College of Information Technology: CSC 103: Computer Programming For Scientists and Engineers

University of Bahrain
College of Information Technology

Department of Computer Science
CSC 103: Computer Programming for

Scientists and Engineers
Dr. Abdul Fattah Salman
Unit 2: Basic Elements of C++

CSC 103: Computer Programming for Scientists
and Engineers
These slides are based on slides of Malik

(textbook author) and modified
by Dr. Abdul Fattah Salman
A Quick Look at a C++ Program
C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 3

(cont’d.)
• Sample run:

(cont’d.)

(cont’d.)
• Variable: a memory location whose contents can be
changed.
? ? ? ?
Figure 2-2 Memory allocation after the four variable declaration statements
? ? ?
Figure 2-3 Memory spaces after executing the statement length = 6.0;

(cont’d.)

The Basics of a C++ Program
• Programming language: a set of syntax rules, semantic

rules, special symbols, and reserved words.
• Syntax rules: rules that specify which statements are
legal.
– Example: In an assignment statement, only a single variable
name can appear to the left of the = sign.
• Semantic rules: rules that determine the meaning of
the statements.
– Example: In an assignment statement, the expression to the
right of the = sign is evaluated and then the resulting value
is assigned to the variable named on the left of the = sign.
Special Symbols
• List of special symbols in C++ :
– From page 7 of Ray Lischner’s C++ in a Nutshell. (O’Reilly, 2003).

Reserved Words (Keywords)
• Reserved words (or keywords):

– You cannot redefine these words.
– You cannot use them for anything other than
their intended use.
Examples:
– int
– using
– return
– See Appendix A (next slide) in textbook for
complete list.
Tokens
• A C++ statement can be split into tokens, which
are the smallest meaningful units of a program.
• Tokens include special symbols, reserved words,
and identifiers.
Reserved words Identifier Special symbol

Identifiers
• An identifier is the name of something in a program.

• When selecting the name of an identifier, you must
follow some rules:
– Identifiers can contain letters, Arabic digits, and underscore
character (_), but no other characters or symbols.
– Identifiers must begin with a letter or underscore (not a digit).
– You cannot use reserved words as identifiers.
• C++ is case sensitive.
– For example, number, Number, and NUMBER are three
different identifiers.

Identifiers (cont’d.)
• Examples of legal identifiers:
• first
• payRate2
• Employee_Salary

Comments
• Comments are for the reader, not the compiler.

• Two styles:
– Single-line comments begin with //
// This is a C++ program.
// Welcome to C++ Programming.
– Multiple-line comments are enclosed between /* and */
/*
You can include comments that span
several lines.
*/

Whitespace
• Every C++ program contains whitespace.

– Includes blanks, tabs, and newline characters.
• Whitespace must separate reserved words and
identifiers from each other.
• Proper use of whitespace (such as indenting)
also makes programs more readable.

Declaring Variables
• Before you can use a variable in a program, you

must declare it, using statements such as
double length;
int num1;
• These statements say that: in this program I will

use a variable named length whose data type is
double, and I’ll use a variable named num1 whose
data type is int.
Data Types
• Data type: is a set of values together with a

set of allowed operations on those values.
• C++ data types fall into three categories:
– Simple data types
– Structured data types
– Pointers
• For the next few weeks we’ll mostly use
simple data types.

Partial Hierarchy of Data Types
Data Types
Simple Data Structured

Pointers
Types Data Types
Integral
Floating-Point
(int, bool, Enumeration
(double, …)
char, …)
Simple Data Types
• Three categories of simple data type:

– Integral: integers (numbers without a decimal point).
– Unsiged: char, short, int, long,
long long
– Signed: bool, unsigned char, unsigned
short, unsigned int, unsigned long
– Floating-point: (numbers with a decimal point).
– float, double, long double
– Enumeration type: programmer-defined data type.

int Data Type
• Examples of int data:

-6728
0
78
+763
• Do not use commas within numbers. Typing 1,430
instead of 1430 will usually cause an error.
• Range of possible values: -231 to 231 - 1
-2147483648 to +2147483647

bool Data Type
• The bool type has only two possible values:

true and false.
– It’s useful for keeping track of true/false (Boolean)
information, such as whether a person’s age is
greater than 21 or not.
• This is considered an integral data type
because it’s actually implemented as a 0 for
false and a 1 for true.

char Data Type
• Used for single characters: letters, digits, and other

keyboard symbols.
• Each character is enclosed in single quotes:
– 'A', 'a', '0', '*', '+', '$', '&'
• A blank space is a perfectly good character.
– Written ' ', with a space left between the single quotes.
• The char data type is considered an integral data type
because it’s actually implemented as an integer
between 0 and 255, using a code called extended
ASCII code (next slide).
char Data Type (cont’d.)
• ASCII: American Standard Code for Information

Interchange
– Each of 256 integer values (from 0 to 255) represents a
different character.
– For example, the ASCII code for 'A' is 65 and the ASCII
code for 'd' is 100.
– For complete list, see Appendix C in textbook (next slide).

This is a
blank space.
Floating-Point Data Types
• Floating-point data types (float, double, and

long double) are used for non-integer numbers,
i.e., numbers that contain a decimal part.
• We’ll generally use double when we want a floating-
point number.
• Examples of double data:
-67.28
78.1
+763.345

Floating-Point Data Types (cont’d.)
• Floating-point numbers can be entered or displayed

using decimal notation or using a modified scientific
notation.

Review: Partial Hierarchy of Data Types
Data Types
Simple Data Structured

Pointers
Types Data Types
Integral
Floating-Point
(int, bool, Enumeration
(double, …)
char, …)
string Type
• A string is a sequence of zero or more characters

enclosed in double quotation marks, such as "Hello
there."
– Contrast with char data type, which is a single character
inside single quotation marks.
• Unlike the data types discussed before, the string data
type is not built into the core C++ language. It’s defined
in something called the C++ Standard Library. So a
program that uses strings must have the following line:
#include <string>

Arithmetic Operators
• Some C++ arithmetic operators:

• + addition
• - subtraction
• * multiplication
• / division
• % modulus (or remainder)
• You can use +, -, *, and / with integral and floating-
point data types.
• You can use % only with integral data types.

Arithmetic Expressions
• Arithmetic expressions combine arithmetic operators

and operands (values) to yield a result.
• Example: 12.8 * 17.5 - x
• This example contains two operators and three operands.
• Arithmetic expressions can be:

– Integral expressions: all operands are integers.
– Floating-point expressions: all operands are floating-point.
– Mixed expressions: some operands are integer, some are
floating-point.
Integral Expressions
• An integral expression is an arithmetic expression in

which all operands are integers. It yields an integer
result.
– Example: 2 + 3 * 5
– Caution: When you use / with integers, the integer

result is truncated (no rounding).
– Example: 7 / 2 yields a result of 3

Quotient and Remainder
• We know that, mathematically, 7 ÷ 2 = 3.5
• Recall that another way of looking at it is to say that
7 ÷ 2 is equal to 3 with a remainder of 1.
• In this example, 3 is called the quotient and 1 is
called the remainder.
• In C++, using the / operator with integers yields the
quotient.
• Example: In C++, 7 / 2 yields a result of 3
• And using the % operator with integers yields the
remainder.
• Example: In C++, 7 % 2 yields a result of 1
Floating-Point Expressions
• A floating-point expression is an arithmetic

expression in which all operands are floating-point.
It yields a floating-point result.
– Example: 7.0 / 2.0
• The expression above yields 3.5
– We could have typed 7. instead of 7.0, because 7. is
treated as a floating-point number (but 7 is treated as an
integer).
– Another example: 12.8 * 17.5 - 34.52

Operator Precedence and
Associativity
• C++ obeys the same “order-of-operations” rules that
you learned in math classes:
• Operators inside parentheses are evaluated first.
• *, /, and % have the same level of precedence and are
evaluated next.
• + and – have the same level of precedence and are
evaluated next.
• Arithmetic operators of the same level of precedence
are performed from left to right. (We say they have
“left-to-right associativity.”)
• Example: Evaluate the following expression:
3 * 7 - 6 + 2 * 5 / 4 + 6
Mixed Expressions
• A mixed expression is an arithmetic expression that

has some integer operands and some floating-point
operands.
• Examples:
2 + 3.7
6 / 4 + 3.9
5.4 * 2 - (3.6 + 5) / 2
• See next slide for rules on how C++ evaluates these.

Mixed Expressions (cont’d.)
• Evaluation rules:
– The precedence and associativity rules from above
still apply.
– If an operator’s operands are of the same type
(both integer or both floating-point):
• The result is the same type as the operands.
– If an operator has both types of operands:
• Integer is “promoted” to floating-point.
• The operation is performed.
• The result is floating-point.
Type Conversion and Casting
• Implicit type conversion (also called coercion) occurs

when C++ automatically changes a value of one data
type to another data type. We’ve seen some examples
of this with mixed expressions:
– To perform 2 + 3.7, first converts the 2 from an
int to a double.
• C++ also lets you perform explicit type conversion
using the cast operator:
static_cast<dataTypeName>(expression)

Type Conversion (Casting) (cont’d.)

Truncating Versus Rounding
• Note that when C++ converts a floating-point
number to an integer, it truncates rather than
rounds.
• Example: static_cast<int>(7.01) and
static_cast<int>(7.99) both give 7.
• Often we want to round to the nearest integer. At

several points (such as on p. 159) the book uses a
standard trick to do this: add 0.5 to your floating-
point number before you cast it to integer.
• Example: static_cast<int>(7.01 + 0.5)
gives 7 but static_cast<int>(7.99 + 0.5 )
gives 8.
Unary Versus Binary Operators
• The arithmetic operators we’ve discussed are all

binary operators: they take two operands.
• Some operators are unary operators (one operand).
• In fact, + and – can be either binary or unary,
depending on the context.
• Unary – is negation.
• Example: -2 * 3
• Another example: -2 * +3

Other Operators
• As well as the arithmetic operators discussed above,

C++ has many other operators.
• See Appendix B (next slide) in the textbook for a
complete list that shows precedence and associativity
of all the operators.
– Note from this list that unary + and – have higher
precedence than binary + and – .
• Unfortunately the table in Appendix B contains a few
typos, so be sure to fix them using the list of textbook
typos on the course website.
Variables
• The expressions we’ve looked at above used constant

numeric values.
– Example: 2 * 3.5
• In most programs you’ll also use variables, which are
named memory locations whose values may change
as the program runs.
– Example: 2 * payRate
• When naming your variables, be sure to follow the
rules listed earlier for identifiers.

Declaring Variables
• In C++ you must declare each variable’s name before

you can use the variable.
• Syntax to declare one or more variables:

Putting Data into Variables
• A variable is said to be initialized the first time you

place a value into it.
• A variable that has not been initialized will hold an
unpredictable “garbage” value. Visual Studio gives an
error message if you use an uninitialized variable in
an expression.
• There are two ways for placing data into a variable :
– Using an assignment statement.
– Using an input (read) statement to let the user enter a
value from the keyboard.

Assignment Statement
• The assignment statement takes the form:
• The expression on the right side is evaluated and its

value is assigned to the variable on the left side.
• Examples:
dailyRate = 0.0002;
annualRate = 365 * dailyRate;
• In C++, = is called the assignment operator.

Assignment Statement (cont’d.)

Declaring & Initializing Variables
• You can use the assignment operator to initialize a

variable in the same statement that declares it.
• Examples:
int first = 13, second = 10;
char ch = ' ';
double x = 12.6;

Assignment Versus Equality
• The = operator in C++ has a different

meaning from the meaning it has in your
math classes.
• Example: in a math class, the following
statement cannot be true:
x = x + 1;
• But this is a perfectly good (and
frequently used) C++ statement. It tells
the program to increase x’s value by 1.
Increment and Decrement Operators
• The increment operator ++ increases a variable by 1.

– Example: The statement
++x;
does the same thing as the statement
x = x + 1;
• Similarly, the decrement operator -- decreases a
variable’s value by 1.
– Example: The statement
--x;
does the same thing as the statement
x = x - 1;
Pre- and Post-Increment/Decrement
• These operators behave differently depending on whether they’re
placed before or after the variable name.
– Pre-increment ++variable Increments the variable, and then uses the
incremented value in the expression.
– Post-increment variable++ Uses the variable’s original value in the
expression, and then increments the variable.
• What is the difference between the following?
• x=6 y=5
x = 5; x = 5;
y = ++x; y=6 y = x++; x=6
• Similarly for pre-decrement (--variable) and post-decrement

(variable--).
Input (Read) Statement
• In an input statement (or read statement) , cin is used with >> to let
the user enter a value into one or more variables.
• The operator >> is the stream extraction operator.

• Example, if miles is a double variable, the following statement gets
a value of type double from the keyboard and places it in the variable
miles: cin >> miles;
• A single input statement can assign values to more than one variable.
– Example: if feet and inches are variables of type int, the
following statement reads two integers from the keyboard and
places these integer values in feet and inches respectively:
Prompt Lines
• cin >> feet >> inches;
– cin >> feet;
cin >> inches;
• A prompt line is a cout statement that tells the user what to
do. Example:
cout << "Please enter a number between 1 and 10 and "
<< "press the return key." << endl;
cin >> num;
• You should always include a correctly spelled, properly

punctuated prompt line when you want the user to enter some
input.

Output Statement
• In an output statement, cout is used with << to

display text or values on the screen:
• The operator << is the stream insertion operator.

• The expression is evaluated and its value is
printed at the current cursor position on the screen.

Manipulators in Output Statements
• You can use manipulators to format the output.

– Example: the manipulator endl causes the cursor to move
to beginning of the next line.
– We’ll study some other manipulators in Chapter 3.

Escape Sequences in Output
Statements
• Escape sequences are another way to format output.
Example: The new line character is '\n'
cout << "Hello there.";
cout << "My name is James.";
Output:
Hello there.My name is James.
cout << "Hello there.\n";
cout << "My name is James.";
Output :
Hello there.
My name is James.

Escape Sequences in Output
Statements (cont’d.)

The Standard Library
• The core C++ language has a relatively small number

of built-in operations.
• Many other useful operations are provided as a
collection of files called the C++ Standard Library.
• These library files make your job easier, because they
save you from having to re-invent the wheel when
you want to perform common tasks.
• A big part of becoming a C++ programmer is learning
about the many library files in the Standard Library.

The Standard Library (cont’d.)
• Each library file (or “header file”) has a name, which

is typically written inside angle brackets.
– Examples:
• <iostream>
• <string>
• <cmath>
• The next slides show how to tell the compiler that
you want to use operations from one or more of these
files.

Preprocessor Directives
• Most programs contain

preprocessor directives.
These are commands
that the preprocessor
program executes before
your source code is
compiled.
• All preprocessor
directives begin with #,
and they do not end with
a semicolon.
The #include Directive
• The most common preprocessor directive is

#include, which tells the compiler that you want to
use a Standard Library file.
• Syntax to include a header file:
• For example:
#include <iostream>
– Causes the preprocessor to include the header file
iostream in the program. Without this, you could not use
cout or cin in your program.
namespace and Using cin and cout in
a Program
• cin and cout are declared in the header file
iostream within the std namespace.
• To use cin or cout in a program, use the following
two statements:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
• Without the using statement, you would need to
type std::cin instead of just cin throughout
your program.

Using the string Data Type in a Program
• Recall that the string data type is not built

into the core C++ language. It’s defined in the
C++ Standard Library.
• To use the string data type in a program, you
must access its definition from the header file
<string>, using the following preprocessor
directive:
#include <string>

The main Function
• A function is a named block of code that

performs a well-defined task.
• Every C++ program must contain a function
named main. This is where execution begins
when you run the program.
• Complex programs contain many functions,
but for now most of your programs will only
contain the main function.

The main Function (cont’d.)
• The first line of a

function is called
the function’s
heading:
int main()
• The statements
enclosed between
the curly braces
{ and } form the
function’s body.
Named Constants
• A named constant is a memory location whose

content cannot change during execution.
• Syntax to declare a named constant:
• By convention, we use all upper-case letters for

constant identifiers.

Syntax Errors
• Syntax rules : indicate what is legal and what is not

legal.
– Example of a syntax rule: Every C++ statement
must end with a semicolon.
• The compiler finds and reports syntax errors during
compilation. It won’t let you run the program until
you fix these errors.
int x; //Line 1
int y //Line 2: Syntax error

Semantic Errors
• Semantic rules : set of rules that defines meanings to

language constructs.
• A program with no syntax errors may compile and
run but may still not produce correct results.
• Example: 2 + 3 * 5 and (2 + 3) * 5
are both syntactically correct expressions, but have
different meanings. So if you use one of these
expressions where you should use the other one, your
program will produce incorrect results.

Documentation
• A program is easier to understand and modify if it is

well-documented.
• Two keys to good documentation:
1. Use comments.
2. Choose meaningful variable names.
• Comments should:
– Explain the purpose of the program.
– Identify who wrote it, and when.
– Explain the purpose of particular statements whose
meaning is not obvious.
Documentation (cont’d.)
• Variable names should be self-documenting:

– Example: use length instead of x.
• Avoid run-together words, such as annualsale.

This is hard to read.
– Solutions:
• Use “camel notation”: capitalize the 1st letter of each
new word: annualSale
• Insert an underscore just before a new word:
annual_sale

Compound Assignment Statements
• In addition to the simple assignment operator =, C++

provides several compound assignment operators,
including:
+= -= *= /= %=
• Simple assignment statement:
x = x * y;
• Equivalent compound assignment statement:
x *= y;
• You don’t need to use them in your own programs,
but you must understand what they mean.

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University of Bahrain

College of Information Technology

CSC 103: Computer Programming for

Dr. Abdul Fattah Salman

Unit 2: Basic Elements of C++

These slides are based on slides of Malik

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 3

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 4

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 5

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 6

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 7

• Programming language: a set of syntax rules, semantic

– From page 7 of Ray Lischner’s C++ in a Nutshell. (O’Reilly, 2003).

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 9

• Reserved words (or keywords):

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 12

• An identifier is the name of something in a program.

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 13

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 14

• Comments are for the reader, not the compiler.

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 15

• Every C++ program contains whitespace.

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 16

• Before you can use a variable in a program, you

• These statements say that: in this program I will

• Data type: is a set of values together with a

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 18

Simple Data Structured

• Three categories of simple data type:

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 20

• Examples of int data:

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 21

• The bool type has only two possible values:

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 22

• Used for single characters: letters, digits, and other

• ASCII: American Standard Code for Information

– For complete list, see Appendix C in textbook (next slide).

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 24

• Floating-point data types (float, double, and

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 26

• Floating-point numbers can be entered or displayed

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 27

Simple Data Structured

• A string is a sequence of zero or more characters

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 29

• Some C++ arithmetic operators:

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 30

• Arithmetic expressions combine arithmetic operators

• Arithmetic expressions can be:

• An integral expression is an arithmetic expression in

– Caution: When you use / with integers, the integer

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 32

• A floating-point expression is an arithmetic

– Another example: 12.8 * 17.5 - 34.52

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 34

• A mixed expression is an arithmetic expression that

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 36

• Implicit type conversion (also called coercion) occurs

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 38

C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Seventh Edition 39

• Often we want to round to the nearest integer. At

• The arithmetic operators we’ve discussed are all