C++ Programming:

From Problem Analysis

to Program Design, Fourth Edition

Chapter 2: Basic Elements of C++

Objectives

In this chapter, you will:

• Become familiar with the basic components of
a C++ program, including functions, special
symbols, and identifiers
• Explore simple data types
• Discover how to use arithmetic operators
• Examine how a program evaluates arithmetic
expressions

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 2

Objectives (continued)

• Learn what an assignment statement is and

what it does
• Become familiar with the string data type
• Become familiar with the use of increment
and decrement operators

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 3

What Is a Program Made Of?

• Common elements in programming languages:

− Keywords
− Programmer-Defined Identifiers
− Operators
− Punctuation
− Syntax

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition Slide 1- 44
The Basics of a C++ Program
• Function: collection of statements; when
executed, accomplishes something
− May be predefined or standard
• Syntax: The rules of grammar that must be
followed when writing a program (keywords,
operators, symbols, and punctuation)
• Programming language: a set of rules,
symbols, and special words
• Semantic rule: meaning of the instruction
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 5
Structure of a C program

Statement = Command or
instruction
Parts of a C++ Program
comment
// sample C++ program preprocessor
#include <iostream> directive
which namespace
using namespace std; to use
int main() beginning of
function named main
{ beginning of
block for main
cout << "Hello, there!"; statement output

return 0;
string
} end of block literal
for main send 0 to
operating system
Comments
• Comment is a statement that is not executed.
• This helps reader and also yourself to understand your codes and
document parts of the program.
• Two types:

− Single line
// This is a C++ program. It prints the sentence:
// Welcome to C++ Programming.

− Multiple line
/*
You can include comments that can
occupy several lines.
*/

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 8

Special Symbols

• Special symbols

+ ?
- ,
* <=
/ !=
. ==
; >=

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 9

Punctuation
• Characters that mark the end of a statement, or
that separate items in a list
• Example: , and ;

Slide 1- 10
Reserved Words (Keywords)

• Have a special meaning in C++

• Can not be used for any other purpose

− Include: int, float, double, char,

const, void, return, main, etc.

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 11

Identifiers

• Names made up by the programmer

• Not part of the C++ language
• Used to represent various things: variables
(memory locations), functions, etc.

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 12

Naming Identifiers

• Identifiers can be self-documenting:

− CENTIMETERS_PER_INCH
• Avoid run-together words :
− annualsale
− Solution:
• Capitalize the beginning of each new word
• annualSale
• Inserting an underscore just before a new word
• annual_sale

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 13

Identifiers (cont)

• Cannot duplicate a reserved word

• Consist only of letters, digits, or the
underscore character (_)
• First character must be alphabetic character
or underscore
• C++ is case sensitive
− NUMBER is not the same as number
• Two predefined identifiers are cout and cin

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 14

Identifiers (cont)

• The following are legal identifiers in C++:

− first
− conversion
− payRate

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 15

Identifiers (cont)

• Valid OR Invalid ?
− A
− $a
− Student8
− 3name
− student_name
− person name
− _person_name
− int
− TRUE
− what?
− FALSE
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 16
Whitespaces

• Every C++ program contains whitespaces

− Include blanks, tabs, and newline characters
• Used to separate special symbols, reserved
words, and identifiers
• Proper utilization of whitespaces is important
− Can be used to make the program readable

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 17

Data Types

• Data type: set of values together with a set of

operations
• C++ data types fall into three categories:

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 18

Simple Data Types

• Three categories of simple data

− Integral: integers (numbers without a decimal)
− Floating-point: decimal numbers
− Enumeration type: user-defined data type

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 19

Simple Data Types (continued)

• Integral data types are further classified into

nine categories:

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 20

int Data Type

• Examples:
-6728
0
78
+763
• Positive integers do not need a + sign
• No commas are used within an integer
− Commas are used for separating items in a list

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 21

 int Data Type
• Integer variables can hold whole numbers such
as 12, 7, and -99.

1-22
bool Data Type

• bool type
− Two logical values: true and false
− Manipulate logical (Boolean) expressions
− bool variables are stored as small integers
− false is represented by 0, true by 1:
• bool, true, and false are reserved words
bool allDone = true;
bool finished = false;

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 23

 char Data Type

• The smallest integral data type

• Used for characters: letters, digits, and special
symbols
• Usually 1 byte of memory
• Each character is enclosed in single quotes
− 'A', 'a', '0', '*', '+', '$', '&'
• A blank space is a character and is written ' ',
with a space left between the single quotes
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 24
Floating-Point Data Types

• C++ uses scientific notation to represent real

numbers (floating-point notation)

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 25

Floating-Point Data Types
(continued)

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 26

Floating-Point Data Types
(continued)
• Maximum number of significant digits
(decimal places) for float values is 6 or 7
• Maximum number of significant digits for
double is 15
• Precision: maximum number of significant
digits
− Float values are called single precision
− Double values are called double precision

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 27

Arithmetic Operators and Operator
Precedence
• C++ arithmetic operators used for performing
numeric calculations :
− + addition
− - subtraction
− * multiplication
− / division
− % modulus operator
• +, -, *, and / can be used with integral and
floating-point data types
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 28
Binary Arithmetic Operators

• C++ has unary, binary, and ternary operators:

− unary (1 operand) -5
− binary (2 operands) 13 - 7
− ternary (3 operands) exp1 ? exp2 : exp3
SYMBOL OPERATION EXAMPLE VALUE OF ans

+ addition ans = 7 + 3; 10

- subtraction ans = 7 - 3; 4

* multiplication ans = 7 * 3; 21

/ division ans = 7 / 3; 2

% modulus ans = 7 % 3; 1

1-29
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 29
Scope

• The scope of a variable: the part of the

program in which the variable can be
accessed
• A variable cannot be used before it is defined

1-30
 A Closer Look at the / Operator

• / (division) operator performs integer division if

both operands are integers
cout << 13 / 5; // displays 2
cout << 91 / 7; // displays 13
• If either operand is floating point, the result is
floating point
cout << 13 / 5.0; // displays 2.6
cout << 91.0 / 7; // displays 13.0

1-31
 A Closer Look at the % Operator

• % (modulus) operator computes the remainder

resulting from integer division
cout << 13 % 5; // displays 3
• % requires integers for both operands
cout << 13 % 5.0; // error

1-32
Order of Precedence

• All operations inside of () are evaluated first

• *, /, and % are at the same level of
precedence and are evaluated next
• + and – have the same level of precedence
and are evaluated last
• When operators are on the same level
− Performed from left to right (associativity)
• 3 * 7 - 6 + 2 * 5 / 4 + 6 means
(((3 * 7) – 6) + ((2 * 5) / 4 )) + 6

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 33

Expressions

• If all operands are integers

− Expression is called an integral expression
• Yields an integral result
• Example: 2 + 3 * 5
• If all operands are floating-point
− Expression is called a floating-point
expression
• Yields a floating-point result
• Example: 12.8 * 17.5 - 34.50

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 34

Mixed Expressions

• Mixed expression:
− Has operands of different data types
− Contains integers and floating-point
• Examples of mixed expressions:
2 + 3.5
6 / 4 + 3.9
5.4 * 2 – 13.6 + 18 / 2

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 35

Mixed Expressions (continued)

• Evaluation rules:
− If operator has same types of operands
• Evaluated according to the type of the operands
− If operator has both types of operands
• Integer is changed to floating-point
• Operator is evaluated
• Result is floating-point
− Entire expression is evaluated according to
precedence rules

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 36

Type Conversion (Casting)

• Implicit type coercion: when value of one type

is automatically changed to another type
• Cast operator: provides explicit type
conversion
static_cast<dataTypeName>(expression)

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 37

Type Conversion (continued)

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 38

string Type
• Programmer-defined type supplied in ANSI/ISO Standard
C++ library
• A series of zero or more characters in consecutive
memory locations:
"Hello"

• Stored with the null terminator, \0, at the end

• Enclosed in double quotation marks
• Null: a string with no characters
• Each character has relative position in string
− Position of first character is 0

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 39

Input

• Data must be loaded into main memory

before it can be manipulated
• Storing data in memory is a two-step process:
− Instruct computer to allocate memory
− Include statements to put data into memory

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 40

Allocating Memory with Constants
and Variables
• Named constant: memory location whose
content can’t change during execution
• The syntax to declare a named constant is:

• In C++, const is a reserved word

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 41

 Allocating Memory with Constants
and Variables (continued)
Constant = named memory location that holds a non-changeable
value
− Must be declared
− A variable name should represent the purpose of the variable.
− Re-usable
− MUST be initialized
− Can not be modified after initialization
int main ()
{
const double pi = 3.14;
double area, radius;
radius = 12;
area = pi * radius * radius;
pi = 3.14159; /* but, this is wrong */
return 0;
}
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 42
Allocating Memory with Constants
and Variables
• Variable: memory named storage location in
the computer’s memory for holding a piece of
data whose content may change during
execution

• The syntax to declare a named constant is:

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 43

Allocating Memory with Constants
and Variables (continued)
• In order to use a variable in our program we must
first declare it.
• HOW?
− A declaration statement has the format:

type variable_name;

− type : what kind of data will be stored in that location (integer?

character? floating point?)
− variable_name : what is the name of the variable?
− semi-colon : indicates this is a statement!

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 44

Variable types

• There are four basic data types in C

Type C keyword to use:
Integer int
Floating point float
double
Character char
Variable types

• int
− Integer variables hold signed whole numbers (i.e.
with no fractional part), such as 10, – 4353, etc.

− Integers typically take up 4 bytes ( = 32 bits, 1

for the sign, 31 for the number).

− The range of integers is typically

• from – 231 (approx –109) to + 231 (approx. 109)
Variable types

• float and double

− floating point variables hold signed floating point numbers
(i.e. with a fractional part), such as 10.432, – 33.335, etc.
− double provides twice the precision of float.
− floats typically take up 4 bytes
− doubles take up 8 bytes
− The range of floats is approximately ±2127 (±1038)
− The range of doubles is approximately ±21023 (±10308)
Variable types

• char
− character variables hold single characters, such as 'a', '\n', '
', etc.

− characters usually take 1 byte (8 bits).

− IMPORTANT : Note that the value of a character is enclosed

in single quotes.
Variable types

• char (continued)
− ASCII (American Standard Code for Information
Exchange) is used to represent
• the characters A to Z (both upper and lower case)
• the digits 0 to 9
• special characters (e.g. @, <, etc)
• special control codes
− For example,
• the character 'A' is represented by the code 65
• the character '1' is represented by the code 49
• IMPORTANT: the integer 1, the character '1' and the ASCII
code 1 represent three different things!
Variable values

• After a variable has been declared, its memory location does

not contain valid data.
• Variables can be initialized when declared:
• All variables must be initialized before they are used in any
computations.
− But not necessarily during declaration
• There are two ways to initialize a variable:
− by assigning a value using an assignment statement
− by reading its value from the keyboard
 Variable values
Variable Initialization

• To initialize a variable means to assign it a

value when it is defined:

int length = 12;

• Can initialize some or all variables:

int length = 12, width = 5, area;

1-51
 Variable values

• The basic syntax of an assignment statement is

• variable = value;

- Assign the value on the right hand side to the variable on the left hand side
- Expression is evaluated and its value is assigned to the variable on the left side
In C++, = is called the assignment operator
• Example
int num_students; // declare
num_students = 22; // initialize
Variable values

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 53

Literals

• Literals are fixed values written into a program.

− Not declared, no memory location assigned
− Not re-usable; just written directly into each statement
• Example:
char keypressed;
keypressed = ‘y’; /* ‘y’ is a character literal */
• Example:
double pi;
pi = 3.14; /* 3.14 is a floating-point literal. */
• Example:
int index;
index = 17; /* 17 is an integer literal */
Example

/* sample program that demonstrates

variable declaration and
initialization. */

#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
int num_students;
num_students = 22;
return 0;
}
 Example

/* sample program that demonstrates variable

declaration and initialization. */

#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
double rate, amount; /* declare two
double variables */
amount = 12.50;
rate = 0.05;
return 0;
}
 Example

/* sample program that demonstrates how to

declare and initialize a variable at
the same time */

#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
char grade = ‘A’;
return 0;
}
 Example

/* sample program that demonstrates how to

declare and initialize a variable at
the same time */

#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
char pass_grade = ‘A’, fail_grade = ‘F’;
return 0;
}
Increment & Decrement Operators

• Increment operator: increment variable by 1

− Pre-increment: ++variable
− Post-increment: variable++
• Decrement operator: decrement variable by 1
− Pre-decrement: --variable
− Post-decrement: variable — —
• What is the difference between the following?
x = 5; x = 5;
y = ++x; y = x++;
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 59
Increment & Decrement Operators
(Continued)
• postincrement operator
• n++; can be used instead of n = n + 1;
• postdecrement operator
• n--; can be used instead of n = n - 1;
• preincrement operator
• ++n; can be used instead of n = n + 1;
• predecrement operator
• --n; can be used instead of n = n - 1;

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 60

Increment & Decrement Operators
(Continued)
• n++;++n and n--;--n are not equivalent in all
cases
• These operators as well as incrementing or
decrementing the variable also return a value.
i = n++;
• Value of i ? Is it the old value of n before it is
incremented or the new value after it is
incremented?

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 61

Increment & Decrement Operators
(Continued)
• Rule :
− postincrement or postdecrement operator
delivers the old value of the variable before
incrementing or decrementing the variable.
− A preincrement or predecrement operator
carries out the incrementation first and then
delivers the new value.
• n = 5 ; i = n++;  Give 5 to i and 6 to n
• n = 5 ; i = ++n; Give 6 to i and 6 to n.

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 62

Specialised Assignment Statements
• sum = sum + x;
can be represented in C++ by:
• sum += x;
• This notation can be used with the arithmetic
operators +, -, *, / and %.
• General form :
• variable op= expression
• which is interpreted as being equivalent to:
• variable = variable op ( expression )
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 63
Specialised Assignment Statements
(Continued)

total += value; or total = total + value;

prod *= 10; or prod = prod * 10;

x /= y + 1; or x = x/(y + 1);
n %= 2; or n = n % 2;

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition 64