Chapter 4

Mathematical Functions,
Characters, and Strings

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Motivations
Suppose you need to estimate the area enclosed by four
cities, given the GPS locations (latitude and longitude) of
these cities, as shown in the following diagram. How
would you write a program to solve this problem? You will
be able to write such a program after completing this
chapter.

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Objectives

To solve mathematics problems by using the C++ mathematical functions (4.2).

To represent characters using the char type (4.3).
To encode characters using ASCII code (4.3.1).
To read a character from the keyboard (4.3.2).
To represent special characters using the escape sequences (4.3.3).
To cast a numeric value to a character and cast a character to an integer (4.3.4).
To compare and test characters (4.3.5).
To program using characters (DisplayRandomCharacter, GuessBirthday) (4.4-4.5).
To test and convert characters using the C++ character functions (4.6).
To convert a hexadecimal character to a decimal value (HexDigit2Dec) (4.7).
To represent strings using the string type and introduce objects and instance functions (4.8).
To use the subscript operator for accessing and modifying characters in a string (4.8.1).
To use the + operator to concatenate strings (4.8.2).
To compare strings using the relational operators (4.8.3).
To read strings from the keyboard (4.8.4).
To revise the lottery program using strings (LotteryUsingStrings) (4.9).
To format output using stream manipulators (4.10).
To read and write data from/to a file (4.11).
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Mathematical Functions
C++ provides many useful functions in the cmath
header for performing common mathematical
functions.

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Trigonometric Functions

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Exponent Functions

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Rounding Functions

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The min, max, and abs Functions

max(2,

3) returns 3
max(2.5, 3.0) returns 4.0
min(2.5, 4.6) returns 2.5
abs(-2) returns 2
abs(-2.1) returns 2.1

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Case Study: Computing Angles

of a Triangle

Write a program that prompts the user to enter the

x- and y-coordinates of the three corner points in a
triangle and then displays the triangles angles.
ComputeAngles
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Character Data Type

char letter = 'A'; (ASCII)
char numChar = '4'; (ASCII)

NOTE: The increment and decrement operators can

also be used on char variables to get the next or
preceding character. For example, the following
statements display character b.
char ch = 'a';
cout << ++ch;
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Read Characters
To read a character from the keyboard, use
cout << "Enter a character: ";
char ch;
cin >> ch;

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Escape Sequences for Special Characters

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Appendix B: ASCII Character Set

ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f

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ASCII Character Set, cont.

ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f

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Casting between char and

Numeric Types
int i = 'a';
// Same as int i = static_cast<int>('a');
char c = 97;
// Same as char c = static_cast<char>(97);

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Numeric Operators on Characters

The char type is treated as if it is an integer of the byte size. All numeric operators
can be applied to char operands. A char operand is automatically cast into a
number if the other operand is a number or a character. For example, the following
statements
int i = '2' + '3'; // (int)'2' is 50 and (int)'3' is 51
cout << "i is " << i << endl; // i is decimal 101
int j = 2 + 'a'; // (int)'a' is 97
cout << "j is " << j << endl;
cout << j << " is the ASCII code for character " <<
static_cast<char>(j) << endl;
Display
i is 101
j is 99
99 is the ASCII code for character c
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Note
It is worthwhile to note that the ASCII for
lowercase letters are consecutive integers starting
from the code for 'a', then for 'b', 'c', ..., and 'z'. The
same is true for the uppercase letters. Furthermore,
the ASCII code for 'a' is greater than the code for
'A'. So 'a' - 'A' is the same as 'b' - 'B'. For a
lowercase letter ch, its corresponding uppercase
letter is static_cast<char>('A' + (ch - 'a')).

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Problem: Converting a Lowercase to

Uppercase
Write a program that prompts the user to enter a
lowercase letter and finds its corresponding
uppercase letter.

ToUppercase
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Comparing and Testing Characters

Two characters can be compared using the comparison operators
just like comparing two numbers. This is done by comparing the
ASCII codes of the two characters.
'a' < 'b' is true because the ASCII code for 'a' (97) is less than the
ASCII code for 'b' (98).
'a' < 'A' is true because the ASCII code for 'a' (97) is less than the
ASCII code for 'A' (65).
'1' < '8' is true because the ASCII code for '1' (49) is less than the
ASCII code for '8' (56).

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Case Study: Generating Random

Characters
Computer programs process numerical data and characters.
You have seen many examples that involve numerical data.
It is also important to understand characters and how to
process them.
Every character has a unique ASCII code between 0 and
127. To generate a random character is to generate a
random integer between 0 and 127. You learned how to
generate a random number in 3.8. Recall that you can use
the srand(seed) function to set a seed and use rand() to
return a random integer. You can use it to write a simple
expression to generate random numbers in any range. For
example,
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Case Study: Generating Random

Characters, cont.
rand() % 10

Returns a random integer

between 0 and 9.

50 + rand() % 50

Returns a random integer

between 50 and 99.

a + rand() % b

Returns a random number between

a and a + b, excluding a + b.

DisplayRandomCharacter
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Case Study: Guessing Birthdays

This section uses the if statements to write an interesting game
program. The program can find your birth date. The program
prompts you to answer whether your birth date is in the following
five sets of numbers:
= 19
+

1 3 5 7
9 11 13 15
17 19 21 23
25 27 29 31
Set1

2
10
18
26

3
11
19
27

6
14
22
30

Set2

7
15
23
31

4 5 6 7
12 13 14 15
20 21 22 23
28 29 30 31

8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15
24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31

Set3

Set4

GuessBirthday
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16
20
24
28

17
21
25
29

18
22
26
30

19
23
27
31

Set5

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Character Functions

CharacterFunctions
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Case Study: Converting a

Hexadecimal Digit to a Decimal
Value
Write a program that converts a hexadecimal digit
into a decimal value.

HexDigit2Dec
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The string Type

string s;
string message = "Programming is fun";

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String Subscript Operator

For convenience, C++ provides the subscript operator for

accessing the character at a specified index in a string
using the syntax stringName[index]. You can use this
syntax to retrieve and modify the character in a string.
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String Subscript Operator

string s = "ABCD";
s[0] = 'P';
cout << s[0] << endl;

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Concatenating Strings
string s3 = s1 + s2;
message += " and programming is fun";

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Comparing Strings
You can use the relational operators ==, !=, <, <=, >, >= to compare
two strings. This is done by comparing their corresponding
characters on by one from left to right. For example,
string s1 = "ABC";
string s2 = "ABE";
cout << (s1 == s2) << endl; // Displays 0 (means false)
cout << (s1 != s2) << endl; // Displays 1 (means true)
cout << (s1 > s2) << endl; // Displays 0 (means false)
cout << (s1 >= s2) << endl; // Displays 0 (means false)
cout << (s1 < s2) << endl; // Displays 1 (means true)
cout << (s1 <= s2) << endl; // Displays 1 (means true)
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Reading Strings
1
2
3
4

string city;
cout << "Enter a city: ";
cin >> city; // Read to array city
cout << "You entered " << city << endl;

1
2
3
4

string city;
cout << "Enter a city: ";
getline(cin, city, '\n'); // Same as getline(cin, city)
cout << "You entered " << city << endl;
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Example
Write a program that prompts the user to enter two cities and
displays them in alphabetical order.

OrderTwoCities
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Case Study: Revising the

Lottery Program Using Strings

A problem can be solved using many different approaches.
This section rewrites the lottery program in Listing 3.7
using strings. Using strings simplifies this program.

LotteryUsingStrings
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Formatting Console Output

Manipulator

Description

setprecision(n)

sets the precision of a floating-point number

fixed

displays floating-point numbers in fixed-point notation

showpoint

causes a floating-point number to be displayed with

a decimal point and trailing zeros even if it has
no fractional part

setw(width)

specifies the width of a print field

left

justifies the output to the left

right

justifies the output to the right

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setprecision(n) Manipulator
double number = 12.34567;
cout << setprecision(3) << number << " "
<< setprecision(4) << number << " "
<< setprecision(5) << number << " "
<< setprecision(6) << number << endl;
displays
12.312.3512.34612.3457

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fixed Manipulator
double monthlyPayment = 345.4567;
double totalPayment = 78676.887234;
cout << fixed << setprecision(2)
<< monthlyPayment << endl
<< totalPayment << endl;
displays

345.46
78676.89
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showpoint Manipulator
cout << setprecision(6);
cout << 1.23 << endl;
cout << showpoint << 1.23 << endl;
cout << showpoint << 123.0 << endl;
displays
1.23
1.23000
123.000
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setw(width) Manipulator
cout << setw(8) << "C++" << setw(6) << 101 << endl;
cout << setw(8) << "Java" << setw(6) << 101 << endl;
cout << setw(8) << "HTML" << setw(6) << 101 << endl;
displays

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left and right Manipulators

cout << right;
cout << setw(8) << 1.23 << endl;
cout << setw(8) << 351.34 << endl;
displays
1.23
351.34

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left and right Manipulators

cout << left;
cout << setw(8) << 1.23;
cout << setw(8) << 351.34 << endl;
displays
1.23351.34

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Example: Display a Table

Degrees
30
60

Radians
0.5236
1.0472

Sine
0.5000
0.8660

Cosine
0.8660
0.5000

FormatDemo
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Tangent
0.5773
1.7320

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Simple File Output

To write data to a file, first declare a variable of the ofstream type:
ofstream output;
To specify a file, invoke the open function from output object as
follows:
output.open("numbers.txt");
Optionally, you can create a file output object and open the file in
one statement like this:
ofstream output("numbers.txt");
To write data, use the stream insertion operator (<<) in the same way
that you send data to the cout object. For example,
output << 95 << " " << 56 << " " << 34 << endl;
SimpleFileOutput
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Simple File Input

To read data from a file, first declare a variable of the ifstream type:
ifstream input;
To specify a file, invoke the open function from input as follows:
input.open("numbers.txt");
Optionally, you can create a file output object and open the file in
one statement like this:
ifstream input("numbers.txt");
To read data, use the stream extraction operator (>>) in the same
way that you read data from the cin object. For example,
input << score1 << score2 << score3;
SimpleFileInput
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