Introduction
C++ is a cross-platform language that can be used to create high-performance applications.
C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup, as an extension to the C language.
C++ gives programmers a high level of control over system resources and memory.
The language was updated 4 major times in 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020 to C++11, C++14, C++17, C++20.
To start using C++, you need two things:
- A text editor, like Notepad, to write C++ code
- A compiler, like GCC, to translate the C++ code into a language that the computer will understand
Const
the const keyword will declare the variable as “constant”, which means unchangeable and read-only)
Basic Data Type
The data type specifies the size and type of information the variable will store:
| Data Type | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
boolean | 1 byte | Stores true or false values |
char | 1 byte | Stores a single character/letter/number, or ASCII values |
int | 2 or 4 bytes | Stores whole numbers, without decimals |
float | 4 bytes | Stores fractional numbers, containing one or more decimals. Sufficient for storing 7 decimal digits |
double | 8 bytes | Stores fractional numbers, containing one or more decimals. Sufficient for storing 15 decimal digits |
Strings
A string variable contains a collection of characters surrounded by double quotes
o use strings, you must include an additional header file in the source code, the <string> library
It is possible to use the extraction operator >> on cin to display a string entered by a user. However, cin considers a space (whitespace, tabs, etc) as a terminating character, which means that it can only display a single word . That’s why, when working with strings, we often use the getline() function to read a line of text. It takes cin as the first parameter, and the string variable as second.
getline (cin, fullName);