioning relative to the end of a stream.
The file-position pointer is an integer value that specifies the location in the file
as a number of bytes from the file's starting location. Some examples of
positioning the "get" file-position pointer are:

//positiontothenthbyteoffileObject(assumesios::beg)
fileObject.seekg( n );

//positionnbytesforwardinfileObject
fileObject.seekg( n, ios::cur );

//positionnbytesbackfromendoffileObject
fileObject.seekg( n, ios::end );

//positionatendoffileObject
fileObject.seekg(0,ios::end);

252
C++

31. EXCEPTIONHANDLING

An exception is a problem that arises during the execution of a program. A C++


exception is a response to an exceptional circumstance that arises while a
program is running, such as an attempt to divide by zero.
Exceptions provide a way to transfer control from one part of a program to
another.C++exceptionhandlingisbuiltuponthreekeywords:try, catch, and
throw.
 throw:A program throws an exception when a problem shows up. This is
done using a throw keyword.
 catch:A program catches an exception with an exception handler at the
placeinaprogramwhereyouwanttohandletheproblem. Thecatchkeyword
indicates the catching of an exception.
 try:Atryblock identifies a block of code for which particular exceptions will
be activated. It is followed by one or more catch blocks.
Assuming a block will raise an exception, a method catches an exception using a
combination of thetryandcatchkeywords. A try/catch block is placed around the
code that might generate an exception. Code within a try/catch block is referred
to as protected code, and the syntax for using try/catch is as follows:

try
{
//protectedcode
}catch(ExceptionNamee1)
{
//catchblock
}catch(ExceptionNamee2)
{
//catchblock
}catch(ExceptionNameeN)
{
//catchblock
}

Youcanlistdownmultiplecatchstatementstocatchdifferenttypeofexceptions in
case yourtryblock raises more than one exception in different situations.

253
C++

ThrowingExceptions

Exceptions can be thrown anywhere within a code block usingthrowstatement.


Theoperandofthethrowstatementdeterminesatypeforthe exceptionandcan be any
expression and the type of the result of the expression determines the type of
exception thrown.
Following is an example of throwing an exception when dividing by zerocondition
occurs:

doubledivision(inta,intb)
{
if(b==0)
{
throw"Divisionbyzerocondition!";
}
return(a/b);
}

CatchingExceptions
Thecatchblock following thetryblock catches any exception. You can specify
what type of exception you want to catch and this is determined by the
exception declaration that appears in parentheses following the keyword catch.

try
{
//protectedcode
}catch(ExceptionNamee)
{
//codetohandleExceptionNameexception
}

Above code will catch an exception ofExceptionNametype. If you want to


specifythatacatchblockshouldhandle anytypeofexceptionthatisthrownina try
block, you must put an ellipsis, ..., between the parentheses enclosing the
exception declaration as follows:

try
{
//protectedcode
}catch(...)

[Type text]
C++

{
//codetohandleanyexception
}

The following is an example, which throws a division by zero exception


andwecatch it in catch block.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

doubledivision(inta,intb)
{
if(b==0)
{
throw"Divisionbyzerocondition!";
}
return(a/b);
}

intmain()
{
int x = 50;
int y = 0;
doublez=0;

try{
z=division(x,y);
cout << z << endl;
}catch(constchar*msg)
{ cerr << msg << endl;
}

return0;
}

[Type text]
C++

Because we are raising an exception of typeconst char*, so while catching this


exception, we have to use const char* in catch block. If we compile and run
above code, this would produce the following result:

Divisionbyzerocondition!

C++StandardExceptions
C++ provides a list of standard exceptions defined in<exception>which we can
use in our programs. These are arranged in a parent-child class hierarchy shown
below:

Here is the small description of each exception mentioned in the above


hierarchy:

Exception Description

std::exception An exception and parent class of all the standard C++


exceptions.

[Type text]
C++

std::bad_alloc Thiscanbethrownbynew.

std::bad_cast Thiscanbethrownbydynamic_cast.

std::bad_exception This is useful device to handle unexpected exceptions


in a C++ program.

std::bad_typeid Thiscanbethrownbytypeid.

std::logic_error Anexceptionthattheoreticallycanbedetectedbyreading
the code.

std::domain_error Thisisanexceptionthrownwhenamathematically invalid


domain is used.

std::invalid_argument Thisisthrownduetoinvalidarguments.

std::length_error Thisisthrownwhenatoobigstd::stringis created.

std::out_of_range This can be thrown by the ‘at’ method, for example a


std::vector and std::bitset<>::operator[]().

std::runtime_error An exception that theoretically cannot be detected by


reading the code.

std::overflow_error Thisisthrownifamathematicaloverflowoccurs.

std::range_error This is occurred when you try to store a value which is


out of range.

std::underflow_error Thisisthrownifamathematicalunderflow occurs.

DefineNewExceptions
Youcandefineyour ownexceptionsby inheritingandoverridingexceptionclass
functionality. Following is the example, which shows how you can use
std::exception class to implement your own exception in standard way:

#include <iostream>
#include<exception>
usingnamespacestd;
[Type text]
C++

structMyException:publicexception
{
constchar*what()constthrow()
{
return"C++Exception";
}
};

intmain()
{
try
{
throwMyException();
}
catch(MyException&e)
{
std::cout<<"MyExceptioncaught"<<std::endl;
std::cout << e.what() << std::endl;
}
catch(std::exception&e)
{
//Othererrors
}
}

Thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

MyExceptioncaught
C++ Exception

Here,what()is a public method provided by exception class and it has been


overridden by all the child exception classes. This returns the cause of an
exception.

[Type text]
C++

32. DYNAMICMEMORY

A good understanding of how dynamic memory really works in C++ is essential


to becoming a good C++ programmer. Memory in your C++ program is divided
into two parts:

 The stack:All variables declared inside the function will take up memory
from the stack.

 The heap:This is unused memory of the program and can be used to


allocate the memory dynamically when program runs.

Many times, you are not aware in advance how much memory you will need to
store particular information in a defined variable and the size of required
memory can be determined at run time.
You can allocate memory at run time within the heap for the variable of a given
type using a special operator in C++ which returns the address of the space
allocated. This operator is called new operator.
If you are not in need of dynamically allocated memory anymore, you can use
delete operator, which de-allocates memory previously allocated by new
operator.
ThenewanddeleteOperators

There is following generic syntax to use newoperator to allocate memory


dynamically for any data-type.

newdata-type;

Here,data-type could be any built-in data type including an array or any user
defined data types include class or structure. Let us start with built-in datatypes.
For example we can define a pointer to type double and then request that the
memory be allocated at execution time. We can do this using the new operator
with the following statements:

double* pvalue = NULL; // Pointer initialized with


null pvalue= new double;
//Requestmemoryforthevariable
The memory may not have been allocated successfully, if the free store hadbeen
used up. So it is good practice to check if new operator is returning NULL pointer
and take appropriate action as below:
C++

double*pvalue = NULL;
if( !(pvalue =newdouble))
{
cout<<"Error:outofmemory."<<endl; exit(1);

Themalloc()function from C, still existsin C++, but itis recommended to avoid


using malloc() function. The main advantage of new over malloc() is that new
doesn't just allocate memory, it constructs objects which is prime purpose of C+
+.
At anypoint, when you feela variable that has been dynamically allocated is not
anymore required, you can free up the memory that it occupies in the free store
with the delete operator as follows:

deletepvalue; //Releasememorypointedtobypvalue

Letus putabove concepts andform the followingexample to showhownewand


delete work:

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
double* pvalue= NULL; // Pointer initialized with null pvalue= new double;//Re

*pvalue=29494.99; //Storevalueatallocatedaddress
cout<<"Valueofpvalue:"<<*pvalue<< endl;

deletepvalue; //freeupthememory.

return0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

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C++

Valueofpvalue: 29495

DynamicMemoryAllocationforArrays

Consider you want to allocate memory for an array of characters, i.e., string of
20 characters. Using the same syntax what we have used above we can allocate
memory dynamically as shown below.

char* pvalue = NULL; // Pointer initialized with


null
pvalue=newchar[20];//Requestmemoryforthevariable
Toremovethearraythatwehavejustcreatedthestatementwouldlooklike this:

delete[]pvalue; //Deletearraypointedtobypvalue

Followingisthesyntaxofnewoperatorforamulti-dimensionalarrayasfollows:

intROW=2;
intCOL=3;
double**pvalue =newdouble*[ROW];//Allocatememoryfor rows

//Nowallocatememoryforcolumns
for(int i = 0; i < COL; i++) {
pvalue[i]=newdouble[COL];
}

Thesyntaxtoreleasethememoryformulti-dimensionalwillbeasfollows:

for(inti=0;i<COL;i++){ delete[]
pvalue[i];
}
delete[]pvalue;

DynamicMemoryAllocationforObjects

Objects are no different from simple data types. For example, consider the
following code where we are going to use an array of objects to clarify the
concept:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

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C++

classBox
{
public:
Box(){
cout<<"Constructorcalled!"<<endl;
}
~Box(){
cout<<"Destructorcalled!"<<endl;
}
};

intmain()
{
Box*myBoxArray=newBox[4];

delete[]myBoxArray;//Deletearray

return0;
}

If you were to allocate an array of four Box objects, the Simple constructor would
be called four times and similarly while deleting these objects, destructor will
also be called same number of times.
Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Constructorcalled!
Constructorcalled!
Constructorcalled!
Constructorcalled!
Destructor called!
Destructor called!
Destructor called!
Destructor called!

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C++

33. NAMESPACES

Consider a situation, when we have two persons with the same name, Zara, in
the same class. Whenever we need to differentiate them definitely we would
have to use some additional information along with their name, like either the
area, if they live in different area or their mother’s or father’s name, etc.
Same situation can arise in your C++ applications. For example, you might be
writing some code that has a function called xyz() and there is another library
available which isalsohavingsame functionxyz().Nowthe compilerhasnoway of
knowing which version of xyz() function you are referring to within your code.

Anamespaceis designed to overcome this difficulty and is used as additional


information to differentiate similar functions, classes, variables etc. with the
same name available in different libraries. Using namespace, you can define the
context in which names are defined. In essence, a namespace defines a scope.
DefiningaNamespace

A namespace definition begins with the keywordnamespacefollowed by the


namespace name as follows:

namespacenamespace_name{
//codedeclarations
}

Tocallthenamespace-enabledversionofeitherfunctionorvariable,prepend (::) the


namespace name as follows:

name::code;//codecouldbevariableorfunction.

Letusseehownamespacescopetheentitiesincludingvariableandfunctions:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

// first name space


namespacefirst_space{
voidfunc(){
cout<<"Insidefirst_space"<<endl;
}
}

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C++

// second name space


namespacesecond_space
{
voidfunc(){
cout<<"Insidesecond_space"<<endl;
}
}
intmain()
{

//Callsfunctionfromfirstnamespace.
first_space::func();

//Callsfunctionfromsecondnamespace.
second_space::func();

return0;
}
Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Inside first_space
Insidesecond_space

Theusingdirective

Youcanalsoavoidprependingofnamespaceswiththeusing namespacedirective.
This directive tells the compiler that the subsequent code is making use of
names in the specified namespace. The namespace is thus implied for the
following code:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

// first name space


namespacefirst_space{
voidfunc(){
cout<<"Insidefirst_space"<<endl;
}

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C++

}
// second name space
namespacesecond_space
{
voidfunc(){
cout<<"Insidesecond_space"<<endl;
}
}
usingnamespacefirst_space;
int main ()
{

//Thiscallsfunctionfromfirstnamespace.
func();

return0;
}
Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Insidefirst_space

The ‘using’ directive can also be used to refer to a particular item within a
namespace. For example, if the only part of the std namespace that you intend
to use is cout, you can refer to it as follows:

usingstd::cout;

Subsequent codecanrefer to cout without prependingthe namespace, but other


items in thestdnamespace will still need to be explicit as follows:

#include<iostream>
using std::cout;

intmain()
{

cout<<"std::endlisusedwithstd!"<<std::endl;

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C++

return0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

std::endlisusedwithstd!

Names introduced in ausingdirective obey normal scope rules. The name is


visible from the point of theusingdirective to the end of the scope in which the
directive is found. Entities with the same name defined in an outer scope are
hidden.
DiscontiguousNamespaces

A namespace can be defined in several parts and so a namespace is made up of


the sum of its separately defined parts. The separate parts of a namespace can
be spread over multiple files.
So, if one part of the namespace requires a name defined in another file, that
name must still be declared. Writing a following namespace definition either
defines a new namespace or adds new elements to an existing one:

namespacenamespace_name{
//codedeclarations
}

NestedNamespaces

Namespaces can be nested where you can define one namespace inside another
namespace as follows:

namespacenamespace_name1{
// code declarations
namespacenamespace_name2{
//codedeclarations
}
}

You can access members of nested namespace by using resolution operators as


follows:

//toaccessmembersofnamespace_name2
usingnamespacenamespace_name1::namespace_name2;

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C++

//toaccessmembersofnamespace:name1
using namespace namespace_name1;

In the above statements if you are using namespace_name1, then it will


makeelements of namespace_name2 available in the scope as follows:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

// first name space


namespacefirst_space{
voidfunc(){
cout<<"Insidefirst_space"<< endl;
}
// second name space
namespacesecond_space{
voidfunc(){
cout<<"Insidesecond_space"<<endl;
}
}
}
usingnamespacefirst_space::second_space
; int main ()
{

//Thiscallsfunctionfromsecondnamespace.
func();

return0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Insidesecond_space

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C++

34. TEMPLATES

Templates are the foundation of generic programming, which involves writing


code in a way that is independent of any particular type.
A template is a blueprint or formula for creating a generic class or a function.
The library containers like iterators and algorithms are examples of generic
programming and have been developed using template concept.
There is a single definition of each container, such asvector, but we can define
many different kinds of vectors for example,vector <int>orvector <string>.
Youcan usetemplatestodefinefunctionsaswellasclasses,letusseehow they work:
FunctionTemplate
Thegeneralformofatemplatefunctiondefinitionisshownhere:

template<classtype>ret-typefunc-name(parameterlist)
{
//bodyoffunction
}

Here,typeisaplaceholdernameforadatatypeusedbythefunction.This name can be


used within the function definition.
Thefollowing istheexampleofafunctiontemplatethat returns themaximumof two
values:

#include<iostream>
#include <string>

usingnamespacestd;

template<typenameT>
inlineTconst&Max(Tconst&a,Tconst&b)
{
returna<b?b:a;
}
intmain()
{

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C++

inti=39;
intj= 20;
cout<<"Max(i,j):"<<Max(i,j)<< endl;

doublef1=13.5;
doublef2= 20.7;
cout<<"Max(f1,f2):"<<Max(f1,f2)<<endl;

strings1="Hello";
strings2="World";
cout<<"Max(s1,s2):"<<Max(s1,s2)<<endl;

return0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Max(i,j):39
Max(f1,f2):20.7
Max(s1,s2):World

ClassTemplate
Justaswecandefinefunctiontemplates,wecanalsodefineclasstemplates. The
general form of a generic class declaration is shown here:

template<classtype>classclass-name{
.
.
.
}

Here,typeis the placeholder type name, which will be specified when a class is
instantiated.Youcandefinemorethanonegenericdatatypebyusingacomma-
separated list.
Following is the example to define class Stack<> and implement generic
methods to push and pop the elements from the stack:

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C++

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <string>
#include<stdexcept>

usingnamespacestd;

template<classT>
class Stack {
private:
vector<T>elems; //elements

public:
void push(T const&);// push element
void pop(); //popelement
T top() const; // return top element
bool empty() const{ //returntrueifempty.
returnelems.empty();
}
};

template<classT>
voidStack<T>::push(Tconst&elem)
{
//appendcopyofpassedelement
elems.push_back(elem);
}

template <class T>


voidStack<T>::pop()
{
if(elems.empty()){
throwout_of_range("Stack<>::pop():emptystack");

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C++

}
//removelastelement
elems.pop_back();
}

template<classT>
TStack<T>::top()const
{
if(elems.empty()){
throwout_of_range("Stack<>::top():emptystack");
}
//returncopyoflastelement
return elems.back();
}

intmain()
{
try{
Stack<int> intStack;// stack of ints
Stack<string> stringStack; //stackofstrings

//manipulateintstack
intStack.push(7);
cout<<intStack.top()<<endl;

//manipulatestringstack
stringStack.push("hello");
cout<<stringStack.top()<<std::endl;
stringStack.pop();
stringStack.pop();
}
catch(exceptionconst&ex){
cerr<<"Exception:"<<ex.what()<<endl;
return -1;

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C++

}
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

7
hello
Exception:Stack<>::pop():emptystack

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C++

35. PREPROCESSOR

The preprocessors are the directives, which give instructions to the compiler to
preprocess the information before actual compilation starts.
All preprocessor directives begin with #, and only white-space characters may
appear before a preprocessor directive on a line. Preprocessor directives are not
C++ statements, so they do not end in a semicolon (;).
You already have seen a#includedirective in all the examples. This macro is
used to include a header file into the source file.
There are number of preprocessor directives supported by C++ like #include,
#define, #if, #else, #line, etc. Let us see important directives:
The#definePreprocessor

The #define preprocessor directive creates symbolic constants. The symbolic


constant is called amacroand the general form of the directive is:

#definemacro-namereplacement-text

When this line appears in a file, all subsequent occurrences of macro in that file
will be replaced by replacement-text before the program is compiled. For
example:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

#definePI3.14159

intmain()
{

cout<<"ValueofPI:"<<PI<<endl;

return0;
}

Now,letusdothepreprocessingofthiscodetoseetheresultassumingwehave
thesourcecodefile.Soletuscompileitwith-Eoptionandredirecttheresultto

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C++

test.p.Now,ifyouchecktest.p,itwillhavelotsofinformationandatthe bottom, you will


find the value replaced as follows:

$gcc-Etest.cpp> test.p

...
intmain()
{

cout<<"ValueofPI:"<<3.14159<< endl;

return0;
}

Function-LikeMacros
Youcanuse#definetodefineamacrowhichwilltakeargumentasfollows:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

#defineMIN(a,b)(((a)<(b))?a:b)

intmain()
{
inti,j;
i= 100;
j= 30;
cout<<"Theminimumis"<<MIN(i,j)<<endl;

return0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Theminimumis 30

ConditionalCompilation

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C++

There are several directives, which can be used to compile selective portions of
your program's source code. This process is called conditional compilation.
Theconditionalpreprocessorconstructismuchlikethe‘if’selectionstructure. Consider
the following preprocessor code:

#ifndef NULL
#defineNULL0
#endif

You can compile a program for debugging purpose. You can also turn on or offthe
debugging using a single macro as follows:

#ifdefDEBUG
cerr<<"Variablex="<<x<<endl; #endif

This causes thecerrstatement to be compiled in the program if the symbolic


constant DEBUG has been defined before directive #ifdef DEBUG. You can use
#if 0 statement to comment out a portion of the program as follows:

#if0
codepreventedfromcompiling
#endif

Letustrythefollowingexample:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;
#define DEBUG

#defineMIN(a,b)(((a)<(b))?a:b)

intmain()
{
inti,j;
i= 100;
j= 30;
#ifdefDEBUG
cerr<<"Trace:Insidemainfunction"<<endl;
#endif

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C++

#if0
/*Thisiscommentedpart */
cout<<MKSTR(HELLOC++)<<endl;
#endif

cout<<"Theminimumis"<<MIN(i,j)<<endl;

#ifdefDEBUG
cerr<<"Trace:Comingoutofmainfunction"<<endl; #endif
return0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

Trace:Insidemainfunction
The minimum is 30
Trace:Comingoutofmain function

The#and## Operators

The#and##preprocessoroperatorsareavailable inC++and ANSI/ISOC.The #


operator causes a replacement-text token to be converted to a string surrounded
by quotes.
Considerthefollowingmacrodefinition:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

#defineMKSTR(x)#x

intmain()
{
cout<<MKSTR(HELLOC++)<< endl;

return0;

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C++

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

HELLO C++

Let us see how it worked. It is simple to understand that the C++ preprocessor
turns the line:

cout<<MKSTR(HELLOC++)<<endl;

Abovelinewillbeturnedintothefollowingline:

cout<<"HELLOC++"<<endl;

The##operatorisusedtoconcatenatetwotokens.Hereisanexample:

#defineCONCAT(x,y)x##y

When CONCAT appears in the program, its arguments are concatenated and
used to replace the macro. For example, CONCAT(HELLO, C++) is replaced by
"HELLO C++" in the program as follows.

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

#defineconcat(a,b)a##b
int main()
{
intxy=100;

cout<<concat(x,y);
return 0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

100

Let us see how it worked. It is simple to understand that the C++ preprocessor
transforms:

cout<<concat(x,y);

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C++

Abovelinewillbetransformedintothefollowingline:

cout<<xy;

PredefinedC++Macros
C++providesanumberofpredefinedmacrosmentionedbelow:

Macro Description

LINE This contains the current line number of the program


when it is being compiled.

FILE Thiscontainsthecurrentfilenameoftheprogram when it is


being compiled.

DATE Thiscontainsastringoftheformmonth/day/yearthat is
the date of the translation of the source file into object
code.

TIME This contains a string of the form hour:minute:second


that is the time at which the program was compiled.

Letusseeanexampleforalltheabovemacros:

#include <iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{
cout <<"ValueofLINE:"<<LINE<<endl; cout
<<"ValueofFILE:"<<FILE<<endl; cout
<<"ValueofDATE:"<<DATE<<endl; cout
<<"ValueofTIME:"<<TIME<<endl;

return0;
}

Ifwecompileandrunabovecode,thiswouldproducethefollowingresult:

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C++

ValueofLINE:6
Value of FILE: test.cpp
Value of DATE: Feb 28 2011
Value of TIME: 18:52:48

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C++

36. SIGNALHANDLING

Signals are the interrupts delivered to a process by the operating system which
can terminate a program prematurely. You can generate interrupts by pressing
Ctrl+C on a UNIX, LINUX, Mac OS X or Windows system.
There are signals which cannot be caught by the program but there is afollowing
list of signals which you can catch in your program and can take appropriate
actions based on the signal. These signals are defined in C++header file
<csignal>.

Signal Description

SIGABRT Abnormalterminationoftheprogram,suchasacalltoabort.

SIGFPE An erroneous arithmetic operation, such as a divide by zero or


an operation resulting in overflow.

SIGILL Detectionofanillegalinstruction.

SIGINT Receiptofaninteractiveattentionsignal.

SIGSEGV Aninvalidaccessto storage.

SIGTERM Aterminationrequestsenttothe program.

Thesignal()Function
C++ signal-handling library provides functionsignalto trap unexpected events.
Following is the syntax of the signal() function:

void(*signal(intsig,void(*func)(int)))(int);

Keeping it simple, this function receives two arguments: first argument as an


integer, which represents signal number and second argument as a pointer to
the signal-handling function.
Let us write a simple C++ program where we will catch SIGINT signal using
signal() function. Whatever signal you want to catch in your program, you must
register that signal using signalfunction and associate it with a signal handler.
Examine the following example:

#include<iostream>

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C++

#include<csignal>

usingnamespacestd;

voidsignalHandler(intsignum)
{
cout<<"Interruptsignal("<<signum<<")received.\n";

//cleanupandcloseupstuff here
//terminateprogram

exit(signum);

intmain()
{
//registersignalSIGINTandsignalhandler
signal(SIGINT, signalHandler);

while(1){
cout<<"Goingtosleep...."<<endl;
sleep(1);
}

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

Goingtosleep....
Goingtosleep....
Goingtosleep....

Now, press Ctrl+C to interrupt the program and you will see that your program
will catch the signal and would come out by printing something as follows:

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C++

Goingtosleep....
Goingtosleep....
Goingtosleep....
Interruptsignal(2)received.

Theraise()Function
Youcangeneratesignalsbyfunctionraise(),whichtakesanintegersignal number as
an argument and has the following syntax.

intraise(signal sig);

Here,sigis the signal number to send any of the signals: SIGINT, SIGABRT,
SIGFPE, SIGILL, SIGSEGV, SIGTERM, SIGHUP. Following is the example where we
raise a signal internally using raise() function as follows:

#include<iostream>
#include <csignal>

usingnamespacestd;

voidsignalHandler(intsignum)
{
cout<<"Interruptsignal("<<signum<<")received.\n";

//cleanupandcloseupstuff here
//terminateprogram

exit(signum);

intmain()
{
inti= 0;
//registersignalSIGINTandsignalhandler
signal(SIGINT, signalHandler);

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C++

while(++i){
cout<<"Goingtosleep...."<<endl;
if( i == 3 ){
raise(SIGINT);
}
sleep(1);
}

return0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result
and would come out automatically:

Goingtosleep....
Goingtosleep....
Goingtosleep....
Interruptsignal(2)received.

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C++

37. MULTITHREADING

Multithreading is a specialized form of multitasking and a multitasking is the


feature that allows your computer to run two or more programs concurrently. In
general, there are two types of multitasking: process-based and thread-based.
Process-based multitasking handles the concurrent execution of programs.
Thread-based multitasking deals with the concurrent execution of pieces of the
same program.
A multithreaded program contains two or more parts that can run concurrently.
Each part of such a program is called a thread, and each thread defines a
separate path of execution.
C++ does not contain any built-in support for multithreaded applications.
Instead, it relies entirely upon the operating system to provide this feature.
This tutorial assumes that you are working on Linux OS and we are going to write
multi-threaded C++ program using POSIX. POSIX Threads, or Pthreads provides
API which are available on many Unix-like POSIX systems such as FreeBSD,
NetBSD, GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and Solaris.
CreatingThreads
ThefollowingroutineisusedtocreateaPOSIXthread:

#include<pthread.h>
pthread_create(thread,attr,start_routine,arg)

Here,pthread_createcreates a new thread and makes it executable. This


routine can be called any number of times from anywhere within your code.Here
is the description of the parameters:

Parameter Description

thread An opaque, unique identifier for the new thread returned


by the subroutine.

attr An opaque attribute object that may be used to set thread


attributes. You can specify a thread attributes object, or
NULL for the default values.

start_routine TheC++routinethatthethreadwillexecuteonceitis created.

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C++

arg A single argument that may be passed to start_routine. It


must be passed by reference as a pointer cast of type
void. NULL may be used if no argument is to be passed.

The maximum number of threads that may be created by a process is


implementation dependent. Once created, threads are peers, and may create
other threads. There is no implied hierarchy or dependency between threads.
TerminatingThreads
ThereisfollowingroutinewhichweusetoterminateaPOSIXthread:

#include <pthread.h>
pthread_exit(status)

Herepthread_exitis used to explicitly exit a thread. Typically, the pthread_exit()


routine is called after a thread has completed its work and is no longer required
to exist.
If main() finishes before the threads it has created, and exits with pthread_exit(),
the other threads will continue to execute. Otherwise, they will be automatically
terminated when main() finishes.

Example:
This simple example code creates 5 threads with the pthread_create() routine.
Each thread prints a "Hello World!" message, and then terminates with a call to
pthread_exit().

#include<iostream>
#include <cstdlib> #include<pthread.h>

usingnamespacestd;

#defineNUM_THREADS 5

void*PrintHello(void*threadid)
{
long tid;
tid= (long)threadid;
cout<<"HelloWorld!ThreadID,"<<tid<< endl;

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C++

pthread_exit(NULL);
}

intmain()
{
pthread_tthreads[NUM_THREADS
]; int rc;
int i;
for(i=0;i<NUM_THREADS;i++){
cout<<"main():creatingthread,"<<i<<endl; rc =
pthread_create(&threads[i], NULL,
PrintHello,(void*)i);
if(rc){
cout<<"Error:unabletocreatethread,"<<rc<<endl;
exit(-1);
}
}
pthread_exit(NULL);
}

Compilethefollowingprogramusing-lpthreadlibraryasfollows:

$gcctest.cpp-lpthread

Now,executeyourprogramwhichgivesthefollowingoutput:

main():creatingthread,0 main():creatingthread,1 main():creatingthread,2 main():c

Hello World! Thread ID, 0


Hello World! Thread ID, 1
Hello World! Thread ID, 2
Hello World! Thread ID, 3
Hello World! Thread ID, 4

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C++

PassingArgumentstoThreads

This example shows how to pass multiple arguments via a structure. You can
pass any data type in a thread callback because it points to void as explained in
the following example:

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>
#include<pthread.h>

usingnamespacestd;

#defineNUM_THREADS 5

structthread_data{
intthread_id;
char *message;
};

void*PrintHello(void*threadarg)
{
structthread_data*my_data;

my_data=(structthread_data*)threadarg;

cout <<"Thread ID : "<< my_data->thread_id ;


cout<<"Message:"<<my_data->message<<endl;

pthread_exit(NULL);
}

intmain()
{
pthread_t threads[NUM_THREADS];
structthread_datatd[NUM_THREADS]
; int rc;

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C++

int i;

for(i=0;i<NUM_THREADS;i++){
cout<<"main():creatingthread,"<<i<<endl;
td[i].thread_id = i;
td[i].message="Thisismessage";
rc=pthread_create(&threads[i],NULL,
PrintHello,(void*)&td[i]);
if(rc){
cout<<"Error:unabletocreatethread,"<<rc<<endl;
exit(-1);
}
}
pthread_exit(NULL);
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

main():creatingthread,0
main():creatingthread,1
main():creatingthread,2
main():creatingthread,3
main():creatingthread,4
ThreadID:3Message:Thisismessage
ThreadID:2Message:Thisismessage
ThreadID:0Message:Thisismessage
ThreadID:1Message:Thisismessage
ThreadID:4Message:Thisis message

JoiningandDetachingThreads
Therearefollowingtworoutineswhichwecanusetojoinordetachthreads:

pthread_join(threadid,status)
pthread_detach (threadid)

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C++

The pthread_join() subroutine blocks the calling thread until the specified
‘threadid’ thread terminates. When a thread is created, one of its attributes
defines whether it is joinable or detached. Only threads that are created as
joinable canbe joined.Ifathread iscreatedasdetached, itcan neverbe joined.
This example demonstrates how to wait for thread completions by using the
Pthread join routine.

#include<iostream>
#include<cstdlib>
#include<pthread.h> #include <unistd.h>

usingnamespacestd;

#defineNUM_THREADS 5

void*wait(void*t)
{
int i; longtid;

tid= (long)t;

sleep(1);
cout<<"Sleepinginthread"<<endl;
cout<<"Threadwithid:"<<tid<<"...exiting"<<endl; pthread_exit(NULL);

intmain()
{
intrc; int i;
pthread_tthreads[NUM_THREADS]; pthread_attr_t attr;
void*status;

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C++

//Initializeandsetthreadjoinable
pthread_attr_init(&attr);
pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&attr,PTHREAD_CREATE_JOINABLE);

for(i=0;i<NUM_THREADS;i++){
cout<<"main():creatingthread,"<<i<<endl;
rc=pthread_create(&threads[i],NULL,wait,(void*)i);
if (rc){
cout<<"Error:unabletocreatethread,"<<rc<<endl;
exit(-1);
}
}

//freeattributeandwaitforthe otherthreads
pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);
for(i=0;i<NUM_THREADS;i++){
rc=pthread_join(threads[i],&status);
if (rc){
cout<<"Error:unabletojoin,"<<rc<<endl;
exit(-1);
}
cout<<"Main:completedthreadid:"<<i;
cout<<"exitingwithstatus:"<<status<< endl;
}

cout<<"Main:programexiting."<<endl;
pthread_exit(NULL);
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

main():creatingthread,0
main():creatingthread,1
main():creatingthread,2

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C++

main():creatingthread,3
main():creatingthread,4
Sleeping in thread
Threadwithid:0exiting
Sleepinginthread
Threadwithid:1.......exiting
Sleepinginthread
Threadwithid:2.......exiting
Sleepinginthread
Threadwithid:3.......exiting
Sleepinginthread
Threadwithid:4.......exiting
Main:completedthreadid:0exitingwithstatus0
Main:completedthreadid:1exitingwithstatus0
Main:completedthreadid:2exitingwithstatus0
Main:completedthreadid:3exitingwithstatus0
Main:completedthreadid:4exitingwithstatus0
Main:programexiting.

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C++

38.WEBPROGRAMMING

WhatisCGI?

TheCommonGatewayInterface,orCGI,isasetofstandardsthatdefinehow information
is exchanged between the web server and a custom script.
TheCGIspecsarecurrentlymaintainedby theNCSAandNCSAdefinesCGIisas follows:
TheCommonGatewayInterface,orCGI,isastandardforexternalgateway programs to
interface with information servers such as HTTP servers.
ThecurrentversionisCGI/1.1andCGI/1.2isunderprogress. Web
Browsing
TounderstandtheconceptofCGI,let'sseewhathappenswhenweclicka hyperlink to
browse a particular web page or URL.
 Your browser contacts the HTTP web server and demand for the URL i.e.
filename.
 WebServerwillparse the URLand willlook forthe filename. If it finds the
requested file then web server sends that file back to the browser
otherwise sends an error message indicating that you have requested a
wrong file.

 Web browser takes response from web server and displays either the
received file or error message based on the received response.
However, it is possible to set up the HTTP server in such a way that whenever a
file in a certain directory is requested, that file is not sent back; instead it is
executed as a program, and produced output from the program is sent back to
your browser to display.
The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard protocol for enabling
applications (called CGI programs or CGI scripts) to interact with Web servers
and with clients. These CGI programs can be a written in Python, PERL, Shell, C
or C++ etc.

CGIArchitectureDiagram
ThefollowingsimpleprogramshowsasimplearchitectureofCGI:

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C++

WebServerConfiguration

Before you proceed with CGI Programming, make sure that your Web Server
supports CGI and it is configured to handle CGI Programs. All the CGI Programs to
be executed by the HTTP server are kept in a pre-configured directory. This
directory is called CGI directory and by convention it is named as /var/www/cgi-
bin. By convention CGI files will have extension as.cgi, though they are C++
executable.
Bydefault,ApacheWebServerisconfiguredtorunCGIprogramsin
/var/www/cgi-bin. If you want to specify any other directory to run your CGI
scripts, you can modify the following section in the httpd.conf file:

<Directory"/var/www/cgi-bin">
AllowOverride None
Options ExecCGI
Orderallow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

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C++

<Directory"/var/www/cgi-bin">
Options All
</Directory>

Here, I assume that you have Web Server up and running successfully and you
are able to run any other CGI program like Perl or Shell etc.
FirstCGIProgram
ConsiderthefollowingC++Programcontent:

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>HelloWorld-FirstCGIProgram</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";
cout << "<h2>HelloWorld!ThisismyfirstCGIprogram</h2>\n";
cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return0;
}
Compile above code and name the executable as cplusplus.cgi. This file is being
kept in /var/www/cgi-bin directory and it has following content. Before running
your CGI program make sure you have change mode of file usingchmod 755
cplusplus.cgiUNIXcommandtomakefileexecutable.Nowifyou
clickcplusplus.cgithen this produces the following output:
MyFirstCGI program

The above C++ program is a simple program which is writing its output on
STDOUTfile i.e.screen.Thereisoneimportantandextrafeatureavailablewhich is first
lineprintingContent-type:text/html\r\n\r\n.This lineis sentback to
thebrowserandspecifythecontenttypetobedisplayedonthebrowserscreen.

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C++

Now you must have understood the basic concept of CGI and you can writemany
complicated CGI programs using Python. A C++ CGI program can interact with
any other external system, such as RDBMS, to exchange information.
HTTPHeader

The lineContent-type:text/html\r\n\r\nis a part of HTTP header, which is sent


to the browser to understandthe content.All the HTTPheader willbe in the
following form:

HTTPFieldName:Field Content

ForExample
Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n

TherearefewotherimportantHTTPheaders,whichyouwillusefrequentlyin your CGI


Programming.

Header Description

Content-type: AMIMEstringdefiningtheformatofthefilebeing returned.


Example is Content-type:text/html.

Expires:Date The date the information becomes invalid. This should


be used by the browser to decide when a page needs
to be refreshed. A valid date string should be in the
format 01 Jan 1998 12:00:00 GMT.

Location:URL The URL that should be returned instead of the URL


requested. You can use this field to redirect a request
to any file.

Last-modified:Date Thedateoflastmodificationofthe resource.

Content-length:N The length, in bytes, of the data being returned. The


browser uses this value to report the estimated
download time for a file.

Set-Cookie:String Setthecookiepassedthroughthestring.

CGIEnvironmentVariables
AlltheCGIprogramwillhaveaccesstothefollowingenvironmentvariables. These
variables play an important role while writing any CGI program.

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C++

VariableName Description

CONTENT_TYPE The data type of the content, used when the client is
sending attached content to the server. For example
file upload etc.

CONTENT_LENGTH The length of the query information thatis availableonly


for POST requests.

HTTP_COOKIE Returnsthesetcookiesintheformofkey&value pair.

HTTP_USER_AGENT The User-Agent request-header field contains


information about the user agent originating the
request. It is a name of the web browser.

PATH_INFO ThepathfortheCGIscript.

QUERY_STRING TheURL-encodedinformationthatissentwithGET method


request.

REMOTE_ADDR The IP address of the remote host making therequest.


This can be useful for logging or for authentication
purpose.

REMOTE_HOST The fully qualified name of the host making the


request. If this information is not available then
REMOTE_ADDR can be used to get IR address.

REQUEST_METHOD Themethodusedtomaketherequest.Themost common


methods are GET and POST.

SCRIPT_FILENAME ThefullpathtotheCGIscript.

SCRIPT_NAME ThenameoftheCGIscript.

SERVER_NAME Theserver'shostnameorIPAddress.

SERVER_SOFTWARE Thenameandversionofthesoftwaretheserveris running.

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C++

HereissmallCGIprogramto listoutalltheCGIvariables.

#include
<iostream>
#include
<stdlib.h>
usingnamespacestd;

conststringENV[24]={
"COMSPEC", "DOCUMENT_ROOT", "GATEWAY_INTERFACE",
"HTTP_ACCEPT", "HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING",
"HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE", "HTTP_CONNECTION",
"HTTP_HOST", "HTTP_USER_AGENT", "PATH",
"QUERY_STRING", "REMOTE_ADDR", "REMOTE_PORT",
"REQUEST_METHOD","REQUEST_URI","SCRIPT_FILENAME",
"SCRIPT_NAME", "SERVER_ADDR", "SERVER_ADMIN",
"SERVER_NAME","SERVER_PORT","SERVER_PROTOCOL",
"SERVER_SIGNATURE","SERVER_SOFTWARE" };

intmain()
{

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>CGIEnvironmentVariables</title>\
n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";
cout << "<tableborder=\"0\"cellspacing= \"2\">";

for(inti=0;i<24;i++)
{
cout<<"<tr><td>"<<ENV[i]<<"</td><td>";

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C++
//attempttoretrievevalueofenvironmentvariable
char *value = getenv( ENV[ i ].c_str() );

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C++

if(value!=0){ cout
<< value;
}else{
cout<<"Environmentvariabledoesnotexist.";
}
cout<<"</td></tr>\n";
}
cout<<"</table><\n";
cout <<"</body>\n";
cout <<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

Theoutputisas follows:

COMSPEC Environmentvariabledoesnotexist.
/var/www/tutorialspoint
DOCUMENT_ROOT GATEWAY_INTERFACE CGI/1.1
HTTP_ACCEPT HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING HTTP_ACCEPT_LAN
text/html,application/xhtml+xml,*/* gzip, deflate
en-US
PATH QUERY_STRING REMOTE_ADDR REMOTE_PORT REQUEST_METHOD REQUEST_URI SCRIPT_FILE
SERVER_ADDR Keep-Alive
Mozilla/5.0(WindowsNT6.3;WOW64;Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like
/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin

183.82.104.71
50902
GET
/cgi-bin/cpp_env.cgi
/var/www/cgi-bin/cpp_env.cgi
/cgi-bin/cpp_env.cgi 66.135.33.172

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C++

SERVER_ADMIN
80 SERVER_PROTOCOL SERVER_SIGNATURE SERVER_SOFTWARE
SERVER_NAME SERVER_PORT
< HTTP/1.1

Apache

C++CGILibrary
For realexamples, you would need to do manyoperations by your CGI program.
There is a CGI library written for C++ program which you can download from
ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/cgicc/ and follow the steps to install the library:

$tarxzfcgicc-X.X.X.tar.gz
$cdcgicc-X.X.X/
$./configure--prefix=/usr
$make
$makeinstall

Youcancheckrelateddocumentationavailableat ‘C++CGILibDocumentation’. GET


and POST Methods
You must have come across many situations when you need to pass some
information from your browser to web server and ultimately to your CGI Program.
Most frequently browser uses two methods to pass this information to web
server. These methods are GET Method and POST Method.
PassingInformationUsingGETMethod

The GET method sends the encoded user information appended to the page
request. The page and the encoded information are separated by the ‘?’
character as follows:

http://www.test.com/cgi-bin/cpp.cgi?key1=value1&key2=value2

The GET method is the default method to pass information from browser to web
serveranditproducesa longstringthatappearsinyour browser'sLocation:box. Never
use the GET method if you have password or other sensitive information to pass
to the server. The GET method has size limitation and you can pass upto 1024
characters in a request string.
When using GET method, information is passed using QUERY_STRING http
header and will be accessible in your CGI Program through QUERY_STRING
environment variable.

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C++

You can pass information by simply concatenating key and value pairs alongwith
any URL or you can use HTML <FORM> tags to pass information using GET
method.
SimpleURLExample:GetMethod

Here is a simple URL which will pass two values to hello_get.py program using
GET method.
/cgi-bin/cpp_get.cgi?first_name=ZARA&last_name=ALI

Below is a program to generatecpp_get.cgiCGI program to handle input given


by web browser. We are going to use C++ CGI library which makes it very easy
to access passed information:

#include<iostream>
#include <vector> #include <string> #include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

#include<cgicc/CgiDefs.h>
#include<cgicc/Cgicc.h> #include<cgicc/HTTPHTMLHeader.h>
#include<cgicc/HTMLClasses.h>

usingnamespacestd;
usingnamespacecgicc;

intmain()
{
CgiccformData;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>UsingGETandPOSTMethods</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

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C++

form_iteratorfi=formData.getElement("first_name");
if( !fi->isEmpty() && fi != (*formData).end()) {
cout<<"Firstname:"<<**fi<<endl;
}else{
cout<<"Notextenteredforfirstname"<<endl;
}
cout<<"<br/>\n";
fi=formData.getElement("last_name");
if(!fi->isEmpty()&&fi!=(*formData).end())
{ cout <<"Last name: "<< **fi << endl;
}else{
cout<<"Notextenteredforlastname"<<endl;
}
cout<<"<br/>\n";

cout<<"</body>\n";
cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

Now,compiletheaboveprogramasfollows:

$g++-ocpp_get.cgicpp_get.cpp-lcgicc

Generatecpp_get.cgiandputitinyourCGIdirectoryandtrytoaccessusing following
link:
/cgi-bin/cpp_get.cgi?first_name=ZARA&last_name=ALI
This would generate following result:

Firstname:ZARA
Last name: ALI

SimpleFORMExample:GETMethod

Here is a simple example which passes two values usingHTML FORM andsubmit
button. We are going to use same CGI script cpp_get.cgi to handle this input.

<formaction="/cgi-bin/cpp_get.cgi"method="get">

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C++

FirstName:<inputtype="text"name="first_name"><br/>

LastName:<inputtype="text"name="last_name" />
<inputtype="submit"value="Submit"/>
</form>

Here is the actual output of the above form. You enter First and Last Name and
then click submit button to see the result.

FirstName:
Submit
Last Name:

PassingInformationUsingPOSTMethod

A generally more reliable method of passing information to a CGI program is the


POST method. This packages the information in exactly the same way as GET
methods, but instead of sending it as a text string after a‘?’ in the URL it sends it
as a separate message. This message comes into the CGI script in the form of
the standard input.

The same cpp_get.cgi program will handle POST method as well. Let us take
same example as above, which passes two values using HTML FORM and submit
button but this time with POST method as follows:

<form action="/cgi-bin/cpp_get.cgi" method="post">


FirstName:<inputtype="text"name="first_name"><br/>
Last Name: <input type="text" name="last_name" />

<inputtype="submit"value="Submit"/>
</form>

Here is the actual output of the above form. You enter First and Last Name and
then click submit button to see the result.

FirstName:
Submit
Last Name:

PassingCheckboxDatatoCGIProgram
Checkboxesareusedwhenmorethanoneoptionisrequiredtobe selected.

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C++

HereisexampleHTMLcodeforaformwithtwocheckboxes:

<formaction="/cgi-bin/
cpp_checkbox.cgi"method="POST"
target="_blank">
<inputtype="checkbox"name="maths"value="on"/>Maths
<inputtype="checkbox"name="physics"value="on"/>Physics
<inputtype="submit"value="SelectSubject"/>
</form>

Theresultofthiscodeisthefollowing form:
SelectSubject
Maths Physics

BelowisC++program,whichwillgeneratecpp_checkbox.cgiscripttohandle input
given by web browser through checkbox button.

#include<iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

#include <cgicc/CgiDefs.h>
#include<cgicc/Cgicc.h>#includ
e<cgicc/HTTPHTMLHeader.h>
#include <cgicc/HTMLClasses.h>

using namespace std;


usingnamespacecgicc;

intmain()
{
CgiccformData;
boolmaths_flag,physics_flag;

cout<<"Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";
cout <<"<html>\n";

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C++

cout << "<head>\n";


cout << "<title>CheckboxDatatoCGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

maths_flag=formData.queryCheckbox("maths");
if(maths_flag){
cout<<"MathsFlag:ON"<<endl;
}else{
cout<<"MathsFlag:OFF"<<endl;
}
cout<<"<br/>\n";

physics_flag=formData.queryCheckbox("physics");
if(physics_flag){
cout<<"PhysicsFlag:ON"<<endl;
}else{
cout<<"PhysicsFlag:OFF"<<endl;
}
cout <<"<br/>\n"; cout<<"</body>\n"; cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

PassingRadioButtonDatatoCGIProgram
RadioButtonsareusedwhenonlyoneoptionisrequiredtobeselected. Here is
example HTML code for a form with two radio button:

<formaction="/cgi-bin/
cpp_radiobutton.cgi"method="post"
target="_blank">
<inputtype="radio"name="subject"value="maths"
checked="checked"/>Maths

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C++

<inputtype="radio"name="subject"value="physics"/>Physics
<inputtype="submit"value="SelectSubject"/>
</form>

Theresultofthiscodeisthefollowing form:
SelectSubject
Maths Physics

Below is C++ program, which will generate cpp_radiobutton.cgi script to handle


input given by web browser through radio buttons.

#include<iostream>
#include <vector> #include <string> #include <stdio.h> #include<stdlib.h>

#include<cgicc/CgiDefs.h>
#include<cgicc/Cgicc.h> #include<cgicc/HTTPHTMLHeader.h> #include <cgicc/HTMLC

usingnamespacestd;
usingnamespacecgicc;

intmain()
{
CgiccformData;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>RadioButtonDatatoCGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

form_iteratorfi=formData.getElement("subject");

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C++

if( !fi->isEmpty() && fi != (*formData).end())


{ cout<<"Radioboxselected:"<<**fi<<endl;
}

cout <<"<br/>\n";
cout<<"</body>\n";
cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

PassingTextAreaDatatoCGI Program

TEXTAREAelementisusedwhenmultilinetexthastobepassedtotheCGI Program.
HereisexampleHTMLcodeforaformwithaTEXTAREAbox:

<formaction="/cgi-bin/
cpp_textarea.cgi"method="post"
target="_blank">
<textareaname="textcontent"cols="40"rows="4"
> Type your text here...
</textarea>
<inputtype="submit"value="Submit"/>
</form>

Theresultofthiscodeisthefollowing form:

Submit

BelowisC++program,whichwillgeneratecpp_textarea.cgiscripttohandle input
given by web browser through text area.

#include<iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <stdio.h>

307
C++

#include<stdlib.h>

#include<cgicc/CgiDefs.h>
#include <cgicc/Cgicc.h>
#include<cgicc/HTTPHTMLHeader.h>
#include <cgicc/HTMLClasses.h>

using namespace std;


usingnamespacecgicc;

intmain()
{
CgiccformData;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>TextAreaDatatoCGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

form_iteratorfi=formData.getElement("textcontent");
if( !fi->isEmpty() && fi != (*formData).end()) {
cout<<"TextContent:"<<**fi<<endl;
}else{
cout<<"Notextentered"<<endl;
}

cout <<"<br/>\n";
cout<<"</body>\n";
cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

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C++

PassingDropdownBoxDatatoCGIProgram

DropdownBoxisusedwhenwehavemanyoptionsavailablebutonlyoneortwo will be
selected.
HereisexampleHTMLcodeforaformwithonedropdownbox:

<formaction="/cgi-bin/cpp_dropdown.cgi"
method="post"target="_blank">
<selectname="dropdown">
<optionvalue="Maths"selected>Maths</option>
<optionvalue="Physics">Physics</option>
</select>
<inputtype="submit"value="Submit"/>
</form>

Theresultofthiscodeisthefollowing form:

Maths Submit

Below is C++ program, which will generate cpp_dropdown.cgiscript to


handleinput given by web browser through drop down box.

#include<iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

#include<cgicc/CgiDefs.h>
#include <cgicc/Cgicc.h>
#include<cgicc/
HTTPHTMLHeader.h> #include
<cgicc/HTMLClasses.h>

using namespace std;


usingnamespacecgicc;

intmain()
{
CgiccformData; 309
C++

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>DropDownBoxDatatoCGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

form_iteratorfi=formData.getElement("dropdown");
if(!fi->isEmpty()&&fi!=(*formData).end()){ cout <<"Value Selected: "<< **fi
}

cout<<"<br/>\n";
cout<<"</body>\n"; cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

UsingCookiesin CGI

HTTP protocol is a stateless protocol. But for a commercial website it is required


to maintain session information among different pages. For example one user
registration ends after completing many pages. But how to maintain user's
session information across all the web pages.
In many situations, using cookies is the most efficient method of remembering
and tracking preferences, purchases, commissions, and other information
required for better visitor experience or site statistics.
HowItWorks

Yourserversendssome datatothe visitor's browserinthe formofacookie.The


browser may accept the cookie. If it does, it is stored as a plain text record on
the visitor's hard drive. Now, when the visitor arrives at another page on your
site, the cookie is available for retrieval. Once retrieved, your server
knows/remembers what was stored.
Cookiesareaplaintextdatarecordof5variable-lengthfields:
 Expires:Thisshowsthedatethecookiewillexpire.Ifthisisblank,the cookie will
expire when the visitor quits the browser.

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C++

 Domain:Thisisthedomainnameofyoursite.
 Path: This is the path to the directory or web page that sets the cookie.
This may be blank if you want to retrieve the cookie from any directory or
page.
 Secure:If this field contains the word "secure" then the cookie may only
be retrieved with a secure server. If this field is blank, no such restriction
exists.
 Name=Value:Cookies are set and retrieved in the form of key and value
pairs.
SettingupCookies
It is very easy to send cookies to browser. These cookies will be sent along with
HTTP Header before the Content-type filed. Assuming you want to set UserID and
Password as cookies. So cookies setting will be done as follows:

#include<iostream>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{

cout <<"Set-Cookie:UserID=XYZ;\r\n";
cout <<"Set-Cookie:Password=XYZ123;\r\n";
cout <<"Set-Cookie:Domain=www.tutorialspoint.com;\r\
n";
cout <<"Set-Cookie:Path=/perl;\n";
cout <<"Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";

cout <<"<html>\n";
cout <<"<head>\n";
cout <<"<title>CookiesinCGI</title>\n";
cout <<"</head>\n";
cout <<"<body>\n";

cout <<"Settingcookies"<<endl;

cout <<"<br/>\n";
cout <<"</body>\n";

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C++

cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

From this example, you must have understood how to set cookies. We useSet-
Cookie HTTP header to set cookies.
Here, it is optional to set cookies attributes like Expires, Domain, and Path. It is
notable that cookies are set before sending magic line"Content-
type:text/html\r\n\r\n.
Compile above program to produce setcookies.cgi, and try to set cookies
usingfollowing link. It will set four cookies at your computer:
/cgi-bin/setcookies.cgi
Retrieving Cookies
It is easy to retrieve all the set cookies. Cookies are stored in CGI environment
variable HTTP_COOKIE and they will have following form.

key1=value1;key2=value2;key3=value3....

Hereisanexampleofhowtoretrievecookies.

#include<iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

#include <cgicc/CgiDefs.h>
#include<cgicc/Cgicc.h>#includ
e<cgicc/HTTPHTMLHeader.h>
#include <cgicc/HTMLClasses.h>

using namespace std;


usingnamespacecgicc;

intmain()
{

312
C++

Cgicc cgi;
const_cookie_iteratorcci;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>CookiesinCGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";
cout << "<tableborder=\"0\"cellspacing= \"2\">";

//getenvironmentvariables
constCgiEnvironment&env=cgi.getEnvironment();

for(cci=env.getCookieList().begin();
cci !=
env.getCookieList().end();
++cci)
{
cout<<"<tr><td>"<<cci->getName()<<"</td><td>";
cout << cci->getValue();
cout<<"</td></tr>\n";
}
cout<<"</table><\n";

cout <<"<br/>\n";
cout<<"</body>\n";
cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

Now, compile above program to produce getcookies.cgi, and try to get a list ofall
the cookies available at your computer:
/cgi-bin/getcookies.cgi

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C++

This willproduce a list of allthe fourcookies set in previous section andallother


cookies set in your computer:

UserID XYZ
PasswordXYZ123
Domainwww.tutorialspoint.com
Path /perl

FileUploadExample

TouploadafiletheHTMLformmusthavetheenctypeattributeset tomultipart/form-
data. The input tag with the file type will create a "Browse"button.

<html>
<body>
<form enctype="multipart/form-
data"action="/cgi-bin/cpp_uploadf
ile.cgi" method="post">
<p>File:<inputtype="file"name="userfile"/></p>
<p><inputtype="submit"value="Upload"/></p>
</form>
</body>
</html>

Theresultofthiscodeisthefollowingform: File:
Upload

Note:Above example has been disabled intentionally to stop people


uploadingfiles on our server. But you can try above code with your server.
Hereisthescriptcpp_uploadfile.cpptohandlefile upload:

#include<iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

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C++

#include <cgicc/CgiDefs.h>
#include<cgicc/Cgicc.h>#includ
e<cgicc/HTTPHTMLHeader.h>
#include <cgicc/HTMLClasses.h>

using namespace std;


usingnamespacecgicc;

intmain()
{
Cgicccgi;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";


cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>FileUploadinCGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

// get list of files to be uploaded


const_file_iteratorfile=cgi.getFile("userfile");
if(file != cgi.getFiles().end()) {
//senddatatypeatcout.
cout<<HTTPContentHeader(file->getDataType());
// write content at
cout. file-
>writeToStream(cout);
}
cout<<"<Fileuploadedsuccessfully>\n";
cout <<"</body>\n";
cout<<"</html>\n";

return0;
}

315
C++

The above example is for writing content atcoutstream but you can open your
file stream and save the content of uploaded file in a file at desired location.
Hopeyouhaveenjoyedthistutorial.Ifyes,pleasesendusyourfeedback.

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C++

39. STLTUTORIAL

Hope you have already understood the concept of C++ Template which we have
discussed earlier. The C++ STL (Standard Template Library) is a powerful set of
C++ template classes to provide general-purpose classes and functions with
templates that implement many popular and commonly used algorithms and
data structures like vectors, lists, queues, and stacks.
At the core of the C++ Standard Template Library are following three well-
structured components:

Component Description

Containers Containers are used to manage collections of objects


of a certain kind. There are several different types of
containers like deque, list, vector, map etc.

Algorithms Algorithms act on containers. They provide the means


by which you will perform initialization, sorting,
searching, and transforming of the contents of
containers.

Iterators Iterators are used to step through the elements of


collections of objects. These collections may be
containers or subsets of containers.

We will discuss about all the three C++ STL components in next chapter while
discussing C++ Standard Library. For now, keep in mind that all the three
components have a rich set of pre-defined functions which help us in doing
complicated tasks in very easy fashion.
Let us take the following program that demonstrates the vector container (a C+
+ Standard Template) which is similar to an array with an exception that it
automatically handles its own storage requirements in case it grows:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
usingnamespacestd;

intmain()
{

317
C++

//createavectortostoreint
vector<int> vec;
int i;

//displaytheoriginalsizeofvec
cout<<"vectorsize="<<vec.size()<<endl;

//push5valuesintothevector for(i
= 0; i < 5; i++){
vec.push_back(i);
}

//displayextendedsizeof vec
cout<<"extendedvectorsize="<<vec.size()<<endl;

//access5valuesfromthevector
for(i = 0; i < 5; i++){
cout<<"valueofvec["<<i<<"]="<<vec[i]<<endl;
}

// use iterator to access the values


vector<int>::iteratorv=vec.begin();
while( v != vec.end()) {
cout<<"valueofv="<<*v<<endl; v++;
}

return0;
}

Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:

vectorsize=0
extendedvectorsize=5
value of vec [0] = 0

318
C++

value of vec [1] = 1


value of vec [2] = 2
value of vec [3] = 3
value of vec [4] = 4
value of v= 0
value of v= 1
value of v= 2
value of v= 3
value of v= 4

Here are following points to be noted related to various functions we used in the
above example:
 The push_back( ) member function inserts value at the end of the vector,
expanding its size as needed.
 Thesize()functiondisplaysthesizeofthevector.
 Thefunctionbegin()returnsaniteratortothestartofthe vector.
 Thefunctionend()returnsaniteratortotheendofthevector.

319
C++

40. STANDARDLIBRARY

TheC++StandardLibrarycanbecategorizedintotwoparts:

 The Standard Function Library:This library consists of general-


purpose,stand-alone functionsthatare notpart ofany class.The function
library is inherited from C.
 The Object Oriented Class Library:This is a collection of classes and
associated functions.
Standard C++ Library incorporates all the Standard C libraries also, with small
additions and changes to support type safety.
TheStandardFunctionLibrary
Thestandardfunctionlibraryisdividedintothefollowingcategories:
 I/O,
 Stringandcharacter handling,
 Mathematical,
 Time,date,andlocalization,
 Dynamicallocation,
 Miscellaneous,
 Wide-character functions
TheObjectOrientedClassLibrary
Standard C++ Object Oriented Library defines an extensive set of classes that
provide support for a number of common activities, including I/O, strings, and
numeric processing. This library includes the following:
 TheStandardC++I/OClasses
 TheStringClass
 TheNumericClasses
 TheSTLContainerClasses
 TheSTLAlgorithms
 TheSTLFunctionObjects
 TheSTLIterators
 TheSTLAllocators

320
C++

 TheLocalization library
 ExceptionHandlingClasses
 MiscellaneousSupportLibrary

321

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