C++ 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 a middle-level language, 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

checking is performed during compile-time as opposed to run-time.

Object-Oriented Programming

C++ fully supports object-oriented programming, including the four

pillars of object-oriented development −

Encapsulation

Data hiding

Inheritance

Polymorphism
Standard Libraries

Standard C++ consists of three important parts −

The core language giving all the building blocks including variables, data

types and literals, etc.

The C++ Standard Library giving a rich set of functions manipulating files,

strings, etc.

The Standard Template Library (STL) giving a rich set of methods

manipulating data structures, etc.

The ANSI Standard

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.

The ANSI standard has been stable for a while, and all the major C++ compiler

manufacturers support the ANSI standard.

Learning C++
The most important thing while learning C++ is to focus on concepts.

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.

Use of C++
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 realtime 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++ Environment Setup

Local Environment Setup

If you are still willing to set up your environment for C++, you need to have the

following two softwares on your computer.

Text Editor
This will be used to type your program. Examples of few editors include Windows

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.

A text editor should be in place to start your C++ programming.

C++ Compiler
This is an actual C++ compiler, which will be used to compile your source code into

final executable program.

Most C++ compilers don't care what extension you give to your source code, 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.

Installing GNU C/C++ Compiler

UNIX/Linux Installation
If you are using Linux or UNIX then check whether GCC is installed on

your system by entering the following command from the command line −

$ g++ -v

If you have installed GCC, then it should print a message such as the

following −
Using built-in specs.
Target: i386-redhat-linux
Configured with: ../configure --prefix=/usr .......
Thread model: posix
gcc version 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-46)

If GCC is not installed, then you will have to install it yourself using the detailed

instructions available at https://gcc.gnu.org/install/

Mac OS X Installation
If you use Mac OS X, the easiest way to obtain GCC is to download the Xcode

development environment from Apple's website and follow the simple installation

instructions.

Xcode is currently available at developer.apple.com/technologies/tools/.

Windows Installation
To install GCC at Windows you need to install MinGW. To install MinGW, go to the

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.

Add the bin subdirectory of your MinGW installation to your PATH environment

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++ Basic Syntax
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 look into 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, 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.

Instance Variables − Each object has its unique set of

instance variables. An object's state is created by the

values assigned to these instance variables.

C++ Program Structure

Let us look at a simple code that would print the words Hello World.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
// main() is where program execution begins.
int main() {
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World
return 0;
}

Let us look at the various parts of the above program −

The C++ language defines several headers, which contain information that is

either necessary or useful to your program. For this program, the header

<iostream> is needed.

The line using namespace std; tells the compiler to use the std namespace.

Namespaces are a relatively recent addition to C++.

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.

The line int main() is the main function where program execution begins.

The next line cout << "Hello World"; causes the message "Hello World" to

be displayed on the screen.

The next line return 0; terminates main( )function and causes it to return the

value 0 to the calling process.

Compile and Execute C++ Program

Let's look at how to save the file, compile and run the program.

Please follow the steps given below −

Open a text editor and add the code as above.

Save the file as: hello.cpp

Open a command prompt and go to the directory where you saved the file.
 Type 'g++ hello.cpp' and press enter to compile your code. If there are no

errors in your code the command prompt will take you to the next line

and would generate a.out executable file.

Now, type 'a.out' to run your program.

You will be able to see ' Hello World ' printed on the window.

$ g++ hello.cpp
$ ./a.out
Hello World

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 and Blocks in C++

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.

For example, following are three different statements −

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

A block is a set of logically connected statements that are

surrounded by opening and closing braces. For example −

{
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World
return 0;
}

C++ does not recognize the end of the line as 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);

is the same as

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

C++ Identifiers
A C++ identifier is a name used to identify a variable, 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 zero or more letters, underscores, and digits (0 to 9).

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

is a case-sensitive programming language. Thus, Manpower and manpower are two

different identifiers in C++.

Here are some examples of acceptable identifiers −

mohd zara abc move_name a_123

myname50 _temp j a23b9 retVal

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

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.

Following are most frequently used trigraph sequences −

Trigraph Replacement

??= #

??/ \

??' ^

??( [

??) ]

??! |

??< {

??> }

??- ~

All the compilers do not support trigraphs and they are not advised to be used because

of their confusing nature.

Whitespace in C++
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
int age;

In the above statement there must be at least one whitespace character (usually a

space) between int and age for the compiler to be able to distinguish them.

Statement 2
fruit = apples + oranges; // Get the total fruit

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.

Comments in C++
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 available inside any

comment are ignored by C++ compiler.

C++ comments start with /* and end with */. For example −

/* This is a comment */

/* C++ comments can also

* span multiple lines
*/

A comment can also start with //, extending to the end of the line.

For example −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

main() {
cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled, it will ignore // prints Hello World

and final executable will produce the following result −

Hello World

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 −

/* Comment out printing of Hello World:

cout << "Hello World"; // prints Hello World

*/
 C++ Data Types
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.

Primitive Built-in Types

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

Floating point float

Double floating point double

 Valueless void

Wide character wchar_t

Several of the basic types can be modified using one or more of these

type modifiers −

signed

unsigned

short

long

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 Typical Bit Width Typical Range

char 1byte -127 to 127 or 0 to 255

unsigned char 1byte 0 to 255

signed char 1byte -127 to 127

int 4bytes -2147483648 to 2147483647

unsigned int 4bytes 0 to 4294967295

signed int 4bytes -2147483648 to 2147483647

short int 2bytes -32768 to 32767

unsigned short int 2bytes 0 to 65,535

 signed short int 2bytes -32768 to 32767

long int 8bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

signed long int 8bytes same as long int

unsigned long int 8bytes 0 to 4,294,967,295

long long int 8bytes -(2^63) to (2^63)-1

unsigned long long int 8bytes 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615

float 4bytes

double 8bytes

long double 12bytes

wchar_t 2 or 4 bytes 1 wide character

The size of variables might be different from those shown in the above table,

depending on the compiler and the computer you are using.

Following is the example, which will produce correct size of various data types on your

computer.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
cout << "Size of char : " << sizeof(char) << endl;
cout << "Size of int : " << sizeof(int) << endl;
cout << "Size of short int : " << sizeof(short int) << 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 << "Size of wchar_t : " << sizeof(wchar_t) << endl;
 return 0;
}
This example uses endl, which inserts a new-line character after every line and <<

operator is being used to pass multiple values out to the screen. We are also using

sizeof() operator 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 −

Size of char : 1
Size of int : 4
Size of short int : 2
Size of long int : 4
Size of float : 4
Size of double : 8
Size of wchar_t : 4

typedef Declarations

You can create a new name for an existing type using typedef.

Following is the simple syntax to define a new type using typedef −

typedef type newname;

For example, the following tells the compiler that feet is another

name for int −

typedef int feet;

Now, the following declaration is perfectly legal and creates an

integer variable called distance −

feet distance;
Enumerated Types
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 keyword enum. The

general form of an enumeration type is −

enum enum-name { list of names } var-list;

Here, the enum-name is the enumeration's type name. The list of names is comma

separated.

For example, the following code defines an enumeration of colors called colors and the

variable c of type color. Finally, c is assigned the value "blue".

enum color { 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 value by adding an

initializer. For example, in the following enumeration, green will have the value 5.

enum color { red, green = 5, blue };

Here, blue will have a value of 6 because each name will be one greater than the one

that precedes it.

 C++ Variable Types
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 layout of 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 −

There are following basic types of variable in C++ as explained in

last chapter −

Sr.N Type & Description

o

1
bool

Stores either value true or false.

2
char

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

3
int

The most natural size of integer for the machine.

 4
float

A single-precision floating point value.

5
double

A double-precision floating point value.

6
void

Represents the absence of type.

7
wchar_t

A wide character type.

C++ also allows to define various other types of variables, which we will cover in

subsequent chapters like Enumeration, Pointer, Array, Reference, Data structures, and

Classes.

Following section will cover how to define, declare and use various types of variables.

Variable Definition in C++

A variable definition tells the compiler where and how much storage

to create for the variable. A variable definition specifies a data

type, and contains a list of one or more variables of that type as

follows −

type variable_list;
Here, type must be a valid C++ data type including char, w_char, int,

float, double, bool or any user-defined object, etc., and

variable_list may consist of one or more identifier names separated

by commas. Some valid declarations are shown here −

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

The line int i, j, k; both declares and defines the variables i, j and k; which instructs the

compiler to create variables named i, j and k of type int.

Variables can be initialized (assigned an initial value) in their

declaration. The initializer consists of an equal sign followed by a

constant expression as follows −

type variable_name = value;

Some examples are −

extern int d = 3, f = 5; // declaration of d and f.

int d = 3, f = 5; // definition and initializing d and f.
byte z = 22; // definition and initializes z.
char x = 'x'; // the variable x has the value '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.

Variable Declaration in C++

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 definition 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 use extern keyword 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
Try the following example where a variable has been declared at the

top, but it has been defined inside the main function −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// Variable declaration:
extern int a, b;
extern int c;
extern float f;

int main () {
// Variable definition:
int a, b;
int c;
float f;

// actual initialization
a = 10;
b = 20;
c = a + b;
 cout << c << endl ;

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

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

30
23.3333

Same concept applies on function declaration where you provide a

function name at the time of its declaration and its actual

definition can be given anywhere else. For example −

// function declaration
int func();
int main() {
// function call
int i = func();
}

// function definition
int func() {
return 0;
}

Lvalues and Rvalues

There are two kinds of expressions in C++ −

 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 can not appear on the left-hand side. Following is a valid

statement −

int g = 20;

But the following is not a valid statement and would generate

compile-time error −

10 = 20;

Variable Scope in C++

A scope is a region of the program and broadly speaking there are

three places, where variables can be declared −

Inside a function or a block which is called local variables,

In the definition of function parameters which is called formal parameters.

Outside of all functions which is called global variables.

We will learn what is a function and it's parameter in subsequent chapters. Here let us

explain what are local and global variables.

Local Variables

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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main () {
// Local variable declaration:
int a, b;
int c;

// actual initialization
a = 10;
b = 20;
c = a + b;

cout << c;

return 0;
}

Global Variables
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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// Global variable declaration:

int g;

int main () {
// Local variable declaration:
int a, b;

// actual initialization
a = 10;
b = 20;
g = a + b;

cout << g;

return 0;
}

A program can have same name for local and global variables but value

of local variable inside a function will take preference. For example

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// Global variable declaration:

int g = 20;

int main () {
// Local variable declaration:
 int g = 10;

cout << g;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

10

Initializing Local and Global Variables

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 −

Data Type 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.

 C++ 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.

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

the base or radix: 0x or 0X for hexadecimal, 0 for octal, and nothing for 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.

Here are some examples of integer literals −

212 // Legal
215u // Legal
0xFeeL // Legal
078 // Illegal: 8 is not an octal digit
032UU // Illegal: cannot repeat a suffix

Following are other examples of various types of Integer literals −

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

Floating-point Literals
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.

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.

Here are some examples of floating-point literals −

3.14159 // Legal
314159E-5L // Legal
510E // Illegal: incomplete exponent
210f // Illegal: no decimal or exponent
.e55 // Illegal: missing integer or fraction

Boolean Literals

There are two Boolean literals and they are part of standard C++

keywords −

A value of true representing true.

A value of false representing false.

You should not consider the value of true equal to 1 and value of false equal to 0.
Character Literals
Character literals are enclosed in single quotes. If the literal begins with L (uppercase

only), it is a wide character literal (e.g., L'x') and should be stored in wchar_t type of

variable . Otherwise, it is a narrow character literal (e.g., 'x') and can be stored in a

simple variable of char type.

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

backslash they 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 −

Escape sequence Meaning

\\ \ character

\' ' character

\" " character

\? ? character

\a Alert or bell

\b Backspace

\f Form feed

\n Newline
 \r Carriage return

\t Horizontal tab

\v Vertical tab

\ooo Octal number of one to three digits

\xhh . . . Hexadecimal number of one or more digits

Following is the example to show a few escape sequence characters −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

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

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Hello World

String Literals
String literals are enclosed in double quotes. A string contains characters that are

similar to character literals: plain characters, escape sequences, and universal

characters.

You can break a long line into multiple lines using string literals and separate them

using whitespaces.

Here are some examples of string literals. All the three forms are identical strings.
"hello, dear"

"hello, \

dear"

"hello, " "d" "ear"

Defining Constants

There are two simple ways in C++ to define constants −

Using #define preprocessor.

Using const keyword.

The #define Preprocessor

Following is the form to use #define preprocessor to define a

constant −

#define identifier value

Following example explains it in detail −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

#define LENGTH 10
#define WIDTH 5
#define NEWLINE '\n'

int main() {
int area;

area = LENGTH * WIDTH;

 cout << area;
cout << NEWLINE;
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

50

The const Keyword

You can use const prefix to declare constants with a specific type as

follows −

const type variable = value;

Following example explains it in detail −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
const int LENGTH = 10;
const int WIDTH = 5;
const char NEWLINE = '\n';
int area;

area = LENGTH * WIDTH;

cout << area;
cout << NEWLINE;
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
50

Note that it is a good programming practice to define constants in CAPITALS.

C++ Modifier Types

C++ allows the char, int, and double data 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.

The data type modifiers are listed here −

signed

unsigned

long

short

The modifiers signed, unsigned, long, and short can be applied to integer base types. In

addition, signed and unsigned can be applied to char, and long can be applied to

double.

The modifiers signed and unsigned can also be used as prefix to long or short

modifiers. For example, unsigned long int.

C++ allows a shorthand notation for declaring unsigned, short, or long integers. You

can simply use the word unsigned, short, or long, without int. It automatically implies

int. For example, the following two statements both declare unsigned integer

variables.

unsigned x;
unsigned int y;
To understand the difference between the way signed and unsigned

integer modifiers are interpreted by C++, you should run the

following short program −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

/* This program shows the difference between

* signed and unsigned integers.
*/
int main() {
short int i; // a signed short integer
short unsigned int j; // an unsigned short integer

j = 50000;

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

return 0;
}

When this program is run, following is the output −

-15536 50000

The above result is because the bit pattern that represents 50,000 as a short unsigned

integer is interpreted as -15,536 by a short.

Type Qualifiers in C++

The type qualifiers provide additional information about the variables they precede.

Sr.N Qualifier & Meaning

 o

1
const

Objects of type const cannot be changed by your program during execution.

2
volatile

The modifier volatile tells the compiler that a variable's value may be

changed in ways not explicitly specified by the program.

3
restrict

A pointer qualified by restrict is initially the only means by which the object it

points to can be accessed. Only C99 adds a new type qualifier called restrict.

Storage Classes in C++

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
The auto Storage Class
The auto storage class is the default storage class for all local variables.

{
int mount;
auto int month;
}

The example above defines two variables with the same storage class, auto can only

be used within functions, i.e., local variables.

The register Storage Class

The register storage 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).

{
register int miles;
}

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.

The static Storage Class

The static storage 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.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

// Function declaration
void func(void);

static int count = 10; /* Global variable */

main() {
while(count--) {
func();
}

return 0;
}

// Function definition
void func( void ) {
static int i = 5; // local static variable
i++;
std::cout << "i is " << i ;
std::cout << " and count is " << count << std::endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
i is 6 and count is 9
i is 7 and count is 8
i is 8 and count is 7
i is 9 and count is 6
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

The extern Storage Class

The extern storage 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, then extern will be used in another file to give reference of

defined variable or function. Just for understanding extern is used to 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.

First File: main.cpp

#include <iostream>
int count ;
extern void write_extern();

main() {
count = 5;
write_extern();
}
Second File: support.cpp
#include <iostream>

extern int count;

void write_extern(void) {
std::cout << "Count is " << count << std::endl;
}

Here, extern keyword is being used to declare count in another file.

Now compile these two files as follows −

$g++ main.cpp support.cpp -o write

This will produce write executable program, try to execute write and

check the result as follows −

$./write
5

The mutable Storage Class

The mutable specifier 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.

Operators in C++
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 −

 Arithmetic Operators

Relational Operators

Logical Operators

Bitwise Operators

Assignment Operators

Misc Operators

This chapter will examine the arithmetic, relational, logical, bitwise, assignment and

other operators one by one.

Arithmetic Operators

There are following arithmetic operators supported by C++ language −

Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then −

Show Examples

Operato Description Example

r

+ Adds two operands A + B will give 30

- Subtracts second operand from the A - B will give -10

first

* Multiplies both operands A * B will give 200

/ Divides numerator by de-numerator B / A will give 2

% Modulus Operator and remainder of B % A will give 0

after an integer division
 ++ Increment operator, increases integer A++ will give 11
value by one

-- Decrement operator, decreases A-- will give 9

integer value by one

Relational Operators
There are following relational operators supported by C++ language

Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then −

Show Examples

Operato Description Example

r

== Checks if the values of two operands (A == B) is not true.

are equal or not, if yes then condition
becomes true.

!= Checks if the values of two operands (A != B) is true.

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

> Checks if the value of left operand is (A > B) is not true.

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

< Checks if the value of left operand is (A < B) is true.

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

>= Checks if the value of left operand is (A >= B) is not true.

greater than or equal to the value of
right operand, if yes then condition
becomes true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is (A <= B) is true.

less than or equal to the value of right
operand, if yes then condition
becomes true.

Logical Operators
There are following logical operators supported by C++ language.

Assume variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then −

Show Examples

Operato Description Example

r

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

the operands are non-zero, then
condition becomes true.

|| Called Logical OR Operator. If any of (A || B) is true.

the two operands is non-zero, then
condition becomes true.

! Called Logical NOT Operator. Use to !(A && B) is true.

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

Bitwise Operators

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

Assume if A = 60; and B = 13; now in binary format they will be as

follows −

A = 0011 1100

B = 0000 1101

-----------------

A&B = 0000 1100

A|B = 0011 1101

A^B = 0011 0001

~A = 1100 0011
The Bitwise operators supported by C++ language are listed in the

following table. Assume variable A holds 60 and variable B holds 13,

then −

Show Examples

Operato Description Example

r

& Binary AND Operator copies a bit to (A & B) will give 12 which is 0000
the result if it exists in both operands. 1100

| Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it (A | B) will give 61 which is 0011

exists in either operand. 1101

^ Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if (A ^ B) will give 49 which is 0011
it is set in one operand but not both. 0001

~ Binary Ones Complement Operator is (~A ) will give -61 which is 1100
unary and has the effect of 'flipping' 0011 in 2's complement form due to
bits. a signed binary number.

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The left

operands value is moved left by the A << 2 will give 240 which is 1111
number of bits specified by the right 0000
operand.

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The left

operands value is moved right by the A >> 2 will give 15 which is 0000
number of bits specified by the right 1111
operand.
Assignment Operators

There are following assignment operators supported by C++ language −

Show Examples

Operato Description Example

r

= Simple assignment operator, Assigns

C = A + B will assign value of A +
values from right side operands to left
B into C
side operand.

+= Add AND assignment operator, It adds

right operand to the left operand and C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
assign the result to left operand.

-= Subtract AND assignment operator, It

subtracts right operand from the left
C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
operand and assign the result to left
operand.

*= Multiply AND assignment operator, It

multiplies right operand with the left
C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
operand and assign the result to left
operand.

/= Divide AND assignment operator, It

divides left operand with the right
C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
operand and assign the result to left
operand.
 %= Modulus AND assignment operator, It
C %= A is equivalent to C = C %
takes modulus using two operands and
A
assign the result to left operand.

<<= Left shift AND assignment operator. C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2

>>= Right shift AND assignment operator. C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2

&= Bitwise AND assignment operator. C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2

^= Bitwise exclusive OR and assignment

C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2
operator.

|= Bitwise inclusive OR and assignment

C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2
operator.

Misc Operators
The following table lists some other operators that C++ supports.

Sr.N Operator & Description

o

1
sizeof

sizeof operator returns the size of a variable. For example, sizeof(a), where ‘a’

is integer, and will return 4.

2
Condition ? X : Y

Conditional operator (?). If Condition is true then it returns value of X

otherwise returns value of Y.

3
,

Comma operator causes 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.

4
. (dot) and -> (arrow)

Member operators are used to reference individual members of classes,

structures, and unions.

5
Cast

Casting operators convert one data type to another. For example, int(2.2000)

would return 2.

6
&

Pointer operator & returns the address of a variable. For example &a; will

give actual address of the variable.

7
*

Pointer operator * is pointer to a variable. For example *var; will pointer to a

variable var.

Operators Precedence in C++

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.

Show Examples

Category Operator Associativity

Postfix () [] -> . ++ - - Left to right

Unary + - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeof Right to left

Multiplicative */% Left to right

Additive +- Left to right

Shift << >> Left to right

Relational < <= > >= Left to right

Equality == != Left to right

Bitwise AND & Left to right

 Bitwise XOR ^ Left to right

Bitwise OR | Left to right

Logical AND && Left to right

Logical OR || Left to right

Conditional ?: Right to left

Assignment = += -= *= /= %=>>= <<= &= ^= |= Right to left

Comma , Left to right

C++ Loop Types

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.

Sr.N Loop Type & Description

o

1 while loop

Repeats a statement or group of statements while a given condition is true. It

tests the condition before executing the loop body.

2 for loop

Execute a sequence of statements multiple times and abbreviates the code

that manages the loop variable.

3 do...while loop
 Like a ‘while’ statement, except that it tests the condition at the end of the

loop body.

4 nested loops

You can use one or more loop inside any another ‘while’, ‘for’ or ‘do..while’

loop.

Loop Control Statements

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++ supports the following control statements.

Sr.N Control Statement & Description

o

1 break statement

Terminates the loop or switch statement and transfers execution to the

statement immediately following the loop or switch.

2 continue statement

Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body and immediately retest its

condition prior to reiterating.

3 goto statement

Transfers control to the labeled statement. Though it is not advised to use

 goto statement in your program.

The Infinite Loop

A loop becomes infinite loop if a condition never becomes false. The for loop is

traditionally used for this purpose. Since none of the three expressions that form the

‘for’ loop are required, you can make an endless loop by leaving the conditional

expression empty.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main () {
for( ; ; ) {
printf("This loop will run forever.\n");
}

return 0;
}
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 − You can terminate an infinite loop by pressing Ctrl + C keys.

C++ decision making statements

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 form of a typical decision making structure

found in most of the programming languages −

C++ programming language provides following types of decision making statements.

Sr.N Statement & Description

o

1 if statement

An ‘if’ statement consists of a boolean expression followed by one or more

statements.

2 if...else statement

An ‘if’ statement can be followed by an optional ‘else’ statement, which

executes when the boolean expression is false.

3 switch statement
 A ‘switch’ statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list

of values.

4 nested if statements

You can use one ‘if’ or ‘else if’ statement inside another ‘if’ or ‘else if’

statement(s).

5 nested switch statements

You can use one ‘switch’ statement inside another ‘switch’ statement(s).

The ? : Operator

We have covered conditional operator “? :” in previous chapter which can be

used to replace if...else statements. 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.

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

has at least one function, which is main(), 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 function declaration tells the compiler about a function's name, return type, and

parameters. A function definition provides the actual body of the function.

The C++ standard library provides numerous built-in functions that your program can

call. For example, function strcat() to concatenate two strings, function memcpy() 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.

Defining a Function

The general form of a C++ function definition is as follows −

return_type function_name( parameter list ) {

body of the function
}

A C++ function definition consists of a function header and a

function body. Here are all the parts of a function −

Return Type − A function may return a value. The return_type

is the data type of the value the function returns. Some

 functions perform the desired operations without returning

a value. 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.

Function Body − The function body contains a collection of

statements that define what the function does.

Example

Following is the source code for a function called max(). This

function takes two parameters num1 and num2 and return the biggest of

both −

// function returning the max between two numbers

int max(int num1, int num2) {

// local variable declaration
int result;

if (num1 > num2)

result = num1;
else
result = num2;
 return result;
}

Function Declarations
A function declaration tells the compiler about a function name and how to call the

function. The actual body of the function can be defined separately.

A function declaration has the following parts −

return_type function_name( parameter list );

For the above defined function max(), following is the function

declaration −

int max(int num1, int num2);

Parameter names are not important in function declaration only their

type is required, so following is also valid declaration −

int max(int, int);

Function declaration is required when you define a function in one source file and you

call that function in another file. In such case, you should declare the function at the

top of the file calling the function.

Calling a Function
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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// function declaration
int max(int num1, int num2);

int main () {
// local variable declaration:
int a = 100;
int b = 200;
int ret;

// calling a function to get max value.

ret = max(a, b);
cout << "Max value is : " << ret << endl;

return 0;
}

// function returning the max between two numbers

int max(int num1, int num2) {
// local variable declaration
int result;

if (num1 > num2)

result = num1;
else
result = num2;
 return result;
}

I kept max() function along with main() function and compiled the

source code. While running final executable, it would produce the

following result −

Max value is : 200

Function Arguments
If a function is to use arguments, it must declare variables that accept the values of the

arguments. These variables are called the formal parameters of 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 −

Sr.N Call Type & Description

o

1 Call by Value

This method 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.

2 Call by Pointer

This method 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

argument.

3 Call by Reference

This method copies the reference of an argument into the formal parameter.

Inside the function, the reference is used to access the actual argument used

in the call. This means that changes made to the parameter affect 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 and above

mentioned example while calling max() function used the same method.

Default Values for Parameters

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.

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 −
Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int sum(int a, int b = 20) {

int result;
result = a + b;

return (result);
}
int main () {
// local variable declaration:
int a = 100;
int b = 200;
int result;

// calling a function to add the values.

result = sum(a, b);
cout << "Total value is :" << result << endl;

// calling a function again as follows.

result = sum(a);
cout << "Total value is :" << result << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Total value is :300

Total value is :120

Numbers in C++
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.

Defining Numbers in C++

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++ −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main () {
// number definition:
short s;
int i;
long l;
float f;
double d;

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

// number printing;
cout << "short s :" << s << endl;
cout << "int i :" << i << endl;
cout << "long l :" << l << endl;
cout << "float f :" << f << endl;
cout << "double d :" << d << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

short s :10
int i :1000
long l :1000000
float f :230.47
double d :30949.4

Math Operations in C++

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 called built-in functions. 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++.

To utilize these functions you need to include the math header file <cmath>.

Sr.N Function & Purpose

o

1
double cos(double);

This function takes an angle (as a double) and returns the cosine.

2
double sin(double);

This function takes an angle (as a double) and returns the sine.

3
double tan(double);
 This function takes an angle (as a double) and returns the tangent.

4
double log(double);

This function takes a number and returns the natural log of that number.

5
double pow(double, double);

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

to raise it t

6
double hypot(double, double);

If you pass this function the length of two sides of a right triangle, it will

return you the length of the hypotenuse.

7
double sqrt(double);

You pass this function a number and it gives you the square root.

8
int abs(int);

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

9
double fabs(double);

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

10
double floor(double);
 Finds the integer which is less than or equal to the argument passed to it.

Following is a simple example to show few of the mathematical

operations −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

int main () {
// number definition:
short s = 10;
int i = -1000;
long l = 100000;
float f = 230.47;
double d = 200.374;

// mathematical operations;
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;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

sign(d) :-0.634939
abs(i) :1000
floor(d) :200
sqrt(f) :15.1812
pow( d, 2 ) :40149.7
Random Numbers in C++
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 of time() function to get the number of seconds on

your system time, to randomly seed the rand() function −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>
#include <cstdlib>

using namespace std;

int main () {
int i,j;

// set the seed

srand( (unsigned)time( NULL ) );

/* generate 10 random numbers. */

for( i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) {
// generate actual random number
j = rand();
cout <<" Random Number : " << j << endl;
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Random Number : 1748144778
Random Number : 630873888
Random Number : 2134540646
Random Number : 219404170
Random Number : 902129458
Random Number : 920445370
Random Number : 1319072661
Random Number : 257938873
Random Number : 1256201101
Random Number : 580322989

C++ 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 variables of the same type.

Instead of declaring individual variables, such as number0, number1, ..., and number99,

you declare one array variable such as numbers and use numbers[0], numbers[1],

and ..., numbers[99] to represent individual variables. 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.

Declaring Arrays

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 −

type arrayName [ arraySize ];

This is called a single-dimension array. The arraySize must be an

integer constant greater than zero and type can be any valid C++ data

type. For example, to declare a 10-element array called balance of

type double, use this statement −

double balance[10];

Initializing Arrays

You can initialize C++ array elements either one by one or using a

single statement as follows −

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

The number of values between braces { } can not 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 −

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

You will create exactly the same array as you did in the previous example.

balance[4] = 50.0;

The above statement assigns element number 5 th 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 representaion of the same array we

discussed above −

Accessing Array Elements

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 −

double salary = 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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

#include <iomanip>
using std::setw;

int main () {

int n[ 10 ]; // n is an array of 10 integers

// initialize elements of array n to 0

for ( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) {
n[ i ] = i + 100; // set element at location i to i + 100
}
cout << "Element" << setw( 13 ) << "Value" << endl;
 // output each array element's value
for ( int j = 0; j < 10; j++ ) {
cout << setw( 7 )<< j << setw( 13 ) << n[ j ] << endl;
}

return 0;
}

This program makes use of setw() function to format the output. When

the 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

Arrays in C++

Arrays are important to C++ and should need lots of more detail.

There are following few important concepts, which should be clear to

a C++ programmer −

Sr.N Concept & Description

o

1 Multi-dimensional arrays
 C++ supports multidimensional arrays. The simplest form of the

multidimensional array is the two-dimensional array.

2 Pointer to an array

You can generate a pointer to the first element of an array by simply

specifying the array name, without any index.

3 Passing arrays to functions

You can pass to the function a pointer to an array by specifying the array's

name without an index.

4 Return array from functions

C++ allows a function to return an array.

C++ Strings
C++ provides following two types of string representations −

The C-style character string.

The string class type introduced with Standard C++.

The C-Style Character String

The C-style character string originated within the C language and continues to be

supported within C++. This string is actually a one-dimensional array of characters

which is terminated by a null character '\0'. Thus a null-terminated string contains the

characters that comprise the string followed by a null.

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."

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

If you follow the rule of array initialization, then you can write

the above statement as follows −

char greeting[] = "Hello";

Following is the memory presentation of above defined string in 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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main () {

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

cout << "Greeting message: ";

cout << greeting << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Greeting message: Hello

C++ supports a wide range of functions that manipulate null-

terminated strings −

Sr.N Function & Purpose

o

1
strcpy(s1, s2);

Copies string s2 into string s1.

2
strcat(s1, s2);

Concatenates string s2 onto the end of string s1.

3
strlen(s1);
 Returns the length of string s1.

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);

Returns a pointer to the first occurrence of character ch in string s1.

6
strstr(s1, s2);

Returns a pointer to the first occurrence of string s2 in string s1.

Following example makes use of few of the above-mentioned functions −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>

using namespace std;

int main () {

char str1[10] = "Hello";

char str2[10] = "World";
char str3[10];
int len ;

// copy str1 into str3

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

// concatenates str1 and str2

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

// total lenghth of str1 after concatenation

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

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result

something as follows −

strcpy( str3, str1) : Hello

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

The String Class in C++

The standard C++ library provides a string class type that supports

all the operations mentioned above, additionally much more

functionality. Let us check the following example −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

int main () {

string str1 = "Hello";

string str2 = "World";
string str3;
int len ;

// copy str1 into str3

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

// total length of str3 after concatenation

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

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result

something as follows −

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

C++ 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

location has 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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main () {
int var1;
 char var2[10];

cout << "Address of var1 variable: ";

cout << &var1 << endl;

cout << "Address of var2 variable: ";

cout << &var2 << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Address of var1 variable: 0xbfebd5c0

Address of var2 variable: 0xbfebd5b6

What are Pointers?

A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another

variable. Like any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer

before you can work with it. The general form of a pointer variable

declaration is −

type *var-name;

Here, type is the pointer's base type; it must be a valid C++ type

and var-name is 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; // pointer to an integer
double *dp; // pointer to a double
float *fp; // pointer to a float
char *ch // pointer to character

The actual data type of the value of all pointers, whether integer, float, character, or

otherwise, is the same, a long hexadecimal number that represents 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.

Using Pointers in C++

There are few important operations, which we will do with the

pointers very frequently. (a) We define a pointer variable. (b)

Assign the address of a variable 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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main () {
int var = 20; // actual variable declaration.
int *ip; // pointer variable

ip = &var; // store address of var in pointer variable

cout << "Value of var variable: ";

cout << var << endl;
 // print the address stored in ip pointer variable
cout << "Address stored in ip variable: ";
cout << ip << endl;

// access the value at the address available in pointer

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

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces result

something as follows −

Value of var variable: 20

Address stored in ip variable: 0xbfc601ac
Value of *ip variable: 20

Pointers in C++

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 −

Sr.N Concept & Description

o

1 Null Pointers

C++ supports null pointer, which is a constant with a value of zero defined in

several standard libraries.

2 Pointer Arithmetic
 There are four arithmetic operators that can be used on pointers: ++, --, +, -

3 Pointers vs Arrays

There is a close relationship between pointers and arrays.

4 Array of Pointers

You can define arrays to hold a number of pointers.

5 Pointer to Pointer

C++ allows you to have pointer on a pointer and so on.

6 Passing Pointers to Functions

Passing an argument by reference or by address both enable the passed

argument to be changed in the calling function by the called function.

7 Return Pointer from Functions

C++ allows a function to return a pointer to local variable, static variable and

dynamically allocated memory as well.

C++ 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.

References vs Pointers

References are often confused with pointers but three major

differences between references and pointers are −

You cannot have NULL references. You must always be able to assume 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.

A reference must be initialized when it is created. Pointers can be initialized

at any time.

Creating References in C++

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, you can access the

contents of the variable through either the original variable name or

the reference. For example, suppose we have the following example −

int i = 17;

We can declare reference variables for i as follows.

int& r = i;

Read the & in these declarations as reference. Thus, read the first

declaration as "r is an integer reference initialized to i" and read

the second declaration as "s is a double reference initialized to

d.". Following example makes use of references on int and double −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main () {
// declare simple variables
int i;
double d;

// declare reference variables

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

i = 5;
cout << "Value of i : " << i << endl;
cout << "Value of i reference : " << r << endl;

d = 11.7;
cout << "Value of d : " << d << endl;
cout << "Value of d reference : " << s << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled together and executed, it produces

the following result −

Value of i : 5
Value of i reference : 5
Value of d : 11.7
Value of d reference : 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 −

 Sr.N Concept & Description
o

1 References as Parameters

C++ supports passing references as function parameter more safely than

parameters.

2 Reference as Return Value

You can return reference from a C++ function like any other data type.

C++ Date and Time

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.

There are four time-related types: clock_t, time_t, size_t, and tm. The types - clock_t,

size_t and time_t are capable of representing the system time and date as some sort of

integer.

The structure type tm holds the date and time in the form of a C

structure having the following elements −

struct tm {
int tm_sec; // seconds of minutes from 0 to 61
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; // month of year from 0 to 11
int tm_year; // year since 1900
 int tm_wday; // days since sunday
int tm_yday; // days since January 1st
int tm_isdst; // hours of daylight savings time
}

Following are the important functions, which we use while working with date and time

in C or C++. All these functions are part of standard C and C++ library and you can

check their detail using reference to C++ standard library given below.

Sr.N Function & Purpose

o

1
time_t time(time_t *time);

This returns the current calendar time of the system in number of seconds

elapsed since January 1, 1970. If the system has no time, .1 is returned.

2
char *ctime(const time_t *time);

This returns a pointer to a string of the form day month year

hours:minutes:seconds year\n\0.

3
struct tm *localtime(const time_t *time);

This returns a pointer to the tm structure representing local time.

4
clock_t clock(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 ( const struct tm * 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
struct tm *gmtime(const time_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_t mktime(struct tm *time);

This returns the calendar-time equivalent of the time found in the structure

pointed to by time.

8
double difftime ( time_t time2, time_t time1 );

This function calculates the difference in seconds between time1 and time2.

9
size_t strftime();

This function can be used to format date and time in a specific format.

Current Date and Time

Suppose you want to retrieve the current system date and time, either

as a local time or as a Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following

is the example to achieve the same −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>

using namespace std;

int main() {
// current date/time based on current system
time_t now = time(0);

// convert now to string form

char* dt = ctime(&now);

cout << "The local date and time is: " << dt << endl;

// convert now to tm struct for UTC

tm *gmtm = gmtime(&now);
dt = asctime(gmtm);
cout << "The UTC date and time is:"<< dt << endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

The local date and time is: Sat Jan 8 20:07:41 2011

The UTC date and time is:Sun Jan 9 03:07:41 2011

Format Time using struct tm

The tm structure 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.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>

using namespace std;

int main() {
// current date/time based on current system
time_t now = time(0);

cout << "Number of sec since January 1,1970 is:: " << now << endl;

tm *ltm = localtime(&now);

// print various components of tm structure.

cout << "Year:" << 1900 + ltm->tm_year<<endl;
cout << "Month: "<< 1 + ltm->tm_mon<< endl;
cout << "Day: "<< ltm->tm_mday << endl;
cout << "Time: "<< 5+ltm->tm_hour << ":";
cout << 30+ltm->tm_min << ":";
cout << ltm->tm_sec << endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Number of sec since January 1,1970 is:: 1588485717

Year:2020
Month: 5
Day: 3
Time: 11:31:57
 C++ Basic Input/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, this is called

input operation and if bytes flow from main memory to a device like a display screen, a

printer, a disk drive, or a network connection, etc., this is called output operation.

I/O Library Header Files

There are following header files important to C++ programs −

Sr.N Header File & Function and Description

o

1
<iostream>

This file defines the cin, cout, cerr and clog objects, which correspond to the

standard input stream, the standard output stream, the un-buffered standard

error stream and the buffered standard error stream, respectively.

2
<iomanip>

This file declares services useful for performing formatted I/O with so-called

parameterized stream manipulators, such as setw and setprecision.

 3
<fstream>

This file declares services for user-controlled file processing. We will discuss

about it in detail in File and Stream related chapter.

The Standard Output Stream (cout)

The predefined object cout is an instance of ostream class. The cout object is said to be

"connected to" the standard output device, which usually is the display screen. The

cout is used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator, which is written as <<

which are two less than signs as shown in the following example.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
char str[] = "Hello C++";

cout << "Value of str is : " << str << endl;

}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of str is : Hello C++

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 and endl is used to add a new-line at the end of the line.

The Standard Input Stream (cin)

The predefined object cin is an instance of istream class. The cin object is said to be

attached to the standard input device, which usually is the keyboard. The cin is used in

conjunction with the stream extraction operator, which is written as >> which are two

greater than signs as shown in the following example.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
char name[50];

cout << "Please enter your name: ";

cin >> name;
cout << "Your name is: " << name << endl;

When the above code is compiled and executed, it will prompt you to

enter a name. You enter a value and then hit enter to see the

following result −

Please enter your name: cplusplus

Your name is: cplusplus

The C++ compiler also determines the data type of the entered value and selects the

appropriate stream extraction operator to extract the value and store 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;

This will be equivalent to the following two statements −

cin >> name;

cin >> age;

The Standard Error Stream (cerr)

The predefined object cerr is an instance of ostream class. The cerr object is said to be

attached to the standard error device, which is also a display screen but the object cerr

is un-buffered and each stream insertion to cerr causes its output to appear

immediately.

The cerr is also used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator as shown in the

following example.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
char str[] = "Unable to read....";

cerr << "Error message : " << str << endl;

}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Error message : Unable to read....

The Standard Log Stream (clog)

The predefined object clog is an instance of ostream class. The clog object is said to be

attached to the standard error device, which is also a display screen but the object clog

is 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 buffer is flushed.

The clog is also used in conjunction with the stream insertion operator as shown in the

following example.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
char str[] = "Unable to read....";

clog << "Error message : " << str << endl;

}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Error message : Unable to read....

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.

 C++ Data Structures
C/C++ arrays allow you to define variables that combine several data items of the

same kind, but structure is another user defined data type 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

Defining a Structure

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 [structure tag] {

member definition;
member definition;
...
member definition;
} [one or more structure variables];

The structure tag is 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 −

struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
} book;

Accessing Structure Members

To access any member of a structure, we use the member access

operator (.). The member access operator is coded as a period between

the structure variable name and the structure member that we wish to

access. You would use struct keyword to define variables of structure

type. Following is the example to explain usage of structure −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>

using namespace std;

struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
};

int main() {
struct Books Book1; // Declare Book1 of type Book
 struct Books Book2; // Declare Book2 of type Book

// book 1 specification
strcpy( Book1.title, "Learn C++ Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan");
strcpy( Book1.subject, "C++ Programming");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;

// book 2 specification
strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;

// Print Book1 info

cout << "Book 1 title : " << Book1.title <<endl;
cout << "Book 1 author : " << Book1.author <<endl;
cout << "Book 1 subject : " << Book1.subject <<endl;
cout << "Book 1 id : " << Book1.book_id <<endl;

// Print Book2 info

cout << "Book 2 title : " << Book2.title <<endl;
cout << "Book 2 author : " << Book2.author <<endl;
cout << "Book 2 subject : " << Book2.subject <<endl;
cout << "Book 2 id : " << Book2.book_id <<endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Book 1 title : Learn C++ Programming

Book 1 author : Chand Miyan
Book 1 subject : C++ Programming
Book 1 id : 6495407
Book 2 title : Telecom Billing
Book 2 author : Yakit Singha
Book 2 subject : Telecom
Book 2 id : 6495700
Structures as Function Arguments

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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>

using namespace std;

void printBook( struct Books book );

struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
};

int main() {
struct Books Book1; // Declare Book1 of type Book
struct Books Book2; // Declare Book2 of type Book

// book 1 specification
strcpy( Book1.title, "Learn C++ Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan");
strcpy( Book1.subject, "C++ Programming");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;

// book 2 specification
strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;

// Print Book1 info

 printBook( Book1 );

// Print Book2 info

printBook( Book2 );

return 0;
}
void printBook( struct Books book ) {
cout << "Book title : " << book.title <<endl;
cout << "Book author : " << book.author <<endl;
cout << "Book subject : " << book.subject <<endl;
cout << "Book id : " << book.book_id <<endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Book title : Learn C++ Programming

Book author : Chand Miyan
Book subject : C++ Programming
Book id : 6495407
Book title : Telecom Billing
Book author : Yakit Singha
Book subject : Telecom
Book id : 6495700

Pointers to Structures

You can define pointers to structures in very similar way as you

define pointer to any other variable as follows −

struct Books *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;

To access the members of a structure using a pointer to that

structure, you must 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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>

using namespace std;

void printBook( struct Books *book );

struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
};
int main() {
struct Books Book1; // Declare Book1 of type Book
struct Books Book2; // Declare Book2 of type Book

// Book 1 specification
strcpy( Book1.title, "Learn C++ Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Chand Miyan");
strcpy( Book1.subject, "C++ Programming");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;

// Book 2 specification
strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Yakit Singha");
 strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;

// Print Book1 info, passing address of structure

printBook( &Book1 );

// Print Book1 info, passing address of structure

printBook( &Book2 );

return 0;
}

// This function accept pointer to structure as parameter.

void printBook( struct Books *book ) {
cout << "Book title : " << book->title <<endl;
cout << "Book author : " << book->author <<endl;
cout << "Book subject : " << book->subject <<endl;
cout << "Book id : " << book->book_id <<endl;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Book title : Learn C++ Programming

Book author : Chand Miyan
Book subject : C++ Programming
Book id : 6495407
Book title : Telecom Billing
Book author : Yakit Singha
Book subject : Telecom
Book id : 6495700

The typedef Keyword

There is an easier way to define structs or you could "alias" types

you create. For example −

typedef struct {
char title[50];
 char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
} Books;

Now, you can use Books directly to define variables of Books type without using

struct keyword. Following is the example −

Books Book1, Book2;

You can use typedef keyword for non-structs as well as follows −

typedef long int *pint32;

pint32 x, y, z;

x, y and z are all pointers to long ints.

C++ Classes and Objects

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 keyword class followed 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 defined the Box data type using the

keyword class as follows −

class Box {
public:
double length; // Length of a box
double breadth; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};

The keyword public determines the access attributes of the members of the class that

follows it. A public member can be accessed from outside the class anywhere within

the scope of the class object. You can also specify the members of a class as private or

protected which we will discuss in a sub-section.

Define C++ 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 −

Box Box1; // Declare Box1 of type Box

Box Box2; // Declare Box2 of type Box

Both of the objects Box1 and Box2 will have their own copy of data members.

Accessing the Data Members

The public data members of objects of a class can be accessed using

the direct member access operator (.). Let us try the following

example to make the things clear −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class Box {
public:
double length; // Length of a box
double breadth; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};

int main() {
Box Box1; // Declare Box1 of type Box
Box Box2; // Declare Box2 of type Box
double volume = 0.0; // Store the volume of a box here

// box 1 specification
Box1.height = 5.0;
Box1.length = 6.0;
Box1.breadth = 7.0;

// box 2 specification
Box2.height = 10.0;
Box2.length = 12.0;
Box2.breadth = 13.0;

// volume of box 1
 volume = Box1.height * Box1.length * Box1.breadth;
cout << "Volume of Box1 : " << volume <<endl;

// volume of box 2
volume = Box2.height * Box2.length * Box2.breadth;
cout << "Volume of Box2 : " << volume <<endl;
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Volume of Box1 : 210

Volume of Box2 : 1560

It is important to note that private and protected members can not be accessed directly

using direct member access operator (.). We will learn how private and protected

members can be accessed.

Classes and Objects in 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 −

Sr.N Concept & Description

o

1 Class Member Functions

A member function of a class is a function that has its definition or its

prototype within the class definition like any other variable.

2 Class Access Modifiers

A class member can be defined as public, private or protected. By default

members would be assumed as private.

3 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 created object is deleted.

4 Copy Constructor

The copy constructor is a constructor which creates an object by initializing it

with an object of the same class, which has been created previously.

5 Friend Functions

A friend function is permitted full access to private and protected members of

a class.

6 Inline Functions

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.

7 this Pointer

Every object has a special pointer this which points to the object itself.

8 Pointer to C++ 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.

9 Static Members of a Class

Both data members and function members of a class can be declared as

static.

C++ 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 inherit the

members of an existing class. This existing class is called the base class, and the new

class is referred to as the derived class.

The idea of inheritance implements the is a relationship. For example, mammal IS-A

animal, dog IS-A mammal hence dog IS-A animal as well and so on.

Base and Derived Classes

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 −

class derived-class: access-specifier base-class

Where access-specifier is one of public, protected, or private, and base-class is the

name of a previously defined class. If the access-specifier is not used, then it is private

by default.

Consider a base class Shape and its derived class Rectangle as

follows −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

// Base class
class Shape {
public:
void setWidth(int w) {
width = w;
}
void setHeight(int h) {
height = h;
}

protected:
int width;
int height;
};

// Derived class
class Rectangle: public Shape {
public:
int getArea() {
return (width * height);
}
};

int main(void) {
Rectangle Rect;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7);

// Print the area of the object.

cout << "Total area: " << Rect.getArea() << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Total area: 35

Access Control and Inheritance

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

Derived classes yes yes no

Outside classes yes no no

A derived class inherits all base class methods with the following

exceptions −

Constructors, destructors and copy constructors of the base class.

Overloaded operators of the base class.

The friend functions of the base class.

Type of Inheritance
When deriving a class from a base class, the base class may be inherited through

public, protected or private inheritance. The type of inheritance is specified by the

access-specifier as explained above.

We hardly use protected or private inheritance, but public

inheritance is commonly used. While using different type of

inheritance, following rules are applied −

Public Inheritance − When deriving a class from a public base

class, public members of the base class become public

members of the derived class and protected members of the

base class become protected members of the derived class. A

base class's private members are never accessible directly

from a derived class, but can be accessed through calls to

the public and protected members of the base class.

Protected Inheritance − When deriving from a protected base

class, public and protected members of the base class

become protected members of the derived class.

 Private Inheritance − When deriving from a private base

class, public and protected members of the base class

become private members of the derived class.

Multiple Inheritance

A C++ class can inherit members from more than one class and here is

the extended syntax −

class derived-class: access baseA, access baseB....

Where access is one of public, protected, or private and would be

given for every base class and they will be separated by comma as

shown above. Let us try the following example −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

// Base class Shape

class Shape {
public:
void setWidth(int w) {
width = w;
}
void setHeight(int h) {
height = h;
}

protected:
int width;
int height;
};

// Base class PaintCost

class PaintCost {
public:
int getCost(int area) {
return area * 70;
}
};

// Derived class
class Rectangle: public Shape, public PaintCost {
public:
int getArea() {
return (width * height);
}
};

int main(void) {
Rectangle Rect;
int area;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7);

area = Rect.getArea();

// Print the area of the object.

cout << "Total area: " << Rect.getArea() << endl;

// Print the total cost of painting

cout << "Total paint cost: $" << Rect.getCost(area) << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Total area: 35
Total paint cost: $2450

C++ Overloading (Operator and Function)

C++ allows you to specify more than one definition for a function name or an operator

in the same scope, which is called function 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).

When you call an overloaded function or operator, 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.

Function Overloading in C++

You can have multiple definitions for the same function name in the same scope. The

definition of the function must 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 function print() is being used to

print different data types −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class printData {
public:
void print(int i) {
 cout << "Printing int: " << i << endl;
}
void print(double f) {
cout << "Printing float: " << f << endl;
}
void print(char* c) {
cout << "Printing character: " << c << endl;
}
};

int main(void) {
printData pd;

// Call print to print integer

pd.print(5);

// Call print to print float

pd.print(500.263);

// Call print to print character

pd.print("Hello C++");

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Printing int: 5
Printing float: 500.263
Printing character: Hello C++

Operators Overloading in C++

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.

Box operator+(const Box&);

declares the addition operator that can be used to add two 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 −

Box operator+(const Box&, const Box&);

Following is the example to show the concept of operator over loading

using a member function. Here an object is passed as an argument

whose properties will be accessed using this object, the object which

will call this operator can be accessed using this operator as

explained below −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Box {
public:
double getVolume(void) {
return length * breadth * height;
}
void setLength( double len ) {
length = len;
}
 void setBreadth( double bre ) {
breadth = bre;
}
void setHeight( double hei ) {
height = hei;
}

// Overload + operator to add two Box objects.

Box operator+(const Box& b) {
Box box;
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; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};

// Main function for the program

int main() {
Box Box1; // Declare Box1 of type Box
Box Box2; // Declare Box2 of type Box
Box Box3; // Declare Box3 of type Box
double volume = 0.0; // Store the volume of a box here

// box 1 specification
Box1.setLength(6.0);
Box1.setBreadth(7.0);
Box1.setHeight(5.0);

// box 2 specification
Box2.setLength(12.0);
Box2.setBreadth(13.0);
Box2.setHeight(10.0);

// volume of box 1
volume = Box1.getVolume();
cout << "Volume of Box1 : " << volume <<endl;
 // volume of box 2
volume = Box2.getVolume();
cout << "Volume of Box2 : " << volume <<endl;

// Add two object as follows:

Box3 = Box1 + Box2;

// volume of box 3
volume = Box3.getVolume();
cout << "Volume of Box3 : " << volume <<endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Volume of Box1 : 210

Volume of Box2 : 1560
Volume of Box3 : 5400

Overloadable/Non-overloadableOperators

Following is the list of operators which can be overloaded −

+ - * / % ^

& | ~ ! , =

< > <= >= ++ --

<< >> == != && ||

+= -= /= %= ^= &=

|= *= <<= >>= [] ()

-> ->* new new [] delete delete []

Following is the list of operators, which can not be overloaded −

:: .* . ?:

Operator Overloading Examples

Here are various operator overloading examples to help you in understanding the

concept.

Sr.No Operators & Example

1 Unary Operators Overloading

2 Binary Operators Overloading

3 Relational Operators Overloading

4 Input/Output Operators Overloading

5 ++ and -- Operators Overloading

6 Assignment Operators Overloading

7 Function call () Operator Overloading

8 Subscripting [] Operator Overloading

9 Class Member Access Operator -> Overloading

Polymorphism in C++
The word polymorphism means having many forms. Typically, polymorphism occurs

when there is a hierarchy of classes and they are related by inheritance.

C++ polymorphism means that a call to a member function will cause a different

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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Shape {
protected:
int width, height;

public:
Shape( int a = 0, int b = 0){
width = a;
height = b;
}
int area() {
cout << "Parent class area :" <<endl;
return 0;
}
};
class Rectangle: public Shape {
public:
Rectangle( int a = 0, int b = 0):Shape(a, b) { }

int area () {
cout << "Rectangle class area :" <<endl;
return (width * height);
}
};

class Triangle: public Shape {

public:
Triangle( int a = 0, int b = 0):Shape(a, b) { }
 int area () {
cout << "Triangle class area :" <<endl;
return (width * height / 2);
}
};

// Main function for the program

int main() {
Shape *shape;
Rectangle rec(10,7);
Triangle tri(10,5);

// store the address of Rectangle

shape = &rec;

// call rectangle area.

shape->area();

// store the address of Triangle

shape = &tri;

// call triangle area.

shape->area();

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Parent class area :

Parent class area :

The reason for the incorrect output is that the call of the function area() is being set

once by the compiler as the version defined in the base class. This is called static

resolution of the function call, or static linkage - the function call is fixed before the

program is executed. This is also sometimes called early binding because 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 keyword virtual

so that it looks like this −

class Shape {
protected:
int width, height;

public:
Shape( int a = 0, int b = 0) {
width = a;
height = b;
}
virtual int area() {
cout << "Parent class area :" <<endl;
return 0;
}
};

After this slight modification, when the previous example code is

compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Rectangle class area

Triangle class area

This time, the compiler looks at the contents of the pointer instead of it's type. Hence,

since addresses of objects of tri and rec classes are stored in *shape the respective

area() function is called.

As you can see, each of the child classes has a separate implementation for the

function area(). This is how polymorphism is generally used. You have different classes

with a function of the same name, and even the same parameters, but with different

implementations.
Virtual Function
A virtual function is a function in a base class that is declared using the keyword

virtual. 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 as dynamic linkage, or late binding.

Pure Virtual Functions

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 base class.

We can change the virtual function area() in the base class to the

following −

class Shape {
protected:
int width, height;

public:
Shape(int a = 0, int b = 0) {
width = a;
height = b;
}

// pure virtual function

virtual int area() = 0;
};
The = 0 tells the compiler that the function has no body and above virtual function will

be called pure virtual function.

Data Abstraction in C++

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 any knowledge of its internals.

In C++, classes provides great level of data abstraction. They provide sufficient public

methods to the outside world to play with the functionality of the 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 the sort() 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 use classes to define our own abstract data types (ADT).

You can use the cout object of class ostream to stream data to

standard output like this −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
cout << "Hello C++" <<endl;
return 0;
}
Here, you don't need to understand how cout displays 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.

Access Labels Enforce Abstraction

In C++, we use access labels to define the abstract interface to the

class. A class 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.

Benefits of Data Abstraction

Data abstraction provides two important advantages −

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 the old representation might be

broken.

Data Abstraction Example

Any C++ program where you implement a class with public and private

members is an example of data abstraction. Consider the following

example −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Adder {
public:
// constructor
Adder(int i = 0) {
total = i;
}

// interface to outside world

void addNum(int number) {
total += number;
}

// interface to outside world

int getTotal() {
return total;
};

private:
// hidden data from outside world
int total;
};

int main() {
Adder a;

a.addNum(10);
a.addNum(20);
a.addNum(30);

cout << "Total " << a.getTotal() <<endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Total 60

Above class adds numbers together, and returns the sum. The public members -

addNum and getTotal are the interfaces to the outside world and a user needs to know
them to use the class. The private member total is something that the user doesn't

need to know about, but is needed for the class to operate properly.

Designing Strategy
Abstraction separates code into interface and implementation. So while designing 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.

Data Encapsulation in C++

All C++ programs are composed of the following two fundamental

elements −

Program statements (code) − This is the part of a program

that performs actions and they are called functions.

Program data − The data is the information of the program

which gets 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.
Data encapsulation is a mechanism of bundling the data, and the functions that use

them and data abstraction is 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, called classes. We already have

studied that a class can contain private, protected and public

members. By default, all items defined in a class are private. For

example −

class Box {
public:
double getVolume(void) {
return length * breadth * height;
}

private:
double length; // Length of a box
double breadth; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};

The variables length, breadth, and height are private. 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 class public (i.e., accessible to other parts of your program), you

must declare them after the public keyword. All variables or functions 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.

Data Encapsulation Example

Any C++ program where you implement a class with public and private

members is an example of data encapsulation and data abstraction.

Consider the following example −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Adder {
public:
// constructor
Adder(int i = 0) {
total = i;
}

// interface to outside world

void addNum(int number) {
total += number;
}

// interface to outside world

int getTotal() {
return total;
};

private:
// hidden data from outside world
int total;
};

int main() {
 Adder a;

a.addNum(10);
a.addNum(20);
a.addNum(30);

cout << "Total " << a.getTotal() <<endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Total 60

Above class adds numbers together, and returns the sum. The public members

addNum and getTotal are the interfaces to the outside world and a user needs to know

them to use the class. The private member total is something that is hidden from the

outside world, but is needed for the class to operate properly.

Designing Strategy
Most of us have learnt to make class members private by default unless we really

need to expose them. That's just good encapsulation.

This is applied most frequently to data members, but it applies equally to all members,

including virtual functions.

Interfaces in C++ (Abstract Classes)

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 using abstract classes and these abstract classes

should not be confused with data abstraction which is a concept of keeping

implementation details separate from associated data.

A class is made abstract by declaring at least one of its functions

as pure virtual function. A pure virtual function is specified by

placing "= 0" in its declaration as follows −

class Box {
public:
// pure virtual function
virtual double getVolume() = 0;

private:
double length; // Length of a box
double breadth; // Breadth of a box
double height; // Height of a box
};

The purpose of an abstract 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 an interface. 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.

Classes that can be used to instantiate objects are called concrete classes.

Abstract Class Example

Consider the following example where parent class provides an

interface to the base class to implement a function called getArea()

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

// Base class
class Shape {
public:
// pure virtual function providing interface framework.
virtual int getArea() = 0;
void setWidth(int w) {
width = w;
}

void setHeight(int h) {
height = h;
}

protected:
int width;
int height;
};

// Derived classes
class Rectangle: public Shape {
public:
int getArea() {
return (width * height);
}
};

class Triangle: public Shape {

public:
int getArea() {
return (width * height)/2;
}
};
int main(void) {
Rectangle Rect;
Triangle Tri;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7);

// Print the area of the object.

cout << "Total Rectangle area: " << Rect.getArea() << endl;

Tri.setWidth(5);
Tri.setHeight(7);

// Print the area of the object.

cout << "Total Triangle area: " << Tri.getArea() << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Total Rectangle area: 35

Total Triangle area: 17

You can see how an abstract class defined an interface in terms of getArea() and two

other classes implemented same function but with different algorithm to calculate the

area specific to the shape.

Designing Strategy
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.
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.

C++ Files and Streams

So far, we have been using the iostream standard library, which provides cin and cout

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 called fstream, which defines

three new data types −

Sr.N Data Type & Description

o

1
ofstream

This data type represents the output file stream and is used to create files

and to write information to files.

2
ifstream

This data type represents the input file stream and is used to read

information from files.

 3
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.

To perform file processing in C++, header files <iostream> and <fstream> must be

included in your C++ source file.

Opening a File
A file must be opened before you can read from it or write to it. Either ofstream or

fstream object may be 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.

void open(const char *filename, ios::openmode mode);

Here, the first argument specifies the name and location of the file to be opened and

the second argument of the open() member function defines the mode in which the file

should be opened.

Sr.No Mode Flag & Description

1
ios::app

Append mode. All output to that file to be appended to the end.

 2
ios::ate

Open a file for output and move the read/write control to the end of the file.

3
ios::in

Open a file for reading.

4
ios::out

Open a file for writing.

5
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 by ORing 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

ofstream outfile;
outfile.open("file.dat", ios::out | ios::trunc );

Similar way, you can open a file for reading and writing purpose as

follows −

fstream afile;
afile.open("file.dat", ios::out | ios::in );
Closing a File
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.

void close();

Writing to a 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 to output

information to the screen. The only difference is that you use an ofstream or fstream

object instead of the cout object.

Reading from a File

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 an ifstream or fstream object instead of the cin object.

Read and Write Example

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 −

Live Demo
#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main () {
char data[100];

// open a file in write mode.

ofstream outfile;
outfile.open("afile.dat");

cout << "Writing to the file" << endl;

cout << "Enter your name: ";
cin.getline(data, 100);

// write inputted data into the file.

outfile << data << endl;

cout << "Enter your age: ";

cin >> data;
cin.ignore();

// again write inputted data into the file.

outfile << data << endl;

// close the opened file.

outfile.close();

// open a file in read mode.

ifstream infile;
infile.open("afile.dat");

cout << "Reading from the file" << endl;

infile >> data;

// write the data at the screen.

cout << data << endl;
 // again read the data from the file and display it.
infile >> data;
cout << data << endl;

// close the opened file.

infile.close();

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following sample input and output −

$./a.out
Writing to the file
Enter your name: Zara
Enter your age: 9
Reading from the file
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.

File Position Pointers

Both istream and ostream provide member functions for repositioning the file-position

pointer. These member functions are seekg ("seek get") for istream and seekp ("seek

put") for ostream.

The argument to seekg and seekp normally is a long integer. A second argument can

be specified to indicate the seek direction. The seek direction can be ios::beg (the

default) for positioning relative to the beginning of a stream, ios::cur for positioning
relative to the current position in a stream or ios::end for 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 −

// position to the nth byte of fileObject (assumes ios::beg)

fileObject.seekg( n );

// position n bytes forward in fileObject

fileObject.seekg( n, ios::cur );

// position n bytes back from end of fileObject

fileObject.seekg( n, ios::end );

// position at end of fileObject

fileObject.seekg( 0, ios::end );

C++ Exception Handling

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+

+ exception handling is built upon three keywords: 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 place in a program where you want to handle

the problem. The catch keyword indicates the catching of an

exception.

try − A try block identifies a block of code for which

particular exceptions will be activated. It's followed by

one or more catch blocks.

Assuming a block will raise an exception, a method catches an

exception using a combination of the try and catch keywords. 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 as follows −

try {
// protected code
} catch( ExceptionName e1 ) {
// catch block
} catch( ExceptionName e2 ) {
// catch block
} catch( ExceptionName eN ) {
// catch block
}

You can list down multiple catch statements to catch different type of exceptions in

case your try block raises more than one exception in different situations.

Throwing Exceptions
Exceptions can be thrown anywhere within a code block using throw statement. The

operand of the throw statement determines a type for the exception and can 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

zero condition occurs −

double division(int a, int b) {

if( b == 0 ) {
throw "Division by zero condition!";
}
return (a/b);
}

Catching Exceptions
The catch block following the try block 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 {
// protected code
} catch( ExceptionName e ) {
// code to handle ExceptionName exception
}

Above code will catch an exception of ExceptionName type. If you want

to specify that a catch block should handle any type of exception

that is thrown in a try block, you must put an ellipsis, ..., between

the parentheses enclosing the exception declaration as follows −

try {
// protected code
} catch(...) {
// code to handle any exception
}

The following is an example, which throws a division by zero exception and we catch it

in catch block.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

double division(int a, int b) {

if( b == 0 ) {
throw "Division by zero condition!";
}
return (a/b);
}

int main () {
int x = 50;
int y = 0;
double z = 0;

try {
z = division(x, y);
cout << z << endl;
} catch (const char* msg) {
cerr << msg << endl;
}

return 0;
}

Because we are raising an exception of type const 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 −

Division by zero condition!

C++ Standard Exceptions

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 −

Sr.N Exception & Description

o
1
std::exception

An exception and parent class of all the standard C++ exceptions.

2
std::bad_alloc

This can be thrown by new.

3
std::bad_cast

This can be thrown by dynamic_cast.

4
std::bad_exception

This is useful device to handle unexpected exceptions in a C++ program.

5
std::bad_typeid

This can be thrown by typeid.

6
std::logic_error

An exception that theoretically can be detected by reading the code.

7
std::domain_error

This is an exception thrown when a mathematically invalid domain is used.

8
std::invalid_argument
 This is thrown due to invalid arguments.

9
std::length_error

This is thrown when a too big std::string is created.

10
std::out_of_range

This can be thrown by the 'at' method, for example a std::vector and

std::bitset<>::operator[]().

11
std::runtime_error

An exception that theoretically cannot be detected by reading the code.

12
std::overflow_error

This is thrown if a mathematical overflow occurs.

13
std::range_error

This is occurred when you try to store a value which is out of range.

14
std::underflow_error

This is thrown if a mathematical underflow occurs.

Define New Exceptions

You can define your own exceptions by inheriting and overriding

exception class functionality. Following is the example, which shows

how you can use std::exception class to implement your own exception

in standard way −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <exception>
using namespace std;

struct MyException : public exception {

const char * what () const throw () {
return "C++ Exception";
}
};

int main() {
try {
throw MyException();
} catch(MyException& e) {
std::cout << "MyException caught" << std::endl;
std::cout << e.what() << std::endl;
} catch(std::exception& e) {
//Other errors
}
}

This would produce the following result −

MyException caught
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.

C++ Dynamic Memory

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 that was previously allocated by new operator.

new and delete Operators

There is following generic syntax to use new operator to allocate memory dynamically

for any data-type.

new data-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 data types. 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; // Request memory for the variable

The memory may not have been allocated successfully, if the free

store had been used up. So it is good practice to check if new

operator is returning NULL pointer and take appropriate action as

below −

double* pvalue = NULL;

if( !(pvalue = new double )) {
cout << "Error: out of memory." <<endl;
exit(1);
}

The malloc() function from C, still exists in C++, but it is 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 any point, when you feel a 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 −

delete pvalue; // Release memory pointed to by pvalue

Let us put above concepts and form the following example to show how

‘new’ and ‘delete’ work −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main () {
double* pvalue = NULL; // Pointer initialized with null
pvalue = new double; // Request memory for the variable

*pvalue = 29494.99; // Store value at allocated address

cout << "Value of pvalue : " << *pvalue << endl;

delete pvalue; // free up the memory.

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

Value of pvalue : 29495

Dynamic Memory Allocation for Arrays

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 = new char[20]; // Request memory for the variable

To remove the array that we have just created the statement would

look like this −

delete [] pvalue; // Delete array pointed to by pvalue

Following the similar generic syntax of new operator, you can

allocate for a multi-dimensional array as follows −

double** pvalue = NULL; // Pointer initialized with null

pvalue = new double [3][4]; // Allocate memory for a 3x4 array

However, the syntax to release the memory for multi-dimensional array

will still remain same as above −

delete [] pvalue; // Delete array pointed to by pvalue

Dynamic Memory Allocation for Objects

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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Box {
public:
Box() {
cout << "Constructor called!" <<endl;
}
~Box() {
cout << "Destructor called!" <<endl;
}
};
int main() {
Box* myBoxArray = new Box[4];
delete [] myBoxArray; // Delete array

return 0;
}
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.

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

Constructor called!
Constructor called!
Constructor called!
Constructor called!
Destructor called!
Destructor called!
Destructor called!
Destructor called!

Namespaces in C++
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

is also having same function xyz(). Now the compiler has no way of knowing which

version of xyz() function you are referring to within your code.

A namespace is 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.

Defining a Namespace

A namespace definition begins with the keyword namespace followed by

the namespace name as follows −

namespace namespace_name {
// code declarations
}

To call the namespace-enabled version of either function or variable,

prepend (::) the namespace name as follows −

name::code; // code could be variable or function.

Let us see how namespace scope the entities including variable and

functions −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// first name space

namespace first_space {
void func() {
cout << "Inside first_space" << endl;
}
}

// second name space

namespace second_space {
void func() {
cout << "Inside second_space" << endl;
}
}

int main () {
// Calls function from first name space.
first_space::func();

// Calls function from second name space.

second_space::func();

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

Inside first_space
Inside second_space

The using directive

You can also avoid prepending of namespaces with the using namespace

directive. 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 −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// first name space

namespace first_space {
void func() {
cout << "Inside first_space" << endl;
}
}

// second name space

namespace second_space {
 void func() {
cout << "Inside second_space" << endl;
}
}

using namespace first_space;

int main () {
// This calls function from first name space.
func();

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

Inside first_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 −

using std::cout;

Subsequent code can refer to cout without prepending the namespace,

but other items in the std namespace will still need to be explicit

as follows −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using std::cout;

int main () {
cout << "std::endl is used with std!" << std::endl;

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

std::endl is used with std!

Names introduced in a using directive obey normal scope rules. The name is visible

from the point of the using directive to the end of the scope in which the directive is

found. Entities with the same name defined in an outer scope are hidden.

Discontiguous Namespaces
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 −

namespace namespace_name {
// code declarations
}

Nested Namespaces

Namespaces can be nested where you can define one namespace inside

another name space as follows −

namespace namespace_name1 {
// code declarations
namespace namespace_name2 {
// code declarations
}
}

You can access members of nested namespace by using resolution

operators as follows −

// to access members of namespace_name2

using namespace namespace_name1::namespace_name2;

// to access members of namespace:name1

using namespace namespace_name1;

In the above statements if you are using namespace_name1, then it

will make elements of namespace_name2 available in the scope as

follows −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// first name space

namespace first_space {
void func() {
cout << "Inside first_space" << endl;
}

// second name space

namespace second_space {
void func() {
cout << "Inside second_space" << endl;
}
}
}

using namespace first_space::second_space;

int main () {
// This calls function from second name space.
func();

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

Inside second_space

C++ 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 as vector, but we can define many

different kinds of vectors for example, vector <int> or vector <string>.

You can use templates to define functions as well as classes, let us

see how they work −

Function Template

The general form of a template function definition is shown here −

template <class type> ret-type func-name(parameter list) {

// body of function
}
Here, type is a placeholder name for a data type used by the function. This name can

be used within the function definition.

The following is the example of a function template that returns the

maximum of two values −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

template <typename T>

inline T const& Max (T const& a, T const& b) {
return a < b ? b:a;
}

int main () {
int i = 39;
int j = 20;
cout << "Max(i, j): " << Max(i, j) << endl;

double f1 = 13.5;
double f2 = 20.7;
cout << "Max(f1, f2): " << Max(f1, f2) << endl;

string s1 = "Hello";
string s2 = "World";
cout << "Max(s1, s2): " << Max(s1, s2) << endl;

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

Max(i, j): 39
Max(f1, f2): 20.7
Max(s1, s2): World
Class Template

Just as we can define function templates, we can also define class

templates. The general form of a generic class declaration is shown

here −

template <class type> class class-name {

.
.
.
}

Here, type is the placeholder type name, which will be specified when a class is

instantiated. You can define more than one generic data type by using a comma-

separated list.

Following is the example to define class Stack<> and implement

generic methods to push and pop the elements from the stack −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <string>
#include <stdexcept>

using namespace std;

template <class T>

class Stack {
private:
vector<T> elems; // elements

public:
void push(T const&); // push element
 void pop(); // pop element
T top() const; // return top element

bool empty() const { // return true if empty.

return elems.empty();
}
};

template <class T>

void Stack<T>::push (T const& elem) {
// append copy of passed element
elems.push_back(elem);
}

template <class T>

void Stack<T>::pop () {
if (elems.empty()) {
throw out_of_range("Stack<>::pop(): empty stack");
}

// remove last element

elems.pop_back();
}

template <class T>

T Stack<T>::top () const {
if (elems.empty()) {
throw out_of_range("Stack<>::top(): empty stack");
}

// return copy of last element

return elems.back();
}

int main() {
try {
Stack<int> intStack; // stack of ints
Stack<string> stringStack; // stack of strings

// manipulate int stack

intStack.push(7);
cout << intStack.top() <<endl;
 // manipulate string stack
stringStack.push("hello");
cout << stringStack.top() << std::endl;
stringStack.pop();
stringStack.pop();
} catch (exception const& ex) {
cerr << "Exception: " << ex.what() <<endl;
return -1;
}
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

7
hello
Exception: Stack<>::pop(): empty stack

C++ 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 #include directive 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 #define Preprocessor

The #define preprocessor directive creates symbolic constants. The

symbolic constant is called a macro and the general form of the

directive is −

#define macro-name replacement-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>
using namespace std;

#define PI 3.14159

int main () {
cout << "Value of PI :" << PI << endl;

return 0;
}

Now, let us do the preprocessing of this code to see the result

assuming we have the source code file. So let us compile it with -E

option and redirect the result to test.p. Now, if you check test.p,

it will have lots of information and at the bottom, you will find the

value replaced as follows −

$gcc -E test.cpp > test.p

...
int main () {
cout << "Value of PI :" << 3.14159 << endl;
 return 0;
}

Function-Like Macros

You can use #define to define a macro which will take argument as

follows −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

#define MIN(a,b) (((a)<(b)) ? a : b)

int main () {
int i, j;

i = 100;
j = 30;

cout <<"The minimum is " << MIN(i, j) << endl;

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

The minimum is 30

Conditional Compilation
There are several directives, which can be used to compile selective portions of your

program's source code. This process is called conditional compilation.

The conditional preprocessor construct is much like the ‘if’

selection structure. Consider the following preprocessor code −

#ifndef NULL
#define NULL 0
#endif

You can compile a program for debugging purpose. You can also turn on

or off the debugging using a single macro as follows −

#ifdef DEBUG
cerr <<"Variable x = " << x << endl;
#endif

This causes the cerr statement to be compiled in the program if the

symbolic constant DEBUG has been defined before directive #ifdef

DEBUG. You can use #if 0 statment to comment out a portion of the

program as follows −

#if 0
code prevented from compiling
#endif

Let us try the following example −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
#define DEBUG

#define MIN(a,b) (((a)<(b)) ? a : b)

int main () {
int i, j;

i = 100;
j = 30;
#ifdef DEBUG
cerr <<"Trace: Inside main function" << endl;
#endif

#if 0
/* This is commented part */
cout << MKSTR(HELLO C++) << endl;
#endif

cout <<"The minimum is " << MIN(i, j) << endl;

#ifdef DEBUG
cerr <<"Trace: Coming out of main function" << endl;
#endif

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

The minimum is 30
Trace: Inside main function
Trace: Coming out of main function

The # and ## Operators

The # and ## preprocessor operators are available in C++ and ANSI/ISO C. The #

operator causes a replacement-text token to be converted to a string surrounded by

quotes.

Consider the following macro definition −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
#define MKSTR( x ) #x

int main () {

cout << MKSTR(HELLO C++) << endl;

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

HELLO C++

Let us see how it worked. It is simple to understand that the C++

preprocessor turns the line −

cout << MKSTR(HELLO C++) << endl;

Above line will be turned into the following line −

cout << "HELLO C++" << endl;

The ## operator is used to concatenate two tokens. Here is an example

#define CONCAT( 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.

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

#define concat(a, b) a ## b
int main() {
int xy = 100;

cout << concat(x, y);

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

100

Let us see how it worked. It is simple to understand that the C++

preprocessor transforms −

cout << concat(x, y);

Above line will be transformed into the following line −

cout << xy;

Predefined C++ Macros

C++ provides a number of predefined macros mentioned below −

Sr.N Macro & Description

o

1
__LINE__

This contains the current line number of the program when it is being

compiled.

2
__FILE__
 This contains the current file name of the program when it is being compiled.

3
__DATE__

This contains a string of the form month/day/year that is the date of the

translation of the source file into object code.

4
__TIME__

This contains a string of the form hour:minute:second that is the time at

which the program was compiled.

Let us see an example for all the above macros −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main () {
cout << "Value of __LINE__ : " << __LINE__ << endl;
cout << "Value of __FILE__ : " << __FILE__ << endl;
cout << "Value of __DATE__ : " << __DATE__ << endl;
cout << "Value of __TIME__ : " << __TIME__ << endl;

return 0;
}

If we compile and run above code, this would produce the following

result −

Value of __LINE__ : 6
Value of __FILE__ : test.cpp
Value of __DATE__ : Feb 28 2011
Value of __TIME__ : 18:52:48
 C++ Signal Handling
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 can not be caught by the program but there is a following 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>.

Sr.N Signal & Description

o

1
SIGABRT

Abnormal termination of the program, such as a call to abort.

2
SIGFPE

An erroneous arithmetic operation, such as a divide by zero or an operation

resulting in overflow.

3
SIGILL

Detection of an illegal instruction.

4
SIGINT

Receipt of an interactive attention signal.

 5
SIGSEGV

An invalid access to storage.

6
SIGTERM

A termination request sent to the program.

The signal() Function

C++ signal-handling library provides function signal to trap

unexpected events. Following is the syntax of the signal() function −

void (*signal (int sig, 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 signal function and

associate it with a signal handler. Examine the following example −

#include <iostream>
#include <csignal>

using namespace std;

void signalHandler( int signum ) {

cout << "Interrupt signal (" << signum << ") received.\n";
 // cleanup and close up stuff here
// terminate program

exit(signum);
}

int main () {
// register signal SIGINT and signal handler
signal(SIGINT, signalHandler);

while(1) {
cout << "Going to sleep...." << endl;
sleep(1);
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

Going to sleep....
Going to sleep....
Going to sleep....

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 −

Going to sleep....
Going to sleep....
Going to sleep....
Interrupt signal (2) received.

The raise() Function

You can generate signals by function raise(), which takes an integer signal number as

an argument and has the following syntax.

int raise (signal sig);

Here, sig is 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>

using namespace std;

void signalHandler( int signum ) {

cout << "Interrupt signal (" << signum << ") received.\n";

// cleanup and close up stuff here

// terminate program

exit(signum);
}

int main () {
int i = 0;
// register signal SIGINT and signal handler
signal(SIGINT, signalHandler);

while(++i) {
cout << "Going to sleep...." << endl;
if( i == 3 ) {
raise( SIGINT);
}
sleep(1);
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result and would come out automatically −

Going to sleep....
Going to sleep....
Going to sleep....
Interrupt signal (2) received.

C++ 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.

Before C++ 11, there is no 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.

Creating Threads

The following routine is used to create a POSIX thread −

#include <pthread.h>
pthread_create (thread, attr, start_routine, arg)

Here, pthread_create creates 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 −

Sr.N Parameter & Description

o

1
thread

An opaque, unique identifier for the new thread returned by the subroutine.

2
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.

3
start_routine

The C++ routine that the thread will execute once it is created.

4
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.

Terminating Threads

There is following routine which we use to terminate a POSIX thread −

#include <pthread.h>
pthread_exit (status)

Here pthread_exit is 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>
using namespace std;

#define NUM_THREADS 5

void *PrintHello(void *threadid) {

long tid;
tid = (long)threadid;
cout << "Hello World! Thread ID, " << tid << endl;
pthread_exit(NULL);
}

int main () {
pthread_t threads[NUM_THREADS];
int rc;
int i;

for( i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++ ) {

cout << "main() : creating thread, " << i << endl;
rc = pthread_create(&threads[i], NULL, PrintHello, (void *)i);

if (rc) {
cout << "Error:unable to create thread," << rc << endl;
exit(-1);
}
}
pthread_exit(NULL);
}

Compile the following program using -lpthread library as follows −

$gcc test.cpp -lpthread

Now, execute your program which gives the following output −

main() : creating thread, 0

main() : creating thread, 1
main() : creating thread, 2
main() : creating thread, 3
main() : creating thread, 4
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

Passing Arguments to Threads

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>

using namespace std;

#define NUM_THREADS 5

struct thread_data {
int thread_id;
char *message;
};

void *PrintHello(void *threadarg) {

struct thread_data *my_data;
my_data = (struct thread_data *) threadarg;

cout << "Thread ID : " << my_data->thread_id ;

cout << " Message : " << my_data->message << endl;

pthread_exit(NULL);
}

int main () {
pthread_t threads[NUM_THREADS];
struct thread_data td[NUM_THREADS];
int rc;
int i;
 for( i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++ ) {
cout <<"main() : creating thread, " << i << endl;
td[i].thread_id = i;
td[i].message = "This is message";
rc = pthread_create(&threads[i], NULL, PrintHello, (void *)&td[i]);

if (rc) {
cout << "Error:unable to create thread," << rc << endl;
exit(-1);
}
}
pthread_exit(NULL);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

main() : creating thread, 0

main() : creating thread, 1
main() : creating thread, 2
main() : creating thread, 3
main() : creating thread, 4
Thread ID : 3 Message : This is message
Thread ID : 2 Message : This is message
Thread ID : 0 Message : This is message
Thread ID : 1 Message : This is message
Thread ID : 4 Message : This is message

Joining and Detaching Threads

There are following two routines which we can use to join or detach

threads −

pthread_join (threadid, status)

pthread_detach (threadid)

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 can be joined. If a

thread is created as detached, it can never be 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>

using namespace std;

#define NUM_THREADS 5

void *wait(void *t) {

int i;
long tid;

tid = (long)t;

sleep(1);
cout << "Sleeping in thread " << endl;
cout << "Thread with id : " << tid << " ...exiting " << endl;
pthread_exit(NULL);
}

int main () {
int rc;
int i;
pthread_t threads[NUM_THREADS];
pthread_attr_t attr;
void *status;

// Initialize and set thread joinable

pthread_attr_init(&attr);
pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_JOINABLE);

for( i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++ ) {

cout << "main() : creating thread, " << i << endl;
 rc = pthread_create(&threads[i], &attr, wait, (void *)i );

if (rc) {
cout << "Error:unable to create thread," << rc << endl;
exit(-1);
}
}

// free attribute and wait for the other threads

pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);
for( i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++ ) {
rc = pthread_join(threads[i], &status);
if (rc) {
cout << "Error:unable to join," << rc << endl;
exit(-1);
}

cout << "Main: completed thread id :" << i ;

cout << " exiting with status :" << status << endl;
}

cout << "Main: program exiting." << endl;

pthread_exit(NULL);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

main() : creating thread, 0

main() : creating thread, 1
main() : creating thread, 2
main() : creating thread, 3
main() : creating thread, 4
Sleeping in thread
Thread with id : 0 .... exiting
Sleeping in thread
Thread with id : 1 .... exiting
Sleeping in thread
Thread with id : 2 .... exiting
Sleeping in thread
Thread with id : 3 .... exiting
Sleeping in thread
Thread with id : 4 .... exiting
Main: completed thread id :0 exiting with status :0
Main: completed thread id :1 exiting with status :0
Main: completed thread id :2 exiting with status :0
Main: completed thread id :3 exiting with status :0
Main: completed thread id :4 exiting with status :0
Main: program exiting.

C++ Web Programming

What is CGI?
The Common Gateway Interface, or CGI, is a set of standards that define how

information is exchanged between the web server and a custom script.

The CGI specs are currently maintained by the NCSA and NCSA

defines CGI is as follows −

The Common Gateway Interface, or CGI, is a standard for external gateway

programs to interface with information servers such as HTTP servers.

The current version is CGI/1.1 and CGI/1.2 is under progress.

Web Browsing
To understand the concept of CGI, let's see what happens when we click a hyperlink to

browse a particular web page or URL.

Your browser contacts the HTTP web server and demand for the URL ie.

filename.

Web Server will parse the URL and will look for the filename. If it finds

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.

CGI Architecture Diagram

The following simple program shows a simple architecture of CGI −

Web Server Configuration
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.

By default, Apache Web Server is configured to run CGI programs in

/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
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

<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.

First CGI Program

Consider the following C++ Program content −

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main () {
cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";
cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>Hello World - First CGI Program</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";
cout << "<h2>Hello World! This is my first CGI program</h2>\n";
cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}
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 using chmod 755 cplusplus.cgi UNIX

command to make file executable.

My First CGI program
The above C++ program is a simple program which is writing its output on STDOUT

file i.e. screen. There is one important and extra feature available which is first line

printing Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n. This line is sent back to the browser and specify

the content type to be displayed on the browser screen. Now you must have

understood the basic concept of CGI and you can write many complicated CGI

programs using Python. A C++ CGI program can interact with any other external

system, such as RDBMS, to exchange information.

HTTP Header

The line Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n is a part of HTTP header,

which is sent to the browser to understand the content. All the HTTP

header will be in the following form −

HTTP Field Name: Field Content

For Example
Content-type: text/html\r\n\r\n

There are few other important HTTP headers, which you will use frequently in your

CGI Programming.

Sr.N Header & Description

o

1
Content-type:
 A MIME string defining the format of the file being returned. Example is

Content-type:text/html.

2
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.

3
Location: URL

The URL that should be returned instead of the URL requested. You can use

this filed to redirect a request to any file.

4
Last-modified: Date

The date of last modification of the resource.

5
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.

6
Set-Cookie: String

Set the cookie passed through the string.

CGI Environment Variables

All the CGI program will have access to the following environment variables. These

variables play an important role while writing any CGI program.

Sr.N Variable Name & Description

o

1
CONTENT_TYPE

The data type of the content, used when the client is sending attached

content to the server. For example file upload etc.

2
CONTENT_LENGTH

The length of the query information that is available only for POST requests.

3
HTTP_COOKIE

Returns the set cookies in the form of key & value pair.

4
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.

5
PATH_INFO

The path for the CGI script.

6
QUERY_STRING
 The URL-encoded information that is sent with GET method request.

7
REMOTE_ADDR

The IP address of the remote host making the request. This can be useful for

logging or for authentication purpose.

8
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.

9
REQUEST_METHOD

The method used to make the request. The most common methods are GET

and POST.

10
SCRIPT_FILENAME

The full path to the CGI script.

11
SCRIPT_NAME

The name of the CGI script.

12
SERVER_NAME

The server's hostname or IP Address.

 13
SERVER_SOFTWARE

The name and version of the software the server is running.

Here is small CGI program to list out all the CGI variables.

#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h>
using namespace std;

const string ENV[ 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" };

int main () {
cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";
cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>CGI Environment Variables</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";
cout << "<table border = \"0\" cellspacing = \"2\">";

for ( int i = 0; i < 24; i++ ) {

cout << "<tr><td>" << ENV[ i ] << "</td><td>";

// attempt to retrieve value of environment variable

char *value = getenv( ENV[ i ].c_str() );
if ( value != 0 ) {
cout << value;
} else {
cout << "Environment variable does not exist.";
}
 cout << "</td></tr>\n";
}

cout << "</table><\n";

cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}

C++ CGI Library

For real examples, you would need to do many operations 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 −

$tar xzf cgicc-X.X.X.tar.gz

$cd cgicc-X.X.X/
$./configure --prefix=/usr
$make
$make install

You can check related documentation available at ‘C++ CGI Lib Documentation.

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.

Passing Information Using GET Method

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

server and it produces a long string that appears in your browser's Location: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.

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.

Simple URL Example: Get Method

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 generate cpp_get.cgi CGI 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>

using namespace std;

using namespace cgicc;

int main () {
Cgicc formData;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";

cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>Using GET and POST Methods</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

form_iterator fi = formData.getElement("first_name");
if( !fi->isEmpty() && fi != (*formData).end()) {
cout << "First name: " << **fi << endl;
} else {
cout << "No text entered for first name" << endl;
}

cout << "<br/>\n";

fi = formData.getElement("last_name");
if( !fi->isEmpty() &&fi != (*formData).end()) {
cout << "Last name: " << **fi << endl;
} else {
cout << "No text entered for last name" << endl;
}

cout << "<br/>\n";

cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";
 return 0;
}

Now, compile the above program as follows −

$g++ -o cpp_get.cgi cpp_get.cpp -lcgicc

Generate cpp_get.cgi and put it in your CGI directory and try to

access using following link −

/cgi-bin/cpp_get.cgi?first_name=ZARA&last_name=ALI

This would generate following result −

First name: ZARA

Last name: ALI

Simple FORM Example: GET Method

Here is a simple example which passes two values using HTML FORM and submit

button. We are going to use same CGI script cpp_get.cgi to handle this input.

<form action = "/cgi-bin/cpp_get.cgi" method = "get">

First Name: <input type = "text" name = "first_name"> <br />

Last Name: <input type = "text" name = "last_name" />

<input type = "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.

First Name: Last Name:

Passing Information Using POST Method

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">

First Name: <input type = "text" name = "first_name"><br />
Last Name: <input type = "text" name = "last_name" />

<input type = "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.

First Name: Last Name:

Passing Checkbox Data to CGI Program

Checkboxes are used when more than one option is required to be selected.

Here is example HTML code for a form with two checkboxes −

<form action = "/cgi-bin/cpp_checkbox.cgi" method = "POST" target = "_blank">

<input type = "checkbox" name = "maths" value = "on" /> Maths
<input type = "checkbox" name = "physics" value = "on" /> Physics
<input type = "submit" value = "Select Subject" />
</form>

The result of this code is the following form −

Maths Physics
Below is C++ program, which will generate cpp_checkbox.cgi script to handle 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>
#include <cgicc/HTTPHTMLHeader.h>
#include <cgicc/HTMLClasses.h>

using namespace std;

using namespace cgicc;

int main () {
Cgicc formData;
bool maths_flag, physics_flag;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";

cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>Checkbox Data to CGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

maths_flag = formData.queryCheckbox("maths");
if( maths_flag ) {
cout << "Maths Flag: ON " << endl;
} else {
cout << "Maths Flag: OFF " << endl;
}
cout << "<br/>\n";

physics_flag = formData.queryCheckbox("physics");
if( physics_flag ) {
cout << "Physics Flag: ON " << endl;
} else {
cout << "Physics Flag: OFF " << endl;
 }

cout << "<br/>\n";

cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}

Passing Radio Button Data to CGI Program

Radio Buttons are used when only one option is required to be selected.

Here is example HTML code for a form with two radio button −

<form action = "/cgi-bin/cpp_radiobutton.cgi" method = "post" target = "_blank">

<input type = "radio" name = "subject" value = "maths" checked = "checked"/> Maths
<input type = "radio" name = "subject" value = "physics" /> Physics
<input type = "submit" value = "Select Subject" />
</form>

The result of this code is the following form −

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/HTMLClasses.h>

using namespace std;

using namespace cgicc;
int main () {
Cgicc formData;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";

cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>Radio Button Data to CGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

form_iterator fi = formData.getElement("subject");
if( !fi->isEmpty() && fi != (*formData).end()) {
cout << "Radio box selected: " << **fi << endl;
}

cout << "<br/>\n";

cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}

Passing Text Area Data to CGI Program

TEXTAREA element is used when multiline text has to be passed to the CGI Program.

Here is example HTML code for a form with a TEXTAREA box −

<form action = "/cgi-bin/cpp_textarea.cgi" method = "post" target = "_blank">

<textarea name = "textcontent" cols = "40" rows = "4">
Type your text here...
</textarea>
<input type = "submit" value = "Submit" />
</form>

The result of this code is the following form −

Below is C++ program, which will generate cpp_textarea.cgi script to handle input

given by web browser through text area.

#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;

using namespace cgicc;

int main () {
Cgicc formData;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";

cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>Text Area Data to CGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

form_iterator fi = formData.getElement("textcontent");
if( !fi->isEmpty() && fi != (*formData).end()) {
cout << "Text Content: " << **fi << endl;
} else {
cout << "No text entered" << endl;
}

cout << "<br/>\n";

cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}
Passing Drop down Box Data to CGI Program
Drop down Box is used when we have many options available but only one or two will

be selected.

Here is example HTML code for a form with one drop down box −

<form action = "/cgi-bin/cpp_dropdown.cgi" method = "post" target = "_blank">

<select name = "dropdown">
<option value = "Maths" selected>Maths</option>
<option value = "Physics">Physics</option>
</select>

<input type = "submit" value = "Submit"/>

</form>

The result of this code is the following form −

Maths Physics

Below is C++ program, which will generate cpp_dropdown.cgi script to handle input

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;

using namespace cgicc;

int main () {
Cgicc formData;
 cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";
cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>Drop Down Box Data to CGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

form_iterator fi = formData.getElement("dropdown");
if( !fi->isEmpty() && fi != (*formData).end()) {
cout << "Value Selected: " << **fi << endl;
}

cout << "<br/>\n";

cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}

Using Cookies in 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.

How It Works
Your server sends some data to the visitor's browser in the form of a cookie. 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.

Cookies are a plain text data record of 5 variable-length fields −

Expires − This shows date the cookie will expire. If this is

blank, the cookie will expire when the visitor quits the

browser.

Domain − This shows domain name of your site.

Path − This shows path to the directory or web page that set

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.

Setting up Cookies
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>
using namespace std;

int main () {
 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>Cookies in CGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

cout << "Setting cookies" << endl;

cout << "<br/>\n";

cout << "</body>\n";
cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}
From this example, you must have understood how to set cookies. We use Set-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 using following 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....

Here is an example of how to retrieve cookies.

#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;

using namespace cgicc;

int main () {
Cgicc cgi;
const_cookie_iterator cci;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";

cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>Cookies in CGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";
cout << "<table border = \"0\" cellspacing = \"2\">";

// get environment variables

const CgiEnvironment& 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";

return 0;
}

Now, compile above program to produce getcookies.cgi, and try to get

a list of all the cookies available at your computer −

/cgi-bin/getcookies.cgi

This will produce a list of all the four cookies set in previous

section and all other cookies set in your computer −

UserID XYZ
Password XYZ123
Domain www.tutorialspoint.com
Path /perl

File Upload Example

To upload a file the HTML form must have the enctype attribute set to multipart/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_uploadfile.cgi"
method = "post">
<p>File: <input type = "file" name = "userfile" /></p>
<p><input type = "submit" value = "Upload" /></p>
</form>
</body>
</html>

The result of this code is the following form −

File:
Note − Above example has been disabled intentionally to stop people

uploading files on our server. But you can try above code with your

server.

Here is the script cpp_uploadfile.cpp to handle file upload −

#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;

using namespace cgicc;

int main () {
Cgicc cgi;

cout << "Content-type:text/html\r\n\r\n";

cout << "<html>\n";
cout << "<head>\n";
cout << "<title>File Upload in CGI</title>\n";
cout << "</head>\n";
cout << "<body>\n";

// get list of files to be uploaded

const_file_iterator file = cgi.getFile("userfile");
if(file != cgi.getFiles().end()) {
// send data type at cout.
cout << HTTPContentHeader(file->getDataType());
// write content at cout.
file->writeToStream(cout);
}
cout << "<File uploaded successfully>\n";
cout << "</body>\n";
 cout << "</html>\n";

return 0;
}
The above example is for writing content at cout stream but you can open your file

stream and save the content of uploaded file in a file at desired location.

Hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. If yes, please send us your feedback.

Discuss C++
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++.