Basic Syntax
Basic Syntax , I/O, Conditions, Loops and Debugging
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
Structure
Philosophy
Compilers& IDEs
2. Primitive Data Types
3. Declaring & Initializing Variables, Scope
4. Operators, Expressions, Conditionals, Loops
5. Basic Console I/O 2
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3
What is C++?
What is C++
General purpose programming language
Compiles to binary – i.e. multi-platform
Statically typed – data types, classes, etc.
Multi-paradigm
Fast
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Philosophy, Compilers and IDEs
Program Structure
Entry Point, Building and Running
Hello World
A classic C++ "Hello World" example
Include the input-
output library Say we’re working with the std
namespace
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
These are optional
int main(int argc, char * argv[]) {
cout << "Hello World!" << endl;
return 0; Print to
the console
"main" function –
}
For main, 0 means
our entry point
everything went ok
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C++ Entry Point & Termination
The main function – entry point of the program
No other function can be named "main"
C++ needs specific function to start from
Everything else is free-form – code ordering, namings, etc.
Can receive command line parameters
Termination – main finishes (returns), the program stops
The return value of main is the "exit code"
0 means no errors – informative, not obligatory
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Program Structure: Including Libraries
C++ has a lot of functionality in its standard code libraries
C++ can also use functionality from user-built code libraries
Say what libraries to use with the #include syntax
For now, for standard libraries: put the library name in <>
iostream contains console
I/O functionality
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char * argv[])
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Program Structure: Blocks
Basic building block (pun intended) of a program
Most actual program code is in blocks (bodies)
Start with { and end with }, can be nested
Functions' (main()), loops' & conditionals' code is in blocks
main() code block
int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
cout << "Hello World!" <<
endl;
return 0;
} 11
Program Structure: Statements & Comments
Statement: a piece of code to be executed
Blocks consist of statements
Statements contain C++ code and end with a ;
int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
cout << "Hello World!" <<
endl;
return 0;
}
C++ has comments (parts of the code ignored by compiler)
// comments a line, /* starts a multi-line comment, */ ends it
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C++ Hello World
Live Demo
Data Types and Variables
Types, Declaration, Initialization, Scope
Declaring and Initializing Variables
<data_type> <identifier> [=
<initialization>];
Declaring: int num;
Initializing: num = 5;
Combined: int num = 5,
and additionally int num(5); or int num{5}; (C++11)
Can declare multiple of same type by separating with comma ,
int trappist1BMassPct=85,
trappist1CMassPct=80; 15
Declaring & Initializing Variables
LIVE DEMO
Uninitialized Locals
LIVE DEMO
Local & Global Variables
Global: defined outside blocks, usable from all code
Local: defined inside blocks, usable only from code
in their block
Locals DO NOT get initialized automatically
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Local & Global Variables
Globals get initialized to their "default" value (0 for numerics)
int secondsInMinute = 60;
int minutesInHour = 60;
int hoursInDay = 24;
int secondsInHour = secondsInMinute *
minutesInHour;
int main() {
int days = 3;
int totalSeconds = days * hoursInDay
*secondsInHour; 19
Global & Local Variables
LIVE DEMO
const Variables
C++ supports constants – "variables" that can't change value
Can and MUST receive a value at initialization, nowhere else
Can be local, can be global
secondsInMinute, minutesInHour, etc., are not things
that normally change in the real world – the following will
not compile:
const int secondsInMinute = 60;
int main() {
secondsInMinute = 13; //compilation
error 21
const Variables
LIVE DEMO
Other variable modifiers
static variables initialize once and exist throughout program
Can be used to make a local variable that acts like a global one
Can be used on a global variable, but has no real effect
extern tells the compiler a variable exists somewhere in a
multi-file project (to avoid multi-declaration)
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Primitive Data Types
Integer Types – int
C++ has "only one" integer type – int
"Width" modifiers control the type’s size and sign
short – at least 16 bits; long – at least 32 bits
long long – 64 bits
signed & unsigned – use or not use memory for sign data
Modifiers can be written in any order
int can be omitted if any modifier is present
Defaults: int "usually" means signed long int 25
Integer Types
LIVE DEMO
Floating-Point Types
Represent real numbers (approximations)
2.3, 0.7, -Infinity, -1452342.2313, NaN, etc.
float: single-precision floating point, usually IEEE-754 32-bit
double: double-precision, usually IEEE-754 64-bit
Name Description Size* Range*
float Floating point number. 4bytes ±1.5 × 10−45 to ±3.4 × 1038 (~7 digits)
Double precision floating
double 8bytes ±5.0 × 10−324 to ±1.7 × 10308 (~15 digits)
point number.
Long double precision
long double 8bytes ±5.0 × 10−324 to ±1.7 × 10308 (~15 digits)
floating point number.
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Using Floating-Point Types
LIVE DEMO
Character Types – char
char is the basic character type in C++
Basically an integer interpreted as a symbol from ASCII
Guaranteed to be 1 byte – a range of 256 values
Initialized by either a character literal or a number (ASCII code)
int main() {
char letter = 'a';
char sameLetter = 97;
char sameLetterAgain = 'b' - 1;
cout << letter << sameLetter << sameLetterAgain <<
endl;
return 0;
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}
Using Character Types
LIVE DEMO
Boolean Type – bool
bool – a value which is either true or false, takes up 1 byte
Takes true, false, or numeric values
Any non-zero numeric value is interpreted as true
Zero is interpreted as false
int main() {
bool initializedWithKeyword = true;
bool initializedWithKeywordCtor(false);
bool initializedWithZero = 0;
bool initializedWithNegativeNumber(-13);
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Using Boolean Types
LIVE DEMO
Implicit & Explicit Casting (1)
Types which "fit" into others can be assigned to them implicitly
For integer types, "fit" usually means requiring less bytes
Valid: char a = 'a'; int i = a;
NOT VALID: int i = 97; char a = i;
For floating point, float fits into double
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Implicit & Explicit Casting (2)
If you really want to store a bigger type in a smaller type
Explicitly cast the bigger type to the smaller type:
smallType smallVar = (smallType) bigVar;
Can lose accuracy if value can't be represented in
a smaller type
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Operators, Expressions,
Conditionals, Loops
C++ Numeric Literals
Represent values in code, match the primitive data types
Integer literals – value in a numeral system
unsigned long long num;
num = 5; num = -5; num = 5L; num = 5ULL; num = 0xF;
Floating-point literals – decimal or exponential notation
Suffix to describe precision (single or double-precision)
double num;
num = .42; num = 0.42; num = 42e-2;
float floatNum;
floatNum = .42f; floatNum = 0.42f; floatNum = 42e-2f;
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Non-Numeric Literals
Character literals – letters surrounded by apostrophe (')
char letter = 'a';
String literals – a sequence of letters surrounded by quotes (")
cout << "Hello World!" << endl;
Boolean literals – true and false
bool cppIsCool = true;
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C++ Literals
LIVE DEMO
==
Expressions and Operators
Expressions and Operators
Operators perform actions on one or more variables/literals
Can be customized for different behavior based on data type
C++ operator precedence and associativity table:
http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/operator_
precedence
Don’t memorize. Use brackets or check precedence
when needed
Expressions: literals/variables combined with
operators/functions 40
Commonly Used C++ Operators
Category Operators
Arithmetic + - * / % ++ --
Logical && || ^ !
Binary & | ^ ~ << >>
Comparison == != < > <= >=
Assignment = += -= *= /= %= &= |= ^= <<= >>=
String concatenation +
Other . [] () a?b:c new delete * -> :: (type) << >>
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Expressions and Operators
LIVE DEMO
Conditionals (1)
The if-else statement takes in a Boolean expression
If the expression evaluates to true, the if block is executed
If the expression evaluates to false, the else
block is executed
The else block is optional
43
Conditionals (2)
Block {}brackets can be omitted if only 1 statement
double value1 = 5 * 5 / 2.f, value2 = 5 * 5 /
2;
if (value1 > value2) {
cout << "value1 is larger" << endl;
}
else {
cout << "value2 is larger" << endl;
}
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"Chaining" if-else
Can chain several checks The code below is equivalent. Each
one after the other else block contains 1 if statement,
so they do not need brackets. The
left variant skips the brackets
if (value1 > value2) { if (value1 > value2) {
cout << "value1 is larger"; cout << "value1 is larger";
} }
else if (value1 == value2) { else {
cout << "values are equal"; if (value1 == value2) {
} cout << "values are
else { equal";
cout << "value2 is larger"; }
} else {
cout << "value2 is
larger";
45
if and if-else
LIVE DEMO
The Switch-Case Statement
Simplified If-else-if-else
switch-case
Example of C++ switch-case usage
switch (day)
{
case 1: cout << "Monday"; break;
case 2: cout << "Tuesday"; break;
case 3: cout << "Wednesday"; break;
case 4: cout << "Thursday"; break;
case 5: cout << "Friday"; break;
case 6: cout << "Saturday"; break;
case 7: cout << "Sunday"; break;
default: cout << "Error!"; break;
}
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switch-case structure (1)
The C++ switch statement takes in
An integer expression or an enumeration type
Or something which converts to an int (like char)
The case block can contain case labels and any other code
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switch-case structure (2)
Each label has an expression of the same type as the switch
The case block can also contain the break statement
If reached, code continues from after the case block
There is a special default label (without an expression)
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switch-case execution
switch evaluates the expression and finds the matching case
Any code before the matching case is skipped
Any code after the matching case is executed
Until break or the end of the block is reached
If there is no matching case
If the block contains the special default label, it is executed
Otherwise the case block is skipped
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switch-case
LIVE DEMO
Loops
Code Block Repetition
for Loop (1)
for([init]; [condition]; [increment])
{…}
The init statement can declare and initialize variables
Declared variables are usable only IN the for’s body
The loop runs while the conditi on statement is true
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for Loop (2)
increment is executed AFTER the for’s body
Can execute any expression
Expressions inside init and increment are separated by
comma (,)
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for Loop
LIVE DEMO
while and do-while Loops (1)
while (condition) { body code; }
Executes until condition becomes false, may never execute
int age = 0;
while (age < 18) {
cout << "can't drink at age " << age << endl;
age++;
}
cout << "age " << age << ", can finally drink!" << endl;
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while and do-while Loops (2)
do { body code; } while (condition);
First executes body, then checks condition
Guaranteed to execute at least once
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while and do-while Loops
LIVE DEMO
Loops
C++ loop control keywords:
break – interrupts the loop and continues after its block
continue – the current iteration skips the remaining part of
the loop block
Range-based for loop
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Basic Console I/O
Writing to and Reading from the Console
C++ Streams (1)
Classes that either read or write data piece by piece
cout
Writes data to the console (standard output)
cout has a counterpart – cin
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C++ Streams (2)
Reads data from the console (standard input)
cin uses the >> operator
cout uses the << operator to write
#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int a, b;
cin >> a >> b;
cout << a + b << endl;
return 0;
}
63
Input and Output
LIVE DEMO
Summary
Structure, Specifics, Compilers & IDEs
Data Types and Variables
Declaration and Initialization
Operators and Expressions
Conditional Statements
if, if-else, switch-case
Loops
for, while
Input and Output
65
Questions?
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© Software University – https://softuni.bg
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