Chapter 1

C++ Basics

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley.

All rights reserved
 Learning Objectives
• Introduction to C++
– Origins, Object-Oriented Programming, Terms

• Variables, Expressions, and

Assignment Statements
• Console Input/Output
• Program Style
• Libraries and Namespaces

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-2

 Introduction to C++
• C++ Origins
– Low-level languages
• Machine, assembly
– High-level languages
• C, C++, ADA, COBOL, FORTRAN
– Object-Oriented-Programming in C++

• C++ Terminology
– Programs and functions
– Basic Input/Output (I/O) with cin and cout

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-3

 Display 1.1
A Sample C++ Program (1 of 2)

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-4

 Display 1.1
A Sample C++ Program (2 of 2)

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-5

 C++ Variables
• C++ Identifiers
– Keywords/reserved words vs. Identifiers
– Case-sensitivity and validity of identifiers
– Meaningful names!

• Variables
– A memory location to store data for a program
– Must declare all data before use in program

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-6

 Data Types:
Display 1.2 Simple Types (1 of 2)

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-7

 Data Types:
Display 1.2 Simple Types (2 of 2)

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-8

 Assigning Data
• Initializing data in declaration statement
– Results "undefined" if you don’t!
• int myValue = 0;
• Assigning data during execution
– Lvalues (left-side) & Rvalues (right-side)
• Lvalues must be variables
• Rvalues can be any expression
• Example:
distance = rate * time;
Lvalue: "distance"
Rvalue: "rate * time"

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-9

 Assigning Data: Shorthand Notations

• Display, page 14

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-10

 Data Assignment Rules
• Compatibility of Data Assignments
– Type mismatches
• General Rule: Cannot place value of one type into variable of
another type
– intVar = 2.99; // 2 is assigned to intVar!
• Only integer part "fits", so that’s all that goes
• Called "implicit" or "automatic type conversion"
– Literals
• 2, 5.75, "Z", "Hello World"
• Considered "constants": can’t change in program

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-11

 Literal Data
• Literals
– Examples:
• 2 // Literal constant int
• 5.75 // Literal constant double
• "Z" // Literal constant char
• "Hello World" // Literal constant string

• Cannot change values during execution

• Called "literals" because you "literally typed"
them in your program!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-12

 Escape Sequences
• "Extend" character set
• Backslash, \ preceding a character
– Instructs compiler: a special "escape
character" is coming
– Following character treated as
"escape sequence char"
– Display 1.3 next slide

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-13

 Display 1.3
Some Escape Sequences (1 of 2)

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-14

 Display 1.3
Some Escape Sequences (2 of 2)

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-15

 Constants
• Naming your constants
– Literal constants are "OK", but provide
little meaning
• e.g., seeing 24 in a pgm, tells nothing about
what it represents
• Use named constants instead
– Meaningful name to represent data
const int NUMBER_OF_STUDENTS = 24;
• Called a "declared constant" or "named constant"
• Now use it’s name wherever needed in program
• Added benefit: changes to value result in one fix

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-16

 Arithmetic Operators:
Display 1.4 Named Constant (1 of 2)
• Standard Arithmetic Operators
– Precedence rules – standard rules

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-17

 Arithmetic Operators:
Display 1.4 Named Constant (2 of 2)

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-18

 Arithmetic Precision
• Precision of Calculations
– VERY important consideration!
• Expressions in C++ might not evaluate as
you’d "expect"!
– "Highest-order operand" determines type
of arithmetic "precision" performed
– Common pitfall!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-19

 Arithmetic Precision Examples
• Examples:
– 17 / 5 evaluates to 3 in C++!
• Both operands are integers
• Integer division is performed!
– 17.0 / 5 equals 3.4 in C++!
• Highest-order operand is "double type"
• Double "precision" division is performed!
– int intVar1 =1, intVar2=2;
intVar1 / intVar2;
• Performs integer division!
• Result: 0!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-20

 Individual Arithmetic Precision
• Calculations done "one-by-one"
– 1 / 2 / 3.0 / 4 performs 3 separate divisions.
• First 1 / 2 equals 0
• Then 0 / 3.0 equals 0.0
• Then 0.0 / 4 equals 0.0!

• So not necessarily sufficient to change

just "one operand" in a large expression
– Must keep in mind all individual calculations
that will be performed during evaluation!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-21

 Type Casting
• Casting for Variables
– Can add ".0" to literals to force precision
arithmetic, but what about variables?
• We can’t use "myInt.0"!
– static_cast<double>intVar
– Explicitly "casts" or "converts" intVar to
double type
• Result of conversion is then used
• Example expression:
doubleVar = static_cast<double>intVar1 / intVar2;
– Casting forces double-precision division to take place
among two integer variables!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-22

 Type Casting
• Two types
– Implicit—also called "Automatic"
• Done FOR you, automatically
17 / 5.5
This expression causes an "implicit type cast" to
take place, casting the 17  17.0
– Explicit type conversion
• Programmer specifies conversion with cast operator
(double)17 / 5.5
Same expression as above, using explicit cast
(double)myInt / myDouble
More typical use; cast operator on variable

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-23

 Shorthand Operators
• Increment & Decrement Operators
– Just short-hand notation
– Increment operator, ++
intVar++; is equivalent to
intVar = intVar + 1;
– Decrement operator, --
intVar--; is equivalent to
intVar = intVar – 1;

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-24

 Shorthand Operators: Two Options

• Post-Increment
intVar++
– Uses current value of variable, THEN increments it
• Pre-Increment
++intVar
– Increments variable first, THEN uses new value
• "Use" is defined as whatever "context"
variable is currently in
• No difference if "alone" in statement:
intVar++; and ++intVar;  identical result

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-25

 Post-Increment in Action
• Post-Increment in Expressions:
int n = 2,
valueProduced;
valueProduced = 2 * (n++);
cout << valueProduced << endl;
cout << n << endl;
– This code segment produces the output:
4
3
– Since post-increment was used

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-26

 Pre-Increment in Action
• Now using Pre-increment:
int n = 2,
valueProduced;
valueProduced = 2 * (++n);
cout << valueProduced << endl;
cout << n << endl;
– This code segment produces the output:
6
3
– Because pre-increment was used

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-27

 Console Input/Output
• I/O objects cin, cout, cerr
• Defined in the C++ library called
<iostream>
• Must have these lines (called pre-
processor directives) near start of file:
– #include <iostream>
using namespace std;
– Tells C++ to use appropriate library so we can
use the I/O objects cin, cout, cerr

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-28

 Console Output
• What can be outputted?
– Any data can be outputted to display screen
• Variables
• Constants
• Literals
• Expressions (which can include all of above)
– cout << numberOfGames << " games played.";
2 values are outputted:
"value" of variable numberOfGames,
literal string " games played."
• Cascading: multiple values in one cout

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-29

 Separating Lines of Output
• New lines in output
– Recall: "\n" is escape sequence for the
char "newline"
• A second method: object endl
• Examples:
cout << "Hello World\n";
• Sends string "Hello World" to display, & escape
sequence "\n", skipping to next line
cout << "Hello World" << endl;
• Same result as above

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-30

 Formatting Output
• Formatting numeric values for output
– Values may not display as you’d expect!
cout << "The price is $" << price << endl;
• If price (declared double) has value 78.5, you
might get:
– The price is $78.500000 or:
– The price is $78.5

• We must explicitly tell C++ how to output

numbers in our programs!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-31

 Formatting Numbers
• "Magic Formula" to force decimal sizes:
cout.setf(ios::fixed);
cout.setf(ios::showpoint);
cout.precision(2);
• These stmts force all future cout’ed values:
– To have exactly two digits after the decimal place
– Example:
cout << "The price is $" << price << endl;
• Now results in the following:
The price is $78.50
• Can modify precision "as you go" as well!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-32

 Error Output
• Output with cerr
– cerr works same as cout
– Provides mechanism for distinguishing
between regular output and error output
• Re-direct output streams
– Most systems allow cout and cerr to be
"redirected" to other devices
• e.g., line printer, output file, error console, etc.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-33

 Input Using cin
• cin for input, cout for output
• Differences:
– ">>" (extraction operator) points opposite
• Think of it as "pointing toward where the data goes"
– Object name "cin" used instead of "cout"
– No literals allowed for cin
• Must input "to a variable"

• cin >> num;

– Waits on-screen for keyboard entry
– Value entered at keyboard is "assigned" to num

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-34

 Prompting for Input: cin and cout
• Always "prompt" user for input
cout << "Enter number of dragons: ";
cin >> numOfDragons;
– Note no "\n" in cout. Prompt "waits" on same
line for keyboard input as follows:

Enter number of dragons: ____

• Underscore above denotes where keyboard entry

is made
• Every cin should have cout prompt
– Maximizes user-friendly input/output

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-35

 Program Style
• Bottom-line: Make programs easy to read and modify
• Comments, two methods:
– // Two slashes indicate entire line is to be ignored
– /*Delimiters indicates everything between is ignored*/
– Both methods commonly used

• Identifier naming
– ALL_CAPS for constants
– lowerToUpper for variables
– Most important: MEANINGFUL NAMES!

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-36

 Libraries
• C++ Standard Libraries
• #include <Library_Name>
– Directive to "add" contents of library file to
your program
– Called "preprocessor directive"
• Executes before compiler, and simply "copies"
library file into your program file
• C++ has many libraries
– Input/output, math, strings, etc.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-37

 Namespaces
• Namespaces defined:
– Collection of name definitions
• For now: interested in namespace "std"
– Has all standard library definitions we need
• Examples:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
• Includes entire standard library of name definitions
• #include <iostream>using std::cin;
using std::cout;
• Can specify just the objects we want

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-38

 Summary 1
• C++ is case-sensitive
• Use meaningful names
– For variables and constants
• Variables must be declared before use
– Should also be initialized
• Use care in numeric manipulation
– Precision, parentheses, order of operations
• #include C++ libraries as needed

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-39

 Summary 2
• Object cout
– Used for console output
• Object cin
– Used for console input
• Object cerr
– Used for error messages
• Use comments to aid understanding of
your program
– Do not overcomment

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved. 1-40