Consider the following two statements: std::cout << “Hello world!”; int x{ 5 }; What are “Hello world!” and 5? They are literals. A (also known as a ) is a fixed value that has been inserted directly into the source code. Literals and variables both have a value (and a …
Unlike some programming languages, C/C++ does not initialize most variables to a given value (such as zero) automatically. Thus when a variable is assigned a memory location by the compiler, the default value of that variable is whatever (garbage) value happens to already be in that memory location! A variable …
In the previous lesson (), we covered how to define a variable that we can use to store values. In this lesson, we’ll explore how to actually put values into variables and use those values. As a reminder, here’s a short snippet that first allocates a single integer variable named …
When you write your programs, the compiler will check to ensure you’ve followed the rules of the C++ language (assuming you’ve turned off compiler extensions, as per lesson ). If you have done something that definitively violates the rules of the language, during compilation the compiler will emit an , …
The C++ standard defines rules about how programs should behave in specific circumstances. And in most cases, compilers will follow these rules. However, many compilers implement their own changes to the language, often to enhance compatibility with other versions of the language (e.g. C99), or for historical reasons. These compiler-specific …
Continuing our discussion of this diagram from the previous lesson (): Let’s discuss steps 4-7. In order to compile a C++ program, we use a C++ compiler. The C++ compiler sequentially goes through each source code (.cpp) file in your program and does two important tasks: First, it checks your …
What is C++17? In September of 2017, the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) approved a new version of C++, called C++17. C++17 contains a fair amount of new content New improvements in C++17 For your interest, here’s a list of the major improvements that C++17 adds. Note that this list …
Congratulations! You made it all the way through the tutorials! Take a moment and give yourself a well-deserved (insert something you enjoy here). Now, after breathing a long sigh of relief, you’re probably asking the question, “What next?”. What next? By this point, you should have a solid understanding of …
When writing your code, sometimes you’ll run across cases where you’re not sure whether one method or another will be more performant. So how do you tell? One easy way is to time your code to see how long it takes to run. C++11 comes with some functionality in the …
What is C++14? On August 18, 2014, the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) approved a new version of C++, called C++14. Unlike C++11, which added a huge amount of new functionality, C++14 is a comparatively minor update, mainly featuring bug fixes and small improvements. New improvements in C++14 For your …
