Let’s look at a C++ program

Table of contents

  1. Let’s look at a C++ program
  2. Let's look at a C++ program
    1. Compilation
      1. Online C++ compilers
      2. Installing C++ compiler on your system
    2. Using headers and libraries
    3. The main function
    4. Comments in C++
    5. Standard Output
    6. Standard Input
    7. Type Declarations
  3. Summary

Let's look at a C++ program

A time honored tradition in computer science is to write a program called “hello world.” The “hello world” program is simple and easy. No logic errors are possible to make, so getting it to run relies only on understanding the syntax. Let's look at an easy version of "hello world" in Python:

print("Hello World!")

Now, lets look at a more “complicated” version of the "hello world" program with a main function in Python:

def main():
    print("Hello World!")
main()

Next, lets look at (almost) the same program written in C++23:

import std;
int main() {
    std::print("Hello, World!");
}

Good :) Very similar.

But unfortunately the above code can not be run on almost all current C++ compilers! So we move back to C++11 – C++20.

import, print and println are only available in C++23.

Next, lets look at the same program written using cout in previous standards of C++, including C++11:

#include <iostream>
int main(){
    std::cout << "Hello World!\n";
    return 0;
}

The above program can alternatively be written as follows to allow better facilitate standard input and output:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

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

What we see is that at the core there are a few similarities with the complicated Python version, such as the main function and the string “Hello world”. However, in C++ there is a lot more stuff around the edges that make it harder to see the core of the program. Do not worry! An important skill for a computer scientist is to learn what to ignore and what to look at carefully. You will soon find that there are some elements of C++ that will fade into the background as you become used to seeing them. One thing that will help you is to learn a little bit more about C++.

Compilation

A question you may have about this little program is “How would I run it?”

The good news is that many online C++ compilers are exist that you can use them to run your program such as the following ones:

Online C++ compilers

  1. Wandbox:
    • Provides various functionality, including support for multiple files and different editor keybindings.
    • Features libraries like Boost (up to 1.64), Sprout, and MessagePack.
    • Explore Wandbox
  2. cpp.sh:
    • Compile and execute C++ programs online.
    • Simple and straightforward interface.
    • Try cpp.sh
  3. OnlineGDB C Compiler:
    • Code, compile, run, and debug C programs online.
    • Write your code in the editor and press the “Run” button to compile and execute it.
    • Try OnlineGDB
  4. Programiz C++ Compiler:
    • A user-friendly online compiler that allows you to write and run C++ code.
    • Supports taking input from the user and accessing standard libraries.
    • Utilizes the GCC (g++) compiler for code compilation.
    • Try it out here
  5. OnlineCPP:
    • Quick and easy tool for building, compiling, and testing C++ programs online.
    • Supports various programming languages, including C++.
    • Visit OnlineCPP
  6. Replit C++ Compiler & Interpreter:
    • Collaborate in real-time with friends, classmates, or coworkers.
    • Quickly deploy your C++ projects.
    • Explore Replit

Only Wandbox meet the requirements of our course for formatted string. Also many of them can be used for usual C++ programs.

Installing C++ compiler on your system

The bad news is that if you want to compile and run a C++ program on your own machine, there is not as simple as running a Python program. The first big difference between C++ and Python is that Python is an interpreted language while C++ is a compiled language. We could run our Python programs in the Python interpreter, and we were often quite happy to do that. In C++, running programs is a two step process.

First, we must type the hello world program into a file and save that file using a name like hello.cpp Once we have saved the file we compile it either from the command line or from an integrated development environment (IDE). Only after the program is compiled, can we run it.

Now you may be wondering what good is this extra step? What does compiling do for us? There are a couple of important benefits we get from compiling:

  • Early detection of errors
  • Faster program execution

The job of the compiler is to turn your C++ code into language that your machine can understand. We call the code that the computer understands machine code. The computer interprets the machine code much like the Python interpreter interprets your Python. However, since machine code is much closer to the native language of the computer, it can run faster.

When the compiler does the translation it can find many different kinds of errors. For example if you make a typo or forget to declare a variable the compiler will find these and point them out to you before you ever run the program. We will look at some examples of errors that the compiler catches shortly. Chances are you may create some on your own very soon too, but first let's talk about each of the statements in a C++ program.

For installing a C++ compiler and using VSCode see Installation Instructions.

Using headers and libraries

Preprocessor directives in C++ appear as statements preceded by the hash sign #. These tell the preprocessor which file, header, or library to make available to the compiler. For example, #include <iostream> will make sure that the iostream library is available at compile time. Here, the term header is used for a type of C++ file that contains definitions of functions and variables, but not the function implementations.

You can think of the #include ... statement in C++ as working a bit like the import ... statement in Python. Python's import statement directly accesses the code written in another file while the #include statement in C++ copies classes and functions from another file.

In Python, an import statement looks like:

import classname

With exception of impoert in C++23, there are two ways to use #include in C++:

#include <libraryname>
#include "filename"

Here the angle-brackets <> are used to include libraries or headers provided by the implementation, such as the headers in the standard library (iostream, string, etc.). The double quotes " are used for headers and files not provided by the implementation.

The main function

Unlike Python, every C++ program must have a main function which begins with int main(). This main function is called implicitly instead of explicitly like we must do in Python when we have a main function. This is why you do not see an explicit function call invoking main.

The int in int main() indicates that the return type of the main function will be an integer. The final line of the main C++ function is typically return 0, so you can see that the program does actually return the integer 0. Here zero is returned to indicate successful completion of the main function. In case you are wondering why an integer is returned, if you do error handling in C++, instead of 0, you can alternatively return an integer error code representing a specific error when and where it occurs.

C++ functions and other C++ code blocks are grouped together using the curly {} brackets. These curly brackets are used much like tabbing is used in Python. Many people also use tabbing in C++ to indicate blocks, but tabs and other whitespace (mostly) have no inherent meaning in C++. Instead, the semi-colon (;) must be used to conclude most statements in C++.

In fact, the following program will run perfectly even though the lack of meaningful spacing is more difficult for humans to read.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std; int main(){cout << "Hello World!\n"; return 0;}

As you program in C++, we strongly recommend you continue to use the kind of human-readable formatting you have become used to in Python. You will likely learn to appreciate this when you are debugging.

Comments in C++

Python and C++ both support comments that are not processed by the interpreter or compiler.

Python's single line comment begins with a hash (#). In C++, the equivalent is two forward slashes (//) In each case the rest of the line is treated as a comment and ignored by the interpreter or compiler.

Python supports comments using triple quotes. Like Python, C++ also supports multi-line comments beginning with /* and ending with */.

The triple quoted docstring in Python is often used for automatically processing documentation. There is no equivalent in the C++ standard to the triple-quoted docstring in Python. However, the symbol groups /** and */ are often used to indicate documentation blocks at the beginning of a class, program, or function, which is legal because the second asterisk * is simply treated as part of the multi-line comment. Certain libraries will also automatically process the text between these symbol groups, as a docstring for the documentation.

// The remainder of this line is a C++ comment which is ignored by the compiler

/* This is a multi-line C++ comment that can
span many lines, beginning and ending with the given symbols */

Standard Output

We often have a need to interact with users, either to get data or to provide some sort of result. The C++ <iostream> library provides us with the functionality to get information from the standard input as well as to output information to the standard output. This input and output is handled by what is known as a stream.

A stream is essentially a channel in which data flows from the source to a destination (often called the "sink".) Output streams send data out, and the standard output stream cout sends character data to the screen. So, cout stands for "character output". Much like the Python print statement, cout is used to print to the standard output device, which is typically your screen. When cout is used, you will also see << used. When this odd set of symbols are used together, they are called the "output operator". The output operator is used to direct output to the designated output device or file. The output operator can also be used to concatenate output, much like the "+" can be used to concatenate in Python.

/* Ever heard of rubber duck debugging?
    See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main(){
    cout << "Ever heard of rubber duck debugging?" << endl;
    cout << "                __     " << endl;
    cout << "              <(o )___-" << endl;
    cout << "               ( .__> /" << endl;
    cout << "                `----' " << endl;
}

Another example:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
    int num = 42;
    string name = "Mohammad";
    cout << "My name is " << name << " and my favorite number is " << num;
    return 0;
}

The above example using format library, like formatted strings in Python:

#include <format>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
    int num = 42;
    string name = "Mohammad";
    cout << format("My name is {} and my favorite number is {}", name, num);
    return 0;
}

Currently the above program, runs only limited complilers; Wnadbox and g++ 13.2 are among of them.

The following program is the C version of the program that runs on all of current C/C++ compilers.

// Old C Style
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int num = 42;
    char name[10] = "Mohammad";
    printf("My name is %s and my favorite number is %d", name, num);
    return 0;
}

This style of string formatting is used in many app or languages such as MATLAB, Python, PHP, Java, Javascript, Ruby, Swift, Go, Kotlin and Rust, that can be checked in www.onlinegdb.com.

# Python
print("My name is {} and my favorite number is {}".format(name, num))

# Python using f-strings
print(f"My name is {name} and my favorite number is {num}")

% MATLAB
sprintf('My name is %s and my favorite number is %d', name, num)

// PHP
echo "My name is $name and my favorite number is $num";

// JAVA
System.out.printf("My name is %s and my favorite number is %d", name, num);

Standard Input

In addition to being able to output to the standard output, we want to be able to take input from the user. The command cin is somewhat similar to cout except, of course, it is used for getting character input. Input streams direct data from a source, such as the keyboard or a file. As you might have guessed, cin stands for "character input" and it makes getting input from the standard input device (usually the keyboard) relatively easy. The input operator in C++ is >>.

Here is an example that uses cin:

// The active code below is an example of what getting input from the user might look like. Not all online compilers have input terminal!
~~~~
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
//declares num as a floating point number variable
float num;
// Displays this text to the console
cout << "Give me a number:" << endl;
// Takes the user's input and stores it in num
cin >> num;
// Displays to the console
cout << "This is your number doubled: " << num*2 << endl;
return 0;
}

Type Declarations

In this example, you may note the line float num which declares a new variable called num of type float. Just like functions, all variables in C++ must be declared before use, and they cannot change type. This is known as static typing. The line float num essentially tells the compiler to set aside sufficient space for a floating point number, and to name this memory location num. Then whatever the user types in will be stored in the num variable. Using the cout function, we can write instructions that will prompt the user to enter data and then incorporate that data into further processing. For example, in the code above, the floating point number is doubled and then displayed!.

We will talk more about type declarations in the section on data types, and we will go into more depth on input and output later when we discuss C++ streams and file handling.

Summary

Now that we have run our "hello world" program, lets go back and look at it carefully to see what we can learn about the C++ language.

/* This hello world program demonstrates the C++ concepts of commenting, using libraries, and using output.
*/

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main(){         // main() must exist & return an int
    cout << "Hello World!\n";
    return 0;       // 0 indicates program ended correctly.
    }

This simple example illustrates a few very important rules:

  1. Everything in C++ must be declared as a specific type of object or variable, including declaring the return type for each function.
  2. Every C++ program must have a function which begins as int main(), and ends with the statement return 0; when successfully completed.
  3. C++ statements are ended by a semi-colon.
  4. White space is mostly meaningless in C++, but all C++ code blocks must be surrounded by curly brackets {}, rather than using indentation to delineate blocks as is done in Python.