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Variables: A Variable Is A Placeholder For A Value

The document discusses variables in C++. It defines a variable as a named memory location that is used to store and access a value. It describes how variables are declared with a data type and name, and must be declared before use. It also covers variable naming conventions, basic data types like int and float, literals vs constants, and common operators in C++.

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41 views

Variables: A Variable Is A Placeholder For A Value

The document discusses variables in C++. It defines a variable as a named memory location that is used to store and access a value. It describes how variables are declared with a data type and name, and must be declared before use. It also covers variable naming conventions, basic data types like int and float, literals vs constants, and common operators in C++.

Uploaded by

mekhman mekhty
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Variables

A variable is a placeholder for a value. It is a

named memory location where that value is


stored.
Use the name of a variable to access or update
the value.
View memory as a numbered sequence of
bytes, where the number is the address of
each byte.

Later, we'll see how you can access the value


through its address.

Variables
The syntax for declaring a variable is:
data_type variable_name ;
or, for several variables of the same type:

data_type variable_name1, variable_name2 ;

Variables may be declared at any point in the

program, but they must always be declared


before they are used.
The name of a variable is a sequence of
letters, digits and underscores that does not
begin with a digit.
C++ is case sensitive
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Readability
Pick meaningful variable names that describe

the entity they refer to.


Things to avoid:

the letter l (el) which can be confused with the digit 1


(one)
single-letter variables (there's one exception)
variable names starting with one or two underscores
(many internal C++ names follow this convention)
extremely long names
names similar to C++ reserved or predefined words
names similar to one another
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Basic types
int for signed integers (4 bytes*)

range: -231..+231

unsigned int for unsigned integers (4 bytes*)

range: 0..+232

float and double for single- and double-precision

floating point numbers (4 and 8 bytes respectively)

range: ~10-44.85 to ~1038.53 for floats


range: ~10-323.3 to ~10308.3 for doubles

char for characters (1 byte)

range: -128..+127 but ASCII uses only 0..127

bool for boolean values (1 byte)

range: 0-1

* for our architecture


4

Literals
#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
int main () {
integer literal
cout << 10
<< "USD = "
<< 8.2
double literal
<< "EUR\n";
return 0;
string literals
}

Literals
Major disadvantages:
a literal cannot be reused (you have to type it in
every time)
it is easy to make a typo
if you want to change it, you have to make sure you
change all of its occurrences inside the program.
Good idea:
Use #define (C++ preprocessor directive) to define
Look ma, no semicolon!
#define NUM_DOLLARS
10
a literal

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
int main () {
cout << NUM_DOLLARS;
return 0;
}

#defined constants
Location: with other directives (e.g. #include)
Syntax: #define
UNIQUE_NAME
some_value
Before compiling, pre-processor does 'find &

replace' on your file: every occurrence of


UNIQUE_NAME is replaced by some_value.
Convention: UNIQUE_NAME is always in UPPERCASE.
Major advantages:

One single, central location for fixed values


prevents scattered, hard-to-find errors in literals
makes it easy to modify the value
Works for ANY repeated text, not just numbers
string literals, even executable text statements
7

named constants
Declared like variables BUT
preceded with the keyword const
initialized at declaration
their value CANNOT change afterwards.
#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
int main () {
const int num_dollars = 10;
cout << num_dollars;
// num_dollars = 20; ILLEGAL!
return 0;
}
8

Operators
Assignment operator:

=
Arithmetic operators: +, , *, /, %
Relational operators: <, >, <=, >=, ==, !=
Logical operators: &&, ||, !

Operators
()
! Unary

higher precedence

* / %
+
< <= >= >
==

!=

&&
||
=

lower precedence

Associativity: left-to-right (except = and unary operators)

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