How to Program in C++
You may copy this file for noncommercial use. The latest versionis located at cs.fit.edu/~mmahoney/cse2050/how2cpp.html updatedApr. 14, 2010. Please report errors to Matt Mahoney atmmahoney@cs.fit.edu.Seldom-used features have been deliberately omitted.
Language Summary
Statements if, for, while, return, break...
Expressions arithmetic, comparison, assignment...
The most important types areint, char, bool, double, and the containers string, vector,and map. Summary of common types:
Built-in Description int x; Fastest integer type (16-32 bits), also short, long, unsigned char x; 8-bit character, '\0' to '\xFF' or -128 to 127 double x; 64 bit real + or - 1.8e308, 14 significant digits, also float bool x; true or false Modifiers Description const T x; Non-modifiable object T& y=x; Reference, y is an alias for x, which both have type T T f(...) {...} Defines f as a function returning T T* p; Pointer to T (*p is a T object) T a[N]; Array of N elements of T, a[0] to a[N-1] static T x; Place x in data segment register T x; (rare) Hint to optimize for speed volatile T x; (rare) x may be modified externallyThe following standard library types and functions require at thebeginning of the program:
#include <header>
using namespace std;
Library Type Description Header
istream Standard input (cin) iostream
ostream Output (cout, cerr, clog) iostream
ifstream Input file fstream
ofstream Output file fstream
string Sequence of char string
vector<T> Expandable array/stack of T vector
deque<T> Array/double ended queue deque
list<T> List/stack/queue of T list
map<T1,T2> Associative mapping of T1 to T2 map
set<T1> A map with keys only set
pair<T1,T2> Two objects of type T1 and T2 map or utility
priority_queue<T> Sorted queue queue
stack<T> Stack stack
bitset<N> Array of N bool with logical operations bitset
valarray<T> Array with arithmetic operations valarray
complex<T> Complex number complex
iterator Pointer into a container (Included with container)
const_iterator Pointer not allowing element assignment (Included with container)
exception Hierarchy of exception types stdexcept, exception
C++ Standard Library Functions Header
min(), max(), swap(), sort(), copy(), equal() algorithm
accumulate(), inner_product() numeric
back_inserter() iterator
equal_to(), less(), bind2nd() functional
set_new_handler() new
C Library Functions Header
atoi(), atof(), abs(), rand(), system(), exit() cstdlib
isalpha(), isdigit(), tolower(), toupper() cctype
sqrt(), log(), exp(), pow(), sin(), cos(), atan() cmath
clock(), time() ctime
strlen(), memset(), memmove(), memcmp() cstring
printf(), fopen(), getc(), perror() cstdio
assert() cassert
C++ allows you to create your own types and libraries. The mostimportant type is a class, allowing object orientedprogramming. A class is an abstract data type with a hiddenrepresentation and a set of public member functions and types.Classes can be organized into a hierarchy (inheritance), and youcan write code that accepts any type in this hierarchy (polymorphism).Functions and classes can be parameterized by type (templated).
class T {...}; Defines T as a collection of types, objects, and member functions template <class T> ... Defines a set of functions or classes over all T typedef T U; Defines type U is a synonym for T enum T {...}; Defines T as an int, and set of int constants struct T {...}; Like a class, except default scope of members is public union T {...}; A struct with object members overlapping in memory namespace N {...}; Defines a scope for a collection of types, objects, and functions Program Organization (compiling, linking, make) History of C++ Further Reading
Basics
C++ is a compiled language, an upward compatible superset of Cand an (incompatible) predecessor to Java. C++ compiles C programs butadds object oriented (OO) features (classes, inheritance, polymorphism),templates (generic functions and classes), function and operatoroverloading, namespaces (packages), exception handling, a library ofstandard data structures (string, vector, map, etc.) and formatted text I/O(istream, ostream). Unlike Java, C++ lacks a standard graphical userinterface (GUI), network interface, garbage collection, and threads,and allows non-OO programming and unchecked low-level machine operationswith pointers. However, C++ executes faster than Java and requiresno run-time support.
A C++ program is a collection of function, object, and type declarations.Every program must have a function int main() { ... }where the curly braces enclose a block, a sequence of declarationsand statements ending in semicolons which are executed in order.A statement is an expression, block,or control statement that alters the order of execution, such asif, while, for, break, return.Some types (std::string), objects (std::cout),and functions are defined in header files, requiring the line#include <header> before use. Itemsdefined in the standard headers are in the namespace std.The std:: prefix may be dropped after the statementusing namespace std;. For instance,
// Comment: prints "Hello world!" and an OS-independent newline
#include <string> // Defines type std::string
#include <iostream> // Defines global object std::cout
using namespace std; // Allow std:: to be dropped
int main() { // Execution starts here
string s="Hello world!\n"; // Declares object s of type string
cout << s; // An expression as a statement, << is the output operator
return 0; // Execution ends here
}
The symbol // denotes a comment to the end of the line. You may alsouse /* ... */ for multiline comments. Spacing and indentation isused for readability. C++ is mostly free-form, except thatthe end of line is significant after # and //.C++ is case sensitive.
C++ source code files should be created with a text editor andhave the extension .cpp. If the above is called hello.cpp,it may be compiled and run as follows in a UNIX shell window:
g++ hello.cpp -o hello -Wall -O ./helloThe -o option renames the executable file, by default a.out. -Wall turns on all warnings (recommended). -O optimizes (compiles slower but runs faster).
In Windows, the GNU C++ compiler is called DJGPP. To compile andrun from an MS-DOS box:
gxx hello.cpp -o hello.exe helloThe output file must have a .EXE extension (default is A.EXE). There isalso a .OBJ file which you can delete.
To use the network or GUI interface in UNIX, you must use the Xand socket libraries, which don't work in Windows. In Windows, youmust use the Windows API and a compiler that supports them, suchas from Microsoft, Borland, or Symantec. GUI/network programming isnonportable and outside the scope of this document.
Links to free and commercial C++ compilers can be found atcplusplus.com.
Statements
A program consists of a collection of functions (one of which mustbe int main() {...}) and type and objectdeclarations. A function may contain declarations and statements.Statements have the following forms, wheres is a statement, andt is a true/false expression.
s; // Expression or declaration ; // Empty statement {s; s;} // A block of 0 or more statements is a statement if (t) s; // If t is true then s if (t) s; else s; // else is optional while (t) s; // Loop 0 or more times for (s1; t; s2) s; // s1; while (t) {s; s2;} break; // Jump from while, for, do, switch return x; // Return x to calling function try {throw x;} // Throw exception, abort if not caught, x has any type catch (T y) {s;} // if x has type T then y=x, jump to s catch (...) {s;} // else jump here (optional) do s; while (t); // (uncommon) s; while (t) s; continue; // (uncommon) Start next loop of while, for, do switch (i) { // (uncommon) Test int expression i to const C case C: s; break; // if (i==C) go here default: s; // optional, else go here } label: goto label; // (rare) Jump to label within a function
A statement may be a declaration or an expression. Objects andtypes declared in a block are local to that block.(Functions cannot be defined locally). It is normal (but not required) toshow statements on separate lines and to indentstatements enclosed in a block. If braces are optional, we indent anyway.For instance,
{ // start of block
int a[10], i=0, j; // declaration
a[i+2]=3; // expression
} // end of block, a, i, and j are destroyed
declares the array of int
a with elements
a[0]through
a[9] (whose values are initially undefined),
i with initial value 0, and
jwith an undefined initial value. These names can only be used in scope,which is from the declaration to the closing brace.
The for loop is normally used for iteration. For instance, the following both exit the loop with i set to the index ofthe first element of a such that a[i] is 0, or to 10 if not found.
for (i=0; i<10; i=i+1) { i=0; if (a[i]==0) { while (i<10) { break; if (a[i]==0) } break; } i=i+1; }The braces in the for loop are optional because they each enclosea single statement. In the while loop, the outer braces arerequired because they enclose 2 statements.All statements are optional: for (;;) loops forever.The first statement ina for loop may declare a variable local to the loop.
for (int i=0; i<10; i=i+1)
It is only possible to break from the innermost loopof a nested loop. continue in a for loopskips the rest of the block but executes the iteration (s2) andtest before starting the next loop.
int sum(int x, int y) { // Function definition return x+y; } int main() { int a=sum(1,2); // a=3; return 0; // By convention, nonzero indicates an error }
A test of several alternatives usually has the form if (t) s; else if (t) s; else if (t) s; ... else s;.A switch statement is an optimizationfor the special case where an int expression is tested against asmall range of constant values. The following are equivalent:
switch (i) { if (i==1)
case 1: j=1; break; j=1;
case 2: // fall thru else if (i==2 || i==3) // || means "or else"
case 3: j=23; break; j=23;
default: j=0; else
} j=0;
throw x jumps to the first catch statement of themost recently executed try block where the parameter declarationmatches the type of x, or a type that x can be converted to, or is.... At most one catch block is executed.If no matching catch block is found, the program aborts(Unexpected exception).throw; with no expression in a catch block throwsthe exception just caught. Exceptions are generallyused when it is inconvenient to detect and handle an error in thesame place.
void f() {
throw 3;
}
int main() {
try {
f();
}
catch(int i) { // Execute this block with i = 3
throw; // throw 3 (not caught, so program aborts)
}
catch(...) { // Catch any other type
}
}
Expressions
There are 18 levels of operator precedence, listed highest to lowest.Operators at the same level are evaluated left to right unless indicted,Thus, a=b+c means a=(b+c) because + is higher than =, and a-b-c means(a-b)-c. Order of evaluation is undefined, e.g. for sin(x)+cos(x)we cannot say whether sin() or cos() is called first.
The meaning of an expression depends on the types of the operands.(x,y) denotes a comma separated list of 0 or more objects,e.g. (), (x), or (1,2,3,4).
1 X::m Member m of namespace or class X ::m Global name m when otherwise hidden by a local declaration 2 p[i] i'th element of container p (array, vector, string) x.m Member m of object x p->m Member m of object pointed to by p f(x,y) Call function f with 0 or more arguments i++ Add 1 to i, result is original value of i i-- Subtract 1 from i, result is original value of i static_cast<T>(x) Convert x to type T using defined conversions const_cast<T>(x) (rare) Convert x to equivalent but non-const T reinterpret_cast<T>(x) (rare, dangerous) Pretend x has type T dynamic_cast<T>(x) (rare) Convert base pointer or reference to derived if possible typeid(x) (rare) If x is type T, then typeid(x)==typeid(T) (in <typeinfo>) 3 (right to left) *p Contents of pointer p, or p[0]. If p is type T*, *p is T &x Address of (pointer to) x. If x is type T, &x is T* -a Negative of numeric a !i Not i, true if i is false or 0 ~i Bitwise compliment of i, -1 - i (T)x Convert (cast) object x to type T (by static, const, or reinterpret) T(x,y) Convert, initializing with 0 or more arguments new T Create a T object on heap, return its address as T* new T(x,y) Create, initializing with 0 or more arguments new(p) T (rare) Initialize T at address p without allocating from heap new(p) T(x,y) (rare) Initialize T with 0 or more arguments at p new T[i] Create array of i objects of type T, return T* pointing to first element delete p Destroy object pointed to by p obtained with new T or new T() delete[] p Destroy array obtained with new T[] ++i Add 1 to i, result is the new i --i Subtract 1 from i, result is the new i sizeof x Size of object x in bytes sizeof(T) Size of objects of type T in bytes 4 x.*p (rare) Object in x pointed to by pointer to member p q->*p (rare) Object in *q pointed to by pointer to member p 5 a*b Multiply numeric a and b a/b Divide numeric a and b, round toward 0 if both are integer i%j Integer remainder i-(i/j)*j 6 a+b Addition, string concatenation a-b Subtraction 7 x<<y Integer x shifted y bits to left, or output y to ostream x x>>y Integer x shifted y bits to right, or input y from istream x 8 x<y Less than x>y Greater than x<=y Less than or equal to x>=y Greater than or equal to 9 x==y Equals x!=y Not equals 10 i&j Bitwise AND of integers i and j 11 i^j Bitwise XOR of integers i and j 12 i|j Bitwise OR of integers i and j 13 i&&j i and then j (evaluate j only if i is true/nonzero) 14 i||j i or else j (evaluate j only if i is false/zero) 15 (right to left) x=y Assign y to x, result is new value of x x+=y x=x+y, also -= *= /= %= &= |= ^= <<= >>= 16 i?x:y If i is true/nonzero then x else y 17 throw x Throw exception x (any type) 18 x,y Evaluate x and y (any types), result is yExpressions that don't require creating a new object, such as a=b, ++a,p[i], p->m, x.m, a?b:c, a,b etc. are lvalues, meaning theymay appear on the left side of an assignment.Other expressions and conversions create temporary objects to hold theresult, which are const (constant). An expression used as astatement discards the final result.
int a, b, c; a+b; // Legal, add a and b, discard the sum a=b=c; // Legal, assign c to b, then assign the new b to a (a+=b)+=c; // Legal, add b to a, then add c to a a+b=c; // Error, a+b is const double(a)=b; // Error, double(a) is const
double d; d=static_cast<double>(3); // Explicit 3 to 3.0 d=3; // Implicit conversion d=sqrt(3); // Implicit 3.0, sqrt() expects double vector<int> v(5); // This constructor is explicit v=5; // Error, no implicit conversion v=static_cast<vector<int> >(5); // OK
const_cast<T>(x) allows an object to be modified througha const pointer or reference. It must always be explicit.
int x=3; const int& r=x; r=4; // Error, r is const const_cast<int&>(r)=4; // OK, x=4 const int* p=&x; *p=5; // Error, *p is const *const_cast<int*>(p)=5; // OK, x=5If x were const, then this code would still be allowed but it isundefined whether x actually changes.
reinterpret_cast<T>(x) turns off normal type checking betweenint and different pointer types, which are normally incompatible. The onlysafe conversion is to convert a pointer back to its original type.Conversion is always explicit.
int x=3, *p=&x; *p=5; // OK, x=5 *reinterpret_cast<double*>(p)=5; // Crash, writing 8 bytes into 4The expression (T)x applies whatever combinationof static, const, and reinterpret casts are needed to convert x totype T. T(x) is a static_cast.
const char* s="hello"; int(*s); // static_cast (char*)s; // const_cast (const int*)s; // reinterpret_cast (int*)s; // reinterpret_cast and const_cast
Declarations
A declaration creates a type, object, or function and gives it a name.The syntax is a type name followed by a list of objects with possiblemodifiers and initializers applying to each object. A name consists ofupper or lowercase letters, digits, and underscores (_) with a leadingletter. (Leading underscores are allowed but may be reserved).An initializer appends the form =x where x is an expression,or (x,y) for a list of one or more expressions.For instance,
string s1, s2="xxx", s3("xxx"), s4(3,'x'), *p, a[5], next_Word();
declares s1 to be a string with initial value "", s2, s3, and s4to be strings with initial value "xxx", p to be a pointer to string,a to be an array of 5 strings (a[0] to a[4] with initial values ""),and
next_Word to be a function that takes no parameters andreturns a string.
Built-in Types
All built-in types are numeric. They are not automatically initializedto 0 unless global or static.int a, b=0; // a's value is undefined static double x; // 0.0Types and their usual ranges are listed below. Actual ranges could be different.The most important types are int,bool, char, and double.
Integer types Bits Range bool 1 false (0) or true (1) signed char 8 '\x80' to '\x7f' (-128 to 127) unsigned char 8 '\x00' to '\XFF' (0 to 255) char 8 Usually signed short 16 -32768 to 32767 unsigned short 16 0u to 65535U int 32 Usually -2147483648 to 2147483647 unsigned int 32 Usually 0 to 4294967295U long 32-64 At least -2147483648l to 2147483647L unsigned long 32-64 0ul to at least 4294967295LU Floating point types Bits Range float 32 -1.7e38f to 1.7E38F, 6 significant digits double 64 -1.8e308 to 1.8E308, 14 significant digits long double 64-80 At least doubleThere are implicit conversions between all types. When types aremixed in an expression, both operands are converted to the typethat has the higher upper bound, but at least to int. This conversiononly loses representation when mixing signed and unsigned types.
7/4 // 1, int division rounds toward 0
7.0/4 // 1.75, implicit double(4) = 4.0
'\x05'+true // 6, implicit int('\x05') = 5, int(true) = 1
3U > -1 // false, implicit (unsigned int)(-1) = 232-1
Conversion from a floating point type to an integer type drops thedecimal part and rounds toward 0. If the value is outside the rangeof the target, then the result is undefined.
int(-3.8) // -3Conversion of one integer type to another is performed modulo therange of the target. For a B-bit number (except bool), we add orsubtract 2 B to bring the value within range. (In termsof a 2's complement number, we drop the most significant bits andreinterpret the sign bit without changing any bits). For bool,any nonzero value is true.
(unsigned char)(-1) // '\xff' (255) bool(3) // true short a=x12345678; // x5678 hex
Integer Types
int is the most common integer type, normally the underlying word sizeof the computer or 32 bits, representing numbersfrom -2 31 to 2 31-1 (-2147483648 to 2147483647).On some older systems such as real mode DOS, it may be 16 bits (-32768 to32767). You should use int unless you need the range of some other type.An int value may be written in decimal (e.g. 255), hexadecimalwith a leading X (e.g. xff or XFF) or octal (base 8) with a leading 0(e.g. 0377). A trailing L denotes long (e.g. 255L or 255l), and U denotesunsigned. These may be combined (e.g. 255lu or 255UL is unsigned long).Most integer operations translate to a single machine instructionand are very fast.
+ - * / % -i Add, subtract, multiply, divide, mod, unary negation = Assignment == != < <= > >= Comparison, returns true or false ++i i++ --i i-- Pre/post increment and decrement & | ^ ~i << >> Bitwise and, or, xor, not, left shift, right shift += -= *= /= %= &= |= ^= <<= >>= Operate and assign, e.g. x+=y means x=x+y && || !i Logical and then, or else, notDivision rounds toward 0, e.g. 7/4 is 1, -7/4 is -1. x%y is the remainderwith the sign of x, e.g. -7%4 is -3. Division or mod by 0 is a run timeerror and should be avoided. Operations that yield results outsidethe range of an int are converted modulo 2 32, or more generally,2 B for a B bit number. For instance, 65535*65537 is -1, not2 32-1.
Assignment returns the value assigned, e.g. x=y=0 assigns 0 to y andthe new y to x. The result is an lvalue, e.g. (x=y)=0 is also legal(but useless). It assigns y to x, then 0 to x.
++i and i++ both add 1 to i. However, ++i returns the new value,and i++ returns the old value. Likewise for decrement, --i and i--, whichsubtracts 1. The pre forms, ++i, --i, are lvalues.
Bitwise operators treat an int as a 2's compliment B-bit binarynumber (B=32) with weights -2B-1, 2B-2,2B-3, ...8, 4, 2, 1. The leftmost bit is negative, and serves as the signbit. Thus, 0 is all zero bits and -1 is all 1 bits. Bitwiseoperators x&y x|y x^y and ~x perform B simultaneous logical operationson the bits of x and y. For instance, if y is a power of 2, thenx&(y-1) has the effect x%y, but is usually faster, and the result is alwayspositive in the range 0 to y-1.
x<<y returns x shifted left by y places, shifting in zeros.The result is x*2y. x>>y returns x shifted right by y places,shifting in copies of the sign bit (or zeros if unsigned).The result is x/2y butrounding negative instead of toward 0. For instance, -100>>3 is -13.y must be in the range 0 to B-1 (0 to 31). Shifting is usually fasterthan * and /.
Any binary arithmetic or bitwise operator may be combined withassignment. The resultis an lvalue. e.g. (x+=2)*=3; has the effect x=x+2; x=x*3;
Logical operators treat 0 as false and any other value as true.They return true (1) or false (0), as do comparisons. The && and ||operators do not evaluate the right operand if the result is known fromthe left operand.
if (i>=0 && i<n && a[i]==x) // Do bounds check on i before indexing array a if (x=3) // Legal but probably wrong, assign 3 to x and test true
char
A char is a one byte value. Unlike other numeric types,it prints as a character, although it can be used in arithmetic expressions.Character constants are enclosed in single quotes, as 'a'.A backslash has special meaning. '\n' is a newline,'\\' is a single backslash, '\'' is a singlequote, '\"' is a double quote. A backslash may be followed by 3 octaldigits ('\377') or an X and 2 hex digits ('\xFF') (but not decimal).Most computers use ASCII conversion as follows:
8-13: \b\t\n\v\f\r (bell, tab, newline, vertical tab, formfeed, return)
32-47: !\"#$%&\'()*+,-./ (32=space, \' and \" are one char)
48-63: 0123456789:;<=>\? (\? is one char)
64-95: @ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\\]^_ (\\ is one char)
96-126: `abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
Floating Point Types
A number with a decimal point is double (e.g. 3.7) unless a trailingF is appended (e.g. 3.7f or 3.7F), in which case it is float. Doubleis preferred. A double may be written in the form xey meaningx*10 y, e.g. 3.7E-2 (0.037) or 1e4 (10000.0).A double is usually represented as a 64 bit number with a sign bit,an 11 bit exponent, and 52 bit mantissa. Therefore it can only representnumbers of the form M*2E exactly, where -252 <M < 252 and 2-10 < E < 210.This is about + or - 1.797e308 with about 15 decimal digits of precision.Therefore, numbers like 1e14 and 0.5 have exact representations, but 1e20and 0.1 do not.
0.1 * 10 == 1 // false, they differ by about 10-15There are no bitwise or logical operators, %, ++, or --
+ - * / -x Add, subtract, multiply, divide, unary negation (no %) = += -= *= /= Assignment, may be combined with operators == != < <= > >= Comparison, however only < and > are meaningfulOperations may produce values outside the range of a double resultingin infinity, -infinity or NaN (not a number). These values cannotbe written in C++.
Additional mathematical functions (sqrt(), log(), pow(), etc.) canbe found in <cmath>.
Modifiers
In a declaration, modifiers before the type name apply toall objects in the list. Otherwise they apply to single objects.
int* p, q; // p is a pointer, q is an int const int a=0, b=0; // a and b are both const
const
const objects cannot be modified once created. They mustbe initialized in the declaration. By convention, const objects areUPPERCASE when used globally or as parameters.
const double PI=3.14159265359; // Assignment to PI not allowed
References
A reference creates an alias for an object that already exists.It must be initialized. A reference to a const object must also be const.
int i=3; int& r=i; // r is an alias for i r=4; // i=4; double& pi=PI; // Error, would allow PI to be modified const double& pi=PI; // OK
Functions
A function has a list of parameter declarations, a return type,and a block of statements. Execution must end with a return statementreturning an expression that can be converted to the return type,unless void, in which case there is an implied return; atthe end. Arguments passed to a function must match the parametersor allow implicit conversion (such as int to double).Functions must be defined before use, orhave a matching declaration that replaces the block with a semicolonand may optionally omit parameter names.Functions are always global (not defined in other functions).
void f(double x, double); // Declaration
double g() { // Definition
return 3; // Implied conversion to double (3.0)
}
int main() { // Execution starts with function main
f(g(), 5); // Calls g, then f with implicit 5.0
return 0; // Return UNIX $status or Windows ERRORLEVEL
}
void f(double x, double y) { // Definition must match declaration
cout << x+y;
return; // Optional
}
Command line arguments may be passed tomain(int argc, char** argv) where argv isan array of argc elements of type char* ('\0' terminated arrayof char), one element for each word (separated by white spaces).In UNIX, the command line is expanded before being passed (* becomesa directory listing, etc). The following program prints the commandline.
// echo.cpp
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
for (int i=0; i<argc; ++i)
cout << argv[i] << endl;
return 0;
}
g++ echo.cpp
./a.out hello world
./a.out
hello
world
Function parameters have local scope. They are initialized bycopying the argument, which may be an expression. Reference parametersare not copied; they become references to the arguments passed, whichmust be objects that the function may modify. If the reference isconst, then the argument may be an expression. Const reference isthe most common for passing large objects because it avoids the runtime overhead of copying.
void assign_if(bool cond, string& to, const string& from) {
// value reference const reference
if (cond)
to=from;
}
int main() {
string s;
assign_if(true, s, "a"); // OK, s="a"
assign_if(false, "b", s); // Error: to refers to a const
Functions returning a reference must return an object whichcan be assigned to, and that object must exist after returning(global or static, but not local). The function may be calledon the left side of an assignment. Functions returning by valuemake a temporary copy which is const.
int a=1; // Global
int f() {return a;} // OK, returns copy of a
int& g() {return a;} // OK, g() is alias for a
int& h() {return a+1;} // Error, reference to const
int& i() {int b; return b;} // Error, b destroyed after return
int& j() {static int b; return b;} // OK, static has global lifespan
int main() {
f()=2; // Error, assignment to const
g()=f(); // OK, a=1;
return 0;
}
Functions with the same name may be overloaded by matching thearguments to the parameters.
int abs(int);
double abs(double);
int main() {
abs(3); // int
abs(3.0); // double
abs("3"); // Error, no match
abs('a'); // Error, ambiguous, could convert char to int or double
return 0;
}
Most operators X can be overloaded by defining a function named
operator X() taking the operands as arguments. At least oneargument has to be a class type.
string operator - (const string& s, int i); // Defines s-i string operator - (const string& s); // Defines -sOperators . :: ?: and sizeof cannot be overloaded.Operators = [] -> cannot be overloaded except as class members.Postfix ++ --are overloaded as binary operators with a second dummy intparameter to distinguish from the prefix form.
string& operator++(const string& s); // defines ++s string operator++(const string& s, int); // defines s++
Functions may have default arguments by initializing the parameters.Defaults should be specified only once. Defaulted parameters mustappear after all non-default parameters.
void f(int i, int j=0, int k=0); // OK
void g(int i=0, int j); // Error
int main() {
f(1, 2); // f(1, 2, 0);
f(1); // f(1, 0, 0);
f(); // Error
return 0;
}
void f(int i, int j, int k) {} // Defaults not specified again
A template overloads a function for all types. The declarationtemplate <class T, class U> before a function definitionallows T and U to be used in the code as types.The compiler will figure out appropriate substitutionsfrom the arguments. A non-templated overloaded function takesprecedence over a template.
template <class T>
void swap(T& a, T& b) {
T tmp=a;
a=b;
b=tmp;
}
void swap(string& a, string& b); // Overrides the case T=string
int main() {
int i=1, j=2;
string a, b;
swap(i, j); // OK, T is int
swap(a, b); // OK, calls non-templated swap
swap(i, a); // Error, cannot resolve T
swap(cout, cerr); // Error, ostream does not allow =
inline is a hint to the compiler to optimize for speedby expanding the code where it is called, saving a call and returninstruction. Unlike a macro, semantics are preserved.Only short functions should be inlined.
inline int min1(int a, int b) {return a<b?a:b;}
#define min2(a,b) ((a)<(b)?(a):(b))
int main() {
min1(f(), 0); // calls f() once
min2(f(), 0); // calls f() twice, expands to ((f())<(0)?(f()):(0))
Pointers
A pointer stores the address of another object, and unlike a reference,may be moved to point elsewhere. The expression &x means "address ofx" and has type "pointer to x". If x has type T,then &x has type T*.If p has type T*, then *p is the objectto which it points, which has type T.The * and & operators are inverses, e.g. *&x == x.
Two pointers are equal if they point to the same object.All pointer types are distinct,and can only be assigned pointers of the same type or 0 (NULL).There are no run time checks against reading or writing the contentsof a pointer to invalid memory. This usually causes a segmentationfault or general protection fault.
int i=3, *p=&i; // p points to i, *p == 3
*p=5; // i=5
p=new int(6); // OK, p points to an int with value 6
p=new char('a'); // Error, even though char converts to int
p=6; // Error, no conversion from int to pointer
p=0; // OK
p=i-5; // Error, compiler can't know this is 0
*p=7; // Segmentation fault: writing to address 0
int *q; *q; // Segmentation fault: q is not initialized, reading random memory
A pointer to a const object of type T must also be const, oftype const T*, meaning that the pointer may be assigned tobut its contents may not.
const double PI=3.1415926535898; double* p=&PI; // Error, would allow *p=4 to change PI const double* p=&PI; // OK, can't assign to *p (but may assign to p) double* const p=&PI; // Error, may assign to *p (but not to p) const double* const p=&PI; // OK, both *p and p are const
A function name used without parenthesis is a pointer to a function.Function pointers can be assigned values and called.
int f(double); // functions f and g take double and return int
int g(double);
int *h(double); // function h takes double and returns pointer to int
int (*p)(double); // p is a pointer to a function that takes double and returns int
int main() {
p=f; p(3.0); // calls f(3.0)
p=g; p(3.0); // calls g(3.0)
p=h; // Error, type mismatch
Explicit pointer conversions are allowed but usually unsafe.
int i, *p=&i; i=int(3.0); // OK, rounds 3.0 *(double*)p = 3.0; // Crash, writes beyond end of i *(double*)&PI = 4; // Overwrites a constThese may also be written (with the same results):
i=static_cast<int>(3.0); // Apply standard conversions *reinterpret_cast<double*>p = 3.0; // Pretend p has type double* *const_cast<double*>&PI = 4; // Same type except for const
Arrays
The size of an array must be specified by a constant, and may be leftblank if the array is initialized from a list. Array boundsstart at 0. There are no run time checks on array bounds.Multi-dimensional arrays use a separate bracket for each dimension.An array name used without brackets is a pointer to the first element.
int a[]={0,1,2,3,4}; // Array with elements a[0] to a[4]
int b[5]={6,7}; // Implied ={6,7,0,0,0};
int c[5]; // Not initialized, c[0] to c[4] could have any values
int d[2][3]={{1,2,3},{4,5,6}}; // Initialized 2-D array
int i=d[1][2]; // 6
d[-1][7]=0; // Not checked, program may crash
The bare name of an array is a const pointer to the first element. Ifp is a pointer to an array element, then p+i points i elements ahead,to p[i]. By definition, p[i] is *(p+i).
int a[5]; // a[0] through a[4] int* p=a+2; // *p is a[2] p[1]; // a[3] p-a; // 2 p>a; // true because p-a > 0 p-1 == a+1 // true, both are &a[1] *a; // a[0] or p[-2] a=p; // Error, a is const (but not *a)
A literal string enclosed in double quotes is an unnamed static array ofconst char with an implied '\0' as the last element. It may be used either toinitialize an array of char, or in an expression as a pointer to thefirst char. Special chars in literals may be escaped with a backslashas before. Literal strings are concatenated without a + operator(convenient to span lines).
char s[]="abc"; // char s[4]={'a','b','c','\0'};
const char* p="a" "b\n"; // Points to the 'a' in the 4 element array "ab\n\0"
const char* answers[2]={"no","yes"}; // Array of pointers to char
cout << answers[1]; // prints yes (type const char*)
cout << answers[1][0]; // prints y (type const char)
"abc"[1] // 'b'
Arrays do not support copying, assignment, or comparison.
int a[5], b[5]=a; // Error: can't initialize b this way b=a; // Error: can't assign arrays b==a; // false, comparing pointers, not contents "abc"=="abc" // false, comparing pointers to 2 different locationsThe size of an array created with new[] may be an expression. Theelements cannot be initialized with a list. There is no run time checkagainst accessing deleted elements.
int n, *p; cin >> n; p=new int[n]; // Elements p[0] to p[n-1] with values initially undefined delete[] p; // Use delete with new or new(), delete[] with new[] p[0] = 1; // May crash
static
Normally, objects are placed on the stack. Memory is allocatedby growing the stack at the top; thus objects are destroyed inthe reverse order in which they are created. An object's life spanis the same as its scope. If an object comes into scope more than once,then it is reinitialized each time, and destroyed when leaving its scope. +----------+
| |
| Heap | Allocated with new until deleted or program exits.
| |
+^^^^^^^^^^+
| Stack | Local objects, parameters, temporaries, function return addresses.
+----------+ +---------+
| Data | <-- | Data | Initial values for static and global objects.
+----------+ +---------+
| Code | <-- | Code | Executable machine instructions.
+----------+ +---------+ (Cannot be read or written by program.)
| Reserved | a.out on disk
| for OS |
| and other| Cannot be read or written by program, will cause segmentation
| programs | fault or general protection fault.
+----------+
Memory
static objects are placed in the data segment. They areinitialized from values stored in the executable file, and thereforethese values must be known at compile time. Initialization occurs onlyonce. Values are maintained when the object is out of scope (e.g.between function calls), and it is safe to return a pointer or referenceto them. Numeric values not explicitly initialized are set to 0.
int& f() { // Return by reference, f() is an alias for s, not a temporary copy
static int s=1; // Initialized only once
++s;
return s; // Safe to return by reference
}
int main() {
cout << f(); // 2
cout << f(); // 3
f()=5; // OK, s=5;
s=6; // Error, s is not in scope
register
(Rare) A hint to the compiler to optimize an int or pointer for speed.It is no longer used because most optimizers can do a better job.register int x;
volatile
(Rare) Indicates that an object might be modified from outside theprogram (e.g. a hardware input port) and that the optimizer should notmake copies of it. Its use is machine dependent.const volatile unsigned short& port=*(const short*)0xfffe; // 16 bit port at address xfffe
Standard Library Types
Standard library types (string, vector, map...) and objects(cin, cout...) require a#include <header> and must be extracted fromnamespace std, either with a using namespace std;statement or by using the fully qualified names preceded with std::,as in std::cout.
#include <iostream> #include <iostream>
int main() { using namespace std;
std::cout << "Hello\n"; int main() {
return 0; cout << "Hello\n";
} return 0;
}
<iostream>
The header <iostream> defines global object cin oftype istream, and global objects cout, cerr, clogof type ostream. cin represents standard input,normally the keyboard, unless redirected to a file or piped on thecommand line. cout represents standard output, which isnormally the screen unless redirected or piped. Writing tocerr or clog both write to the screen even if outputis redirected. The difference is that writing a newline ('\n') flushesany buffered output to cerr but not to cout orclog.
In the following, in is an istream (cin),out is an ostream (cout, cerr, clog), i is int, c is char, and cp is char*.
in >> x; // Read 1 word to numeric, string, or char* x, return in in.get(); // Read 1 char (0-255) or EOF (-1) as an int in.get(c); // Read 1 char into c, return in in.unget(); // Put back last char read, return in in.getline(cp, i); // Read up to i chars into char cp[i] or until '\n', return in in.getline(cp, i, c); // Read to c instead of '\n', return in getline(in, s); // Read up to '\n' into string s, return in in.good(); // true if no error or EOF bool(in); // in.good(); in.bad(); // true if unexpected char in formatted input in.clear(); // Allow more input after bad, or throw an ios::failure in.eof(); // true if end of file in.fail(); // true if system input error out << x; // Formatted output, redirected with > out << endl; // Print '\n' and flush
Input with >> reads a contiguous sequence of non-whitespacecharacters. If x is numeric and the next word contains invalidcharacters (such as "1.5" or "foo" for an int), then the firstoffending character remains unread, in.bad() is set, and no furtherinput can occur until in.clear() is called. Input into a char*array is not bounds checked. Input returns the istream to allowchaining, and has a conversion to bool to test for success. Outputalso returns the ostream to allow chaining.
// Read and print pairs of strings and ints until something goes wrong
// Input: hi 3 there 5 this is 1 test
// Output: hi 3
there 5
string s; int i;
while (cin >> s >> i)
cout << s << " " << i << endl;
cin.clear();
The get() methods read one characterincluding whitespace. The various getline() functions read up throughthe next newline character and discard the newline.The methods good(), bad(), eof(), fail(), clear(), andimplicit conversion to bool are available in ostream,just as in istream, but are seldom used.
<iomanip>
Defines manipulators for formatted output of numeric types.They have no effect on strings. setw() applies only to thenext object printed, but the others remain in effect until changed.
out << setw(i); // Pad next output to i chars, then back to 0
out << setfill(c); // Pad with c (default ' ')
out << setprecision(i); // Use i significant digits for all float, double
cout << setw(6) << setprecision(3) << setfill('0') << 3.1; // print "003.10"
<fstream>
Defines types ifstream and ofstream representinginput and output files respectively. ifstream is derived from istream,inheriting all its operations (such as >>). In addition,ifstream in(cp); // Open file named cp for reading ifstream in(cp, ios::in | ios::binary); // Open in binary mode bool(in); // true if open successful
cp is the file name. It must be a char*, not string (uses.c_str() to convert string s).Input is normally in text mode. In Windows, carriage returns ('\r') arediscarded, and an ASCII 26 ('\032') signals end of file. In binarymode and in UNIX, no such translation occurs. The file is closedwhen the ifstream is destroyed.
{
ifstream f("input.dat", ios::in | ios::binary);
if (!f)
cerr << "File not found\n";
else {
int i=f.get(); // First byte or EOF if empty
}
} // f closed here
ofstream is derived from ostream,inheriting all its operations (such as <<). In addition,
ofstream os(cp); // Open file named cp for writing ofstream os(cp, ios::out | ios::binary); // Open in binary mode
In text mode in Windows, writing '\n' actually writes "\r\n".The file named cp is overwritten if it exists, or created otherwise.The file is flushed and closed when the ofstream is destroyed.
<string>
A string is like an array of char, but it also supportscopying, assignment, and comparison, and its size may be set or changedat run time.'\0' has no special meaning. There is implicit conversion from char*to string in mixed type expressions.string() // Empty string string(cp) // Convert char* cp to string string(n, c) // string of n copies of char c s=s2 // Assign char* or string s2 to string s s1<s2 // Also ==, !=, >, <=, >=, either s1 or s2 may be char* s.size() // Length of string s string::size_type // Type of s.size(), usually unsigned int s.empty() // True if s.size() == 0 s[i] // i'th char, 0 <= i < s.size() (unchecked), may be assigned to s.at(i) // s[i] with bounds check, throws out_of_range s1+s2 // Concatenate strings, either s1 or s2 may be char or char* s+=s2 // Append string, char, or char* s2 to string s s.c_str() // string s as a const char* with trailing '\0' s.substr(i, j) // Substring of string s of length j starting at s[i] s.substr(i) // Substring from s[i] to the end s.find(s2) // Index of char, char*, or string s2 in s, or string::npos if not found s.rfind(s2) // Index of last occurrence of s2 in s s.find_first_of(s2) // Index of first char in s that occurs in s2 s.find_last_of(s2) // Index of last char in s that occurs in s2 s.find_first_not_of(s2) // Index of first char in s not found in s2 s.find_last_not_of(s2) // Index of last char in s not found in s2 s.replace(i, j, s2) // Replace s.substr(i, j) with s2s.size() should be converted to intto avoid unsigned comparison.
string s(3,'a'); // "aaa"
s += "b"+s; // "aaabaaa"
for (int i=0; i!=int(s.size()); ++i) { // print s one char at a time
cout << s[i];
s.size() > -1; // false! -1 is converted to unsigned
string supports standard container operations with regard toiterators.
string iterators are random, supporting all thepointer operators of
char*. The notation
[b,e) meansthe sequence such that pointer or iterator b points to the first elementand e points one past the last element.
s.begin() // Iterator pointing to s[0] s.end() // Iterator pointing 1 past last char string::iterator // Iterator type, like char* string::const_iterator // Type if s is const, like const char* string(b, e) // string initialized from sequence [b,e) s.erase(b) // Remove char in s pointed to by b s.erase(b, e) // Remove substring [b,e) from s s.replace(b, e, s2) // Replace substring [b,e) with string s2Conversion from iterator to const_iterator isallowed, but not the other way. const_iterator should beused if the string is not going to be modified.
char* cp="ABCDE";
string s(cp, cp+5); // "ABCDE"
string s2(s.begin()+1, s.end()-1); // "BCD"
for (string::const_iterator p=s.begin(); p!=s.end(); ++p) // Print s one char at a time
cout << *p; // or p[0]
As with arrays and pointers, indexing and iterator dereferencing arenot checked at run time. Creating a string with a negative or verylarge size is also trouble.
string s(-1, 'x'); // Crash, negative size string s2(s.end(), s.begin()); // Crash, negative size s[-1]='x'; // Crash, out of bounds *s.end()='x'; // Crash, out of bounds string::iterator p; *p='x'; // Crash, dereferencing uninitialized iterator
<vector>
A vector<T> is like an array of T, but supports copying,assignment, and comparison. Its size can be set and changed at runtime, and it can efficiently implement a stack (O(1) time to push or pop).It has random iterators like string, which behave like type T*(or const T* if the vector is const). If T is numeric, elements areinitialized to 0. It is not possible to have an initialization listsuch as {1,2,3}.vector<T>() // Empty vector, elements of type T vector<T>(n) // n elements, default initialized vector<T>(n, x) // n elements each initialized to x vector<T> v2=v; // Copy v to v2 v2=v; // Assignment v2<v // Also >, ==, !=, <=, >= if defined for T vector<T>(b, e) // Initialize to sequence [b, e) v.size() // n vector<T>::size_type // Type of v.size(), usually unsigned int v.empty() // true if v.size() == 0 v[i] // i'th element, 0 <= i < v.size() (unchecked), may be assigned to v.at(i) // v[i] with bounds check, throws out_of_range v.begin(), v.end() // Iterators [b, e) vector<T>::iterator // Iterator type, also const_iterator v.back() // v[v.size()-1] (unchecked if empty) v.push_back(x) // Increase size by 1, copy x to last element v.pop_back() // Decrease size by 1 (unchecked if empty) v.front() // v[0] (unchecked) v.resize(n) // Change size to n >= 0 (unchecked) v.insert(d, x) // Insert x in front of iterator d, shift, increase size by 1 v.insert(d, n, x) // Insert n copies of x in front of d v.insert(d, b, e) // Insert copy of [b, e) in front of d v.erase(d) // Remove *d, shift, decrease size by 1 v.erase(d, e) // Remove subsequence [d, e) v.clear() // v.erase(v.begin(), v.end()) v.reserve(n) // Anticipate that v will grow to size n >= v.size() v.capacity() // Reserved sizeFor insert and erase, d and e must point into v (and d <= e) orthe program may crash. Elements from *d to the end are shifted andthe size is changed as needed. Saved copies of iterators may become invalidafter any change of size or capacity (not checked).
To implement push_back() efficiently, a vector typicallydoubles the reserved space when it runs out in order to minimizememory reallocation and copying. reserve() allows thisstrategy to be optimized.
// Read words from input into a stack, print in reverse order
string s;
vector<string> v;
while (cin >> s)
v.push_back(s);
while (!v.empty()) {
cout << v.back() << endl;
v.pop_back();
}
<deque>
A deque (double ended queue) is just like a vector, butoptimized for adding and removing elements at either end in O(1) time.It lacks reserve() and capacity() and addsv.push_front(x) // v.insert(v.begin(), x) v.pop_front() // v.erase(v.begin())
<list>
A list is like a deque but optimized for insert and erase atany point at the cost of random access. It lacks [] (indexing),and its iterators are bidirectional, not supporting [], +, -,<, >, <=, or >=. list addsv.splice(d, v2, b); // Move *b from list v2 to in front of d in v v.splice(d, v2); // Move all elements of list v2 to in front of d in v v.splice(d, v2, b, e); // Move [b,e) in v2 to in front of d at v v.remove(x); // Remove all elements equal to x v.remove_if(f); // Remove elements x where f(x) is true v.sort(); // Sort list v.sort(f); // Sort list using function bool f(x,y) instead of x < y v.merge(v2); // Merge sorted list v2 into sorted list v v.merge(v2, f); // Merge using f(x,y) instead of x < y to sort v v.unique(); // Remove duplicates from sorted list v.unique(f); // Use f(x,y) instead of x == y v.reverse(); // Reverse order of elementsIterators can only be moved one element at a time using ++ or --, andcompared using == or !=.
char* cp="ABCDE";
list<char> v(cp, cp+5); // v.size() is 5
for (list<char>::const_iterator p=v.begin(); p!=v.end(); ++p) // Print ABCDE
cout << *p;
<map>
A map<K,V> m is a set of key-value pairs with unique, sortedkeys of type K and values of type V. m[k] efficiently (O(log n) time)returns the value associated with k (as an lvalue), or creates a defaultvalue (0 if V is numeric) if k is used for the first time.A map iterator points to a pair<const K, V>, which hasmembers first of type const K and second of type V.pair<K,V> x(k,v); // Create a pair x containing copies of k and v x.first // k x.second // v x=make_pair(k,v) // x.first=k; x.second=v; map<K,V> m; // map sorted by < on K map<K,V,f>() // map sorted by f(x,y) instead of x<y on K m[k]=v; // Associate v (type V) with unique key k of type K m[k] // Retrieve v, or associate V() with k if new m.size() // Number of unique keys m.empty() // true if m.size() == 0 map<K,V>::iterator // bidirectional, points to a pair<const K, V> map<K,V>::const_iterator // points to a pair<const K, const V> m.begin() // Points to first pair (lowest k) m.end() // Points 1 past last pair m.find(k) // Points to pair containing k or m.end() if not found m.erase(k) // Remove key K and its associated value m.erase(b) // Remove pair pointed to by iterator b m.erase(b, e) // Remove sequence [b, e) m.clear() // Make empty: m.erase(m.begin(), m.end()) m==m2 // Compare maps, also !=, <, <=, >, >=We use m.find(k) rather than m[k] when we wish to look up kwithout increasing the size of m if k is not found.
// Read words, print an alphabetical index of words with their counts
string s;
map<string, int> m;
while (cin >> s)
++m[s];
for (map<string, int>::const_iterator p=m.begin(); p!=m.end(); ++p)
cout << p->first << " " << p->second << endl;
A
multimap is a
map that allows duplicate keys.It support all
map operations except []. Elements are addedby inserting a pair<K,V> and retrieved by
m.equal_range(k) whichreturns a pair of iterators defining the sequence of pairs matching k.
multimap<K,V,f> m; // f defaults to < on K
m.insert(make_pair(k,v)) // Insert a pair
pair<multimap<K,V,f>::iterator, multimap<K,V,f>::iterator> p
= m.equal_range(k) // Sequence with key k is [p->first, p->second)
f (when used as a template argument) is a functoid (orfunction object), a classthat looks like a function by overloading (). For example:
template <class T> class GreaterThan {
public:
bool operator()(const T& a, const T& b) const {return b < a;}
};
map<string, int, GreaterThan<T> > m; // keys sorted in reverse order
Some function objects can be found in
<functional>.
<set>
A set<K> and multiset<K> are like a mapand multimap, but without values. Iterators point to a K ratherthan a pair. There is no [] operator.set<K> m; // Elements are sorted by < on K m.insert(k) // Add an element m.erase(k) // Remove an element m.find(k)!=m.end() // Test if k is in m
<queue>
A queue is a container in which elements are inserted at theback and removed from the front. This could also be done with a deque or list, so no new capabilities are provided.A queue does not support iterators or indexing.queue<T> q; // Queue of type T q.size() // Number of items in q q.empty() // true if q.size() == 0 q.push(x) // Put x in the back x=q.back() // The item last pushed, may be assigned to x=q.front() // The next item to pop, may be assigned to q.pop() // Remove the front itemA priority_queue is more useful. It sorts the items as theyare pushed so that the largest is on top and removed first.
priority_queue<T> q; // Element type is T priority_queue<T, vector<T>, f> q; // Use functoid f(x,y) instead of x < y to sort q.size(), q.empty() // As before q.push(x) // Insert x x=q.top() // Largest item in q, cannot be assigned to q.pop() // Remove top item
<stack>
Items are popped from the top of a stack in the reverse orderin which they were pushed. It does not provide any new functionalitybeyond a vector, deque, or list, and does not support iterators or indexing.stack<T> s; // Stack with elements of type T s.size(), s.empty() // As with queue s.push(x); // Put x on top x=s.top(); // Last item pushed, may be assigned to s.pop(); // Remove the top item
<bitset>
A bitset<N> is like a vector<bool> with fixedsize N, but without iterators, and supporting logical operators likean N-bit int. Its elements have the values 0 or 1. It isimplemented efficiently, with 8 elements per byte.bitset<N> b; // N-bit bitset, N must be a compile time constant bitset<N> b=x; // Initialize b[0]..b[31] from bits of long x b[i] // i'th bit, 0 <= i < N or throw out_of_range() b.size() // N, cannot be changed b.set(i) // b[i] = 1 b.reset(i) // b[i] = 0 b.flip(i) // b[i] = 1 - b[i] b.test(i) // true if b[i] == 1 b.set() // Set all bits, also b.reset(), b.flip() b & b2 // Bitwise AND, also | ^ ~ << >> &= |= ^= <<= >>= == != b.count() // Number of bits set to 1 b.any() // true if b.count() > 0 b.none() // true if b.count() == 0 cin >> b // Read bits as '0' and '1' e.g. "10101" cout << b // Write bits as '0' and '1' bitset<N> b(s); // Initialize from string s of '0' and '1' or throw invalid_argument() s=b.template to_string<char>() // Convert to string x=b.to_ulong() // Convert to unsigned long, throw overflow_error() if bits > 31 set
<valarray>
A valarray is like a fixed sized array or vector that supportsarithmetic operations on all the elements at once. For instance, ifx and y are valarrays of the same size, then x+y is a valarray containingthe sums of the corresponding elements.Likewise, y=sqrt(x) assigns y[i]=sqrt(x[i]) to each element of y.In mixed type expressions,a scalar (element of type T) is promoted to a valarray of the same sizeby duplicating it, e.g. x+1 adds 1 to all elements of x.valarray<T> v(n); // n elements of type T, initially T() or 0 valarray<T> v(x, n); // n copies of x (note arguments are backwards) valarray<T> v(a, n); // Initialize from array a[0]..a[n-1] valarray<T> v; // size is 0 v.size() // Number of elements, n v[i] // i'th element, 0 <= i < n, not checked v+=x, v+=v // Add x or v[i] to all v[i], also = -= *= /= %= ^= &= |= <<= >>= v+v, v+x, x+v // Also - * / % ^ & | << >> and unary + - ~ ! sqrt(v) // Also all functions in cmath x=v.sum() // Sum of all elements v.shift(n) // Move all v[i] to v[i+n], shift in 0 v.cshift(n) // Move v[i] to v[(i+n) % v.size()] v.resize(n) // Change size to n, but reset all elements to 0 v.resize(n, x) // Change size to n, set all elements to x
<complex>
A complex supports complex arithmetic. It has real andimaginary parts of type T. Mixed type expressions promote realto complex (e.g. double to complex<double> and lower precisionto higher precision (e.g. complex<int> to complex<double>).complex<T> x; // (0,0), T is a numeric type complex<T> x=r; // (r,0), convert real r to complex complex<T> x(r, i); // (r,i) x=polar<T>(rho, theta); // Polar notation: radius, angle in radians x.real() // r x.imag() // i abs(x) // rho = sqrt(r*r+i*i) arg(x) // tan(theta) = i/r norm(x) // abs(x)*abs(x) conj(x) // (r,-i) x+y // Also - * / == != = += -= *= /= and unary + - sin(x) // Also sinh, sqrt, tan, tanh, cos, cosh, exp, log, log10, pow(x,y) cout << x // Prints in format "(r,i)" cin >> x // Expects "r", "(r)", or "(r,i)"
<stdexcept>, <exception>
The standard library provides a hierarchy of exception types. Not allof them are used by the library, but any may be thrown.
Type Header Thrown by
exception stdexcept, exception
logic_error stdexcept
length_error stdexcept
domain_error stdexcept
out_of_range stdexcept .at(i) (vector/string/deque index out of bounds)
invalid_argument stdexcept, bitset bitset("xxx") (not '0' or '1')
runtime_error stdexcept
range_error stdexcept
overflow_error stdexcept
underflow_error stdexcept
bad_alloc new new, new[] (out of memory)
bad_cast typeinfo dynamic_cast<T&> (can't convert to derived)
bad_typeid typeinfo typeid(*p) when p==0
bad_exception exception
ios_base::failure ios, iostream, fstream istream::clear(), ostream::clear()
Catching a base class catches all derived classes, thus
catch(exceptione) catches all of the above types. However, C++ allows throwingexceptions not derived from
exception, so this may not catcheverything. All exceptions provide the following interface:
throw exception(msg) // Throw exception with char* or string msg
throw exception(); // Default msg
catch(exception e) {e.what();} // msg as a char*
New exceptions may be derived from existing types to maintain thisinterface (see inheritance).
class MyError: public exception {
public:
MyError(const string& msg=""): exception(msg) {}
}
C++ Standard Library Functions
Many C++ standard library functions operate on sequences denoted byiterators or pointers. Iterators are a family of types thatinclude pointers. They are classified by the operators they support.
- input: ++p, p++, p=q, p==q, p!=q, *p (read-only)
- output: p=q, p==q, p!=q, *p++ = x (alternating write/increment)
- forward: input and output and p->m, *p (multiple read-write)
- bidirectional: forward and --p, p--, implemented bylist, map, multimap, set, multiset.
- random: bidirectional and p<q, p>q, p<=q, p>=q, p+i, i+p, p-i, p-q, p[i],implemented by arrays (as pointers), string, vector, deque.
Some algorithms require certain iterator types, but will accept morepowerful types. For example, copy(b, e, d) require b and eto be at least input iterators and d to be at least an output iterator. Butit will accept forward, bidirectional, or random iterators because theseall support input and output operations. sort() requires randomiterators and will accept no other type.
The notation [b,e) denotesthe sequence of e-b objects from b[0] to e[-1], i.e. b points to thebeginning of the sequence and e points one past the end. For mostcontainers, v, the sequence is [v.begin(), v.end()). For an array ofn elements, the sequence is [a, a+n).
<algorithm>
In the following, b and e are input iterators, and d is an output iterator,unless otherwise specified. Parameters eq and lt are optional,and default to functions that take 2 arguments x and y and return x==yand x<y respectively, e.g. bool eq(x,y) {return x==y;}.x and y are objects of the type pointed to by the iterators.p is a pair of iterators. f is a function or function object as noted.
// Operations on ordinary objects swap(x1, x2); // Swap values of 2 objects of the same type min(x1, x2); // Smaller of x1 or x2, must be same type max(x1, x2); // Larger of x1 or x2, must be same type // Properties of sequences (input iterators) equal(b, e, b2, eq); // true if [b,e)==[b2,...) lexicographical_compare(b, e, b2, e2, lt); // true if [b,e)<[b2,e2) i=min_element(b, e); // Points to smallest in [b,e) i=max_element(b, e); // Points to largest n=count(b, e, x); // Number of occurrences of x in [b,e) n=count_if(b, e, f); // Number of f(x) true in [b,e) // Searching, i points to found item or end (e) if not found i=find(b, e, x); // Find first x in [b,e) i=find_if(b, e, f); // Find first x where f(x) is true i=search(b, e, b2, e2, eq);// Find first [b2,e2) in [b,e) (forward) i=find_end(b, e, b2, e2, eq); // Find last [b2,e2) in [b,e) (forward) i=search_n(b, e, n, x, eq);// Find n copies of x in [b,e) (forward) p=mismatch(b, e, b2, eq); // Find first *p.first in [b,e) != *p.second in [b2,.) (forward) i=adjacent_find(b, e, eq); // Find first of 2 equal elements (forward) // Modifying elements i=copy(b, e, d); // Copy [b,e) to [d,i) fill(d, i, x); // Set all in [d,i) to x (forward) i=fill_n(d, n, x); // Set n elements in [d,i) to x generate(d, i, f); // Set [d,i) to f() (e.g. rand) (forward) i=generate_n(d, n, f); // Set n elements in [d,i) to f() f=for_each(b, e, f); // Call f(x) for each x in [b,e) i=transform(b, e, d, f); // For x in [b,e), put f(x) in [d,i) i=transform(b, e, b2, d, f); // For x in [b,e), y in [b2,.), put f(x,y) in [d,i) replace(b, e, x, y) // Replace x with y in [b,e) replace_if(b, e, f, y); // Replace with y in [b,e) where f(x) is true i=replace_copy(b, e, d, x, y); // Copy [b,e) to [d,i) replacing x with y i=replace_copy_if(b, e, d, f, y); // Copy replacing with y where f(x) is true // Rearranging sequence elements sort(b, e, lt); // Sort [b,e) by < (random) stable_sort(b, e, lt); // Sort slower, maintaining order of equal elements (random) partial_sort(b, m, e, lt); // Sort faster but leave [m,e) unsorted (random) nth_element(b, m, e, lt); // Sort fastest but only *m in proper place (random) iter_swap(b, e); // swap(*b, *e) (forward) i=swap_ranges(b, e, b2); // swap [b,e) with [b2,i) (forward) i=partition(b, e, f); // Moves f(x) true to front, [i,e) is f(x) false (bidirectional) i=stable_partition(b, e, f); // Maintains order within each partition i=remove(b, e, x); // Move all x to end in [i,e) (forward) i=remove_if(b, e, f); // Move f(x) true to front in [b,i) (forward) i=remove_copy(b, e, d, x); // Copy elements matching x to [d,i) i=remove_copy_if(b, e, d, f); // Copy elements x if f(x) is false to [d,i) replace(b, e, x1, x2); // Replace x1 with x2 in [b,e) i=replace_copy(b, e, d, x1, x2); // Copy [b,e) to [d,i) replacing x1 with x2 reverse(b, e); // Reverse element order in [b,e) (bidirectional) i=reverse_copy(b, e, d); // Copy [b,e) to [d,i) reversing the order (b,e bidirectional) rotate(b, m, e); // Move [b,m) behind [m,e) (forward) i=rotate_copy(b, m, e, d); // Rotate into [d,i) random_shuffle(b, e, f); // Random permutation, f() defaults to rand() next_permutation(b, e, lt);// Next greater sequence, true if successful (bidirectional) prev_permutation(b, e, lt);// Previous permutation, true if successful (bidirectional) // Operations on sorted sequences i=unique(b, e, eq); // Move unique list to [b,i), extras at end i=unique_copy(b, e, d, eq); // Copy one of each in [b,d) to [d,i) i=binary_search(b, e, x, lt); // Find i in [b,e) (forward) i=lower_bound(b, e, x, lt); // Find first x in [b,e) or where to insert it (forward) i=upper_bound(b, e, x, lt); // Find 1 past last x in [b,e) or where to insert it (forward) p=equal_range(b, e, x, lt); // p.first = lower bound, p.second = upper bound (forward) includes(b, e, b2, e2, lt); // true if [b,e) is a subset of [b2,e2) i=merge(b, e, b2, e2, d, lt); // Merge [b,e) and [b2,e2) to [d,i) inplace_merge(b, m, e, lt); // Merge [b,m) and [m,e) to [b,e) (bidirectional) i=set_union(b, e, b2, e2, d, lt); // [d,i) = unique elements in either [b,e) or [b2,e2) i=set_intersection(b, e, b2, e2, d, lt); // [d,i) = unique elements in both i=set_difference(b, e, b2, e2, d, lt); // [d,i) = unique elements in [b,e) but not [b2,e2) i=set_symmetric_difference(b, e, b2, e2, d, lt); // [d,i) = elements in one but not bothAlgorithms never change the size of a container. When copying, thedestination must be large enough to hold the result.
int a[5]={3,1,4,1,6};
vector b(5);
copy(a, a+5, v.begin()); // Copy a to v
remove(a, a+5, 1); // {3,4,6,1,1}, returns a+3
sort(a, a+4); // {1,3,4,6,1}
<numeric>
In the following, plus, minus, and times areoptional functions taking 2 arguments x and y that return x+y, x-y,and x*y respectively, e.g. int plus(int x, int y) {return x+y;}x=accumulate(b, e, x, plus); // x + sum over [b,e) x=inner_product(b, e, b2, x, plus, times); // x + sum [b,e)*[b2,e2) adjacent_difference(b, e, minus); // for i in (b,e) *i -= i[-1] partial_sum(b, e, plus); // for i in [b,e) *i += sum [b,i)
<iterator>
An inserter is an output iterator that expands the container itpoints to by calling push_back(), push_front(), or insert(). The containermust support this operation. A stream iteratorcan be used to do formatted input or output using >> or <<
back_inserter(c); // An iterator that appends to container c front_inserter(c); // Inserts at front of c inserter(c, p); // Inserts in front of p ostream_iterator<T>(out, cp); // Writes to ostream separated by char* cp (default " ") istream_iterator<T>(in); // An input iterator that reads T objects from istreamThe most common use is to copy to an empty vector, deque, or list.
vector<int> from(10), to; copy(from.begin(), from.end(), back_inserter(to));
This header also defines tag types to be used for creatingiterator types that work with algorithms. Seedefining iterators.
<functional>
Functions in <functional> create function objects, whichare objects that behave like functions by overloading operator().These can be passed to algorithms that take function arguments, e.g.
vector<int> v(10); sort(v.begin(), v.end(), greater<int>()); // Sort v in reverse order int x=accumulate(v.begin(), v.end(), 1, multiplies<T>); // Product of elementsThe following create function objects that take one or two parametersx and y of type T and return the indicated expression, i.e., equal_to<int>()(3,4) returns false.
// Predicates (return bool) equal_to<T>() // x==y not_equal_to<T>() // x!=y greater<T>() // x>y less<T>() // x<y greater_equal<T>() // x>=y less_equal<T>() // x<=y logical_and<bool>() // x&&y logical_or<bool>() // x||y logical_not<bool>() // !x (unary) // Arithmetic operations (return T) plus<T>() // x+y minus<T>() // x-y multiplies<T>() // x*y divides<T>() // x/y modulus<T>() // x%y negate<T>() // -x (unary)A binder converts a 2-argument function object into a 1-argumentobject by binding a fixed value c to the other argument, e.g. bind2nd(less<int>(), 10) returns a function object that takes oneargument x and returns true if x<10.
bind1st(f, c) // An object computing f(c,y) bind2nd(f, c) // An object computing f(x,c) i=find_if(v.begin(), v.end(), bind2nd(equal_to<int>(), 0)); // Find first 0The following convert ordinary functions and member functions intofunction objects. All functions must be converted to be passed tobind1st and bind2nd. Member functions must also be converted to bepassed to algorithms.
ptr_fun(f) // Convert ordinary function f to object mem_fun(&T::f) // Convert member function of class T mem_fun_ref(T::f) // Same i=find_if(v.begin(), v.end(), mem_fun(&string::empty)); // Find "" transform(v.begin(), v.end(), v.begin(), bind2nd(ptr_fun(pow), 2.0)); // Square elementsnot1() and not2() negate a unary or binary function object.
not1(f) // Object computing !f(x) not2(f) // Object computing !f(x,y) i=find_if(v.begin(), v.end(), not1(bind2nd(equal_to<int>(), 0))); // Find nonzero
<new>
The default behavior of new is to throw an exception oftype bad_alloc ifout of memory. This can be changed by writing a function (takingno parameters and returning void) and passing it toset_new_handler().
void handler() {throw bad_alloc();} // The default
set_new_handler(handler);
new(nothrow) may be used in place of
new. Ifout of memory, it returns 0 rather than throw bad_alloc.
int* p = new(nothrow) int[1000000000]; // p may be 0
C Library Functions
The C library is provided for backwards compatibility with the C language.Because C lacked namespaces, all types and functions were defined globally.For each C header, C++ provides an additional header by prefixing "c"and dropping the ".h" suffix, which places everything in namespace std.For instance, <stdio.h> becomes <cstdio>.<cstdlib>
Miscellaneous functions. s is type char*, n is int
atoi(s); atol(s); atof(s);// Convert char* s to int, long, double e.g. atof("3.5")
abs(x); labs(x); // Absolute value of numeric x as int, long
rand(); // Pseudo-random int from 0 to RAND_MAX (at least 32767)
srand(n); // Initialize rand(), e.g. srand(time(0));
system(s); // Execute OS command s, e.g. system("ls");
getenv(s); // Environment variable or 0 as char*, e.g. getenv("PATH");
exit(n); // Kill program, return status n, e.g. exit(0);
void* p = malloc(n); // Allocate n bytes or 0 if out of memory. Obsolete, use new.
p = calloc(n, 1); // Allocate and set to 0 or return NULL. Obsolete.
p = realloc(p, n); // Enlarge to n bytes or return NULL. Obsolete.
free(p); // Free memory. Obsolete: use delete
<cctype>
Character tests take a char c and return bool.
isalnum(c); // Is c a letter or digit? isalpha(c); isdigit(c); // Is c a letter? Digit? islower(c); isupper(c); // Is c lower case? Upper case? isgraph(c); isprint(c); // Printing character except/including space? isspace(c); iscntrl(c); // Is whitespace? Is a control character? ispunct(c); // Is printing except space, letter, or digit? isxdigit(c); // Is hexadecimal digit? c=tolower(c); c=toupper(c); // Convert c to lower/upper case
<cmath>
Functions take double and return double.
sin(x); cos(x); tan(x); // Trig functions, x in radians asin(x); acos(x); atan(x);// Inverses atan2(y, x); // atan(y/x) sinh(x); cosh(x); tanh(x);// Hyperbolic exp(x); log(x); log10(x); // e to the x, log base e, log base 10 pow(x, y); sqrt(x); // x to the y, square root ceil(x); floor(x); // Round up or down (as a double) fabs(x); fmod(x, y); // Absolute value, x mod y
<ctime>
Functions for reading the system clock. time_t isan integer type (usually long). tm is a struct.
clock()/CLOCKS_PER_SEC; // Time in seconds since program started
time_t t=time(0); // Absolute time in seconds or -1 if unknown
tm* p=gmtime(&t); // 0 if UCT unavailable, else p->tm_X where X is:
sec, min, hour, mday, mon (0-11), year (-1900), wday, yday, isdst
asctime(p); // "Day Mon dd hh:mm:ss yyyy\n"
asctime(localtime(&t)); // Same format, local time
<cstring>
Functions for performing string-like operations on arrays of charmarked with a terminating '\0' (such as "quoted literals"or as returned by string::c_str(). Mostly obsoleted bytype string.
strcpy(dst, src); // Copy src to dst. Not bounds checked
strcat(dst, src); // Concatenate to dst. Not bounds checked
strcmp(s1, s2); // Compare, <0 if s1<s2, 0 if s1==s2, >0 if s1>s2
strncpy(dst, src, n); // Copy up to n chars, also strncat(), strncmp()
strlen(s); // Length of s not counting \0
strchr(s,c); strrchr(s,c);// Address of first/last char c in s or 0
strstr(s, sub); // Address of first substring in s or 0
// mem... functions are for any pointer types (void*), length n bytes
memcpy(dst, src, n); // Copy n bytes from src to dst
memmove(dst, src, n); // Same, but works correctly if dst overlaps src
memcmp(s1, s2, n); // Compare n bytes as in strcmp
memchr(s, c, n); // Find first byte c in s, return address or 0
memset(s, c, n); // Set n bytes of s to c
<cstdio>
The stdio library is made mostly obsolete by the neweriostreamlibrary, but many programs still use it. There are facilities forrandom access files and greater control over output format,error handling, and temporary files. Mixing both I/O libraries isnot recommended. There are no facilities for string I/O.
Global objects stdin, stdout, stderr of type FILE*correspond to cin, cout, cerr. s is type char*, c is char,n is int, f is FILE*.
FILE* f=fopen("filename", "r"); // Open for reading, NULL (0) if error
// Mode may also be "w" (write) "a" append, "a+" random access read/append,
// "rb", "wb", "ab", "a+b" are binary
fclose(f); // Close file f
fprintf(f, "x=%d", 3); // Print "x=3" Other conversions:
"%5d %u %-8ld" // int width 5, unsigned int, long left justified
"%o %x %X %lx" // octal, hex, HEX, long hex
"%f %5.1f" // double: 123.000000, 123.0
"%e %g" // 1.23e2, use either f or g
"%c %s" // char, char*
"%%" // %
sprintf(s, "x=%d", 3); // Print to array of char s
printf("x=%d", 3); // Print to stdout (screen unless redirected)
fprintf(stderr, ... // Print to standard error (not redirected)
getc(f); // Read one char (as an int, 0-255) or EOF (-1) from f
ungetc(c, f); // Put back one c to f
getchar(); // getc(stdin);
putc(c, f) // fprintf(f, "%c", c);
putchar(c); // putc(c, stdout);
fgets(s, n, f); // Read line including '\n' into char s[n] from f. NULL if EOF
gets(s) // fgets(s, INT_MAX, f); no '\n' or bounds check
fread(s, n, 1, f); // Read n bytes from f to s, return number read
fwrite(s, n, 1, f); // Write n bytes of s to f, return number written
fflush(f); // Force buffered writes to f
fseek(f, n, SEEK_SET); // Position binary file f at n
// or SEEK_CUR from current position, or SEEK_END from end
ftell(f); // Position in f, -1L if error
rewind(f); // fseek(f, 0L, SEEK_SET); clearerr(f);
feof(f); // Is f at end of file?
ferror(f); // Error in f?
perror(s); // Print char* s and last I/O error message to stderr
clearerr(f); // Clear error code for f
remove("filename"); // Delete file, return 0 if OK
rename("old", "new"); // Rename file, return 0 if OK
f = tmpfile(); // Create temporary file in mode "wb+"
tmpnam(s); // Put a unique file name in char s[L_tmpnam]
Example: input file name and print its size
char filename[100]; // Cannot be a string
printf("Enter filename\n"); // Prompt
gets(filename, 100, stdin); // Read line ending in "\n\0"
filename[strlen(filename)-1]=0; // Chop off '\n';
FILE* f=fopen(filename, "rb"); // Open for reading in binary mode
if (f) { // Open OK?
fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END); // Position at end
long n=ftell(f); // Get position
printf("%s has %ld bytes\n", filename, n);
fclose(f); // Or would close when program ends
}
else
perror(filename); // fprintf(stderr, "%s: not found\n", filename);
// or permission denied, etc.
printf(), fprintf(), and
sprintf() accept a variablenumber of arguments, one for each "%" in the format string, which mustbe the appropriate type. The compiler does not check for this.
printf("%d %f %s", 2, 2.0, "2"); // OK
printf("%s", 5); // Crash: expected a char* arg, read from address 5
printf("%s"); // Crash
printf("%s", string("hi")); // Crash: use "hi" or string("hi").c_str()
<cassert>
Provides a debugging function for testing conditions whereall instances can be turned on or off at once. assert(false);prints the asserted expression, source code file name, and line number,then aborts.Compiling with g++ -DNDEBUG effectively removesthese statements.
assert(e); // If e is false, print message and abort #define NDEBUG // (before #include <assert.h>), turn off assert
Classes
Classes provide data abstraction, the ability to create new types and hidetheir implementation in order to improve maintainability.A class is a data structure and an associated set ofmember functions (methods) and related type declarationswhich can be associated with the class or instances (objects) of theclass. A class is divided into a public interface, visiblewherever the class or its instances are visible, and a privateimplementation visible only to member functions of the class.
class T { // Create a new type T
private: // Members are visible only to member functions of T (default)
public: // Members are visible wherever T is visible
// Type, object, and function declarations
};
T::m; // Member m of type T
T x; // Create object x of type T
x.m; // Member m of object x
T* p=&x; p->m; // Member m of object pointed to by p
Typically the data structure is private, and functionality is providedby member functions. Member function definitions should be separated fromthe declaration and written outside the class definition, or else theyare assumed to be inline (which is appropriate for short functions).A member function should be declared const (before the opening brace)if it does not modify any data members. Only const member functions maybe called on const objects.
class Complex { // Represents imaginary numbers
private:
double re, im; // Data members, represents re + im * sqrt(-1)
public:
void set(double r, double i) {re=r; im=i;} // Inlined member function definition
double real() const {return re;} // const - does not modify data members
double imag() const; // Declaration for non-inlined function
};
double Complex::imag() const {return im;} // Definition for imag()
int main() {
Complex a, b=a; // Objects of type Complex
a.set(3, 4); // Call a member function
b=a; // Assign b.re=a.re; b.im=a.im
b==a; // Error, == is not defined
cout << a.re; // Error, re is private
cout << a.real(); // OK, 3
cout << Complex().real(); // OK, prints an undefined value
Complex().set(5, 6); // Error, non-const member called on const object
A class has two special member functions, a constructor, which is calledwhen the object is created, and a destructor, called when destroyed.The constructor is named class::class, has no returntype or value, may be overloaded and have default arguments, and isnever const. It is followed by an optional initialization listlisting each data member and its initial value. Initializationtakes place before the constructor code is executed. Initializationmight not be in the order listed. Members not listedare default-initialized by calling their constructors with defaultarguments. If no constructor is written, the compiler provides one whichdefault-initializes all members. The syntax is:
class::class(parameter list): member(value), member(value) { code...}
The destructor is named class::~class, has noreturn type or value, no parameters, and is never const. It is usuallynot needed except to return shared resources by closing files ordeleting memory. After the code executes, the data members aredestroyed using their respective destructors in the reverse orderin which they were constructed.
class Complex {
public:
Complex(double r=0, double i=0): re(r), im(i) {} // Constructor
~Complex() {} // Destructor
// Other members...
};
Complex a(1,2), b(3), c=4, d; // (1,2) (3,0) (4,0) (0,0)
A constructor defines a conversion function for creating temporaryobjects. A constructor that allows 1 argument allows implicit conversionwherever needed, such as in expressions, parameter passing, assignment,and initialization.
Complex(3, 4).real(); // 3 a = 5; // Implicit a = Complex(5) or a = Complex(5, 0) void assign_if(bool, Complex&, const Complex&); assign_if(true, a, 6); // Implicit Complex(6) passed to third parameter assign_if(true, 6, a); // Error, non-const reference to Complex(6), which is const
Operators may be overloaded as members. The expression aXb foroperator X can match either operator X(a, b) (global)or a.operator X(b) (member function), but not both.Unary operators omit b.Operators =, [], and -> can only be overloaded as member functions.
class Complex {
public:
Complex operator + (const Complex& b) const { // const because a+b doesn't change a
return Complex(re+b.re, im+b.im);
}
// ...
};
Complex operator - (const Complex& a, const Complex& b) {
return Complex(a.real()-b.real(), a.imag()-b.imag());
}
Complex a(1, 2), b(3, 4);
a+b; // OK, a.operator+(b) == Complex(4, 6)
a-b; // OK, operator-(a, b) == Complex(-2, -2)
a+10; // OK, Complex(1, 12), implicit a+Complex(10, 0)
10+a; // Error, 10 has no member operator+(Complex)
a-10; // OK, Complex(1, -8)
10-a; // OK, Complex(7, -4)
The member function (+) has the advantage of private access (including toother objects of the same class), but can only doimplicit conversions on the right side. The global function (-) issymmetrical, but lacks private access. A friend declaration(in either the private or public section) allows private access toa global function.
class Complex {
friend Complex operator-(const Complex&, const Complex&);
friend class T; // All member functions of class T are friends
// ...
};
A conversion operator allows implicit conversion to another type.It has the form of a member function named operator T() const withimplied return type T. It is generally a good idea to allow implicitconversions in only one direction, preferably with constructors, sothis member function is usually used to convert to pre-existing types.
class Complex {
public:
operator double() const {return re;}
// ...
}
Complex a(1, 2);
a-10; // Error, double(a)-10 or a-Complex(10) ?
a-Complex(10); // Complex(-9, 2);
double(a)-10; // -9
An explicit constructor does not allow implicit conversions.
class Complex {
explicit Complex(double r=0, double i=0);
// ...
};
Complex a=1; // Error
Complex a(1); // OK
a-10; // OK, double(a)-10 = -9
a-Complex(10); // OK, Complex(-9, 0)
A class or member function may be templated.The type parameter must be passed inthe declaration for objects of the class.
template <class T>
class Complex {
T re, im;
public:
T real() const {return re;}
T imag() const {return im;}
Complex(T r=0, T i=0);
friend Complex<T> operator - (const Complex<T>&, const Complex<T>&);
};
template <class T>
Complex<T>::Complex(T r, T i): re(r), im(i) {}
Complex<int> a(1, 2); // Complex of int
Complex<double> b(1.0, 2.0); // Complex of double
a=a-Complex<int>(3, 4); // Complex<int>(-2, -2)
Complex<Complex<double> > c(b, b); // Note space, not >>
c.real().imag(); // 2.0
Templates can have default arguments and int parameters. The argumentto an int parameter must be a value known at compile time.
template <class T, class U=T, int n=0> class V {};
V<double, string, 3> v1;
V<char> v2; // V<char, char, 0>
Classes define default behavior for copying and assignment, which isto copy/assign each data member. This behavior can be overridden bywriting a copy constructor and operator= as members,both taking arguments of the same type, passed by const reference.They are usually required in classes that have destructors, such as thevector<T>-like class below. If we did not overload these,the default behavior would be to copy the data pointer, resulting intwo Vectors pointing into the same array. The assignment operatornormally returns itself (*this) by reference to allowexpressions of the form a=b=c;, but is not required to do so.this means the address of the current object; thus any memberm may also be called this->m within a member function.
template <class T>
class Vector {
private:
T* data; // Array of n elements
int n; // size()
public:
typedef T* iterator; // Vector::iterator means T*
typedef const T* const_iterator; // Iterators for const Vector
int size() const {return n;} // Number of elements
T& operator[](int i) {return data[i];} // i'th element
const T& operator[](int i) const {return data[i];} // i'th element of const Vector
iterator begin() {return data;} // First, last+1 elements
iterator end() {return data+size();}
const_iterator begin() const {return data;} // Const versions
const_iterator end() const {return data+size();}
Vector(int i=0): data(new T[i]), n(i) {} // Create with size i
~Vector() {delete[] data;} // Return memory
Vector(const Vector<T>& v): data(new T[v.n]), n(v.n) { // Copy constructor
copy(v.begin(), v.end(), begin());
}
Vector& operator=(const Vector& v) { // Assignment
if (&v != this) { // Assignment to self?
delete[] data; // If not, resize and copy
data=new T[n=v.n];
copy(v.begin(), v.end(), begin());
}
return *this; // Allow a=b=c;
}
template <class P> Vector(P b, P e): data(new T[e-b]), n(e-b) { // Templated member
copy(b, e, data); // Initialize from sequence [b, e)
}
};
A type defined in a class is accessed through
class::type
Vector<int>::iterator p; // Type is int* Vector<int>::const_iterator cp; // Type is const int*Member functions may be overloaded on const.Overloaded member functions neednot have the same return types. const member functions should notreturn non-const references or pointers to data members.
Vector<int> v(10); // Uses non-const [], begin(), end() const Vector<int> cv(10); // Uses const [], begin(), end() cv=v; // Error, non-const operator= called on cv v[5]=cv[5]; // OK. assigns to int& cv[5]=v[5]; // Error, assigns to const int& p=cv.begin(); // Error, would allow *p=x to write into cv cp=cv.begin(); // OK because can't assign to *cp
Defining Iterators.Sometimes a container's iterator types must be defined as nestedclasses overloading the usual pointer operations rather than typedef'edto pointers.In order to work properly with functions defined in<algorithm>, iterators should define the following5 public typedefs:
- iterator_category: one of the following (defined in <iterator>):
- output_iterator_tag (if sequential writing is supported)
- input_iterator_tag (if sequential reading is supported)
- forward_iterator_tag (if both are supported)
- bidirectional_iterator_tag (if the iterator can be decremented)
- random_access_iterator_tag (if all pointer operations are supported)
- value_type: the type of the elements, for example, T
- difference_type: the result of iterator subtraction, usually ptrdiff_t (a signed int type)
- pointer: the type returned by operator->(), usually T* or const T*
- reference: the type returned by operator*(), usually T& or const T&
Operator -> should be overloaded as a unary function returning apointer to a class to which -> will be applied, i.e. x->m isinterpreted as x.operator->()->m. Nested class membersare named Outer::Inner::member. Outer and inner classes cannot accesseach other's private members. Templated members defined outside theclass need their own template declarations.
template <class T> class Vector {
public:
// Reverse iterator for Vector, i.e. ++p goes to the previous element.
class reverse_iterator {
private:
T* p; // Points to current element
public:
// typedefs needed to work with <algorithm> functions
typedef std::random_access_iterator_tag iterator_category; // Defined in <iterator>
typedef T value_type; // Type of element
typedef ptrdiff_t difference_type; // Result of iterator subtraction, usually int
typedef T* pointer; // Type returned by operator ->
typedef T& reference; // Type returned by operator *
reverse_iterator(T* a=0): p(a) {} // Implicit conversion from T* and iterator
iterator base() const {return p;} // Convert to normal iterator
// Forward operators
reverse_iterator& operator++() {--p; return *this;} // prefix
reverse_iterator operator++(int); // postfix, we pretend it's binary
reference operator*() const {return *p;}
pointer operator->() const {return p;} // We pretend it's unary
bool operator==(Vector<T>::reverse_iterator b) const {return p==b.p;}
bool operator!=(Vector<T>::reverse_iterator b) const {return p!=b.p;}
// Also, bidirectional and random operators
};
reverse_iterator rbegin() {return end()-1;}
reverse_iterator rend() {return begin()-1;}
// Other members...
};
// Code for postfix ++
template <class T>
inline Vector<T>::reverse_iterator Vector::reverse_iterator::operator++(int dummy) {
Vector<T>::reverse_iterator result = *this;
++*this;
return result;
};
// Print a Vector in reverse order
int main() {
Vector<int> a(10);
for (Vector<int>::reverse_iterator p=a.rbegin(); p!=a.rend(); ++p)
cout << *p << endl;
vector<T> supplies random
reverse_iterator and
const_reverse_iteratoras above. Const iterators would typedef
pointer as
const T*and
reference as
const T&.
A static data member is shared by all instances of a class.It must be initialized in a separate declaration, not in the class definitionor in the constructor initialization list. A static member functioncannot refer to this or anynon-static members (and therefore it makes no sense to make themconst). Static members may be referenced either asobject.member or class::member.
class Counter {
static int count; // Number of Counters that currently exist (private)
public:
static int get() {return count;}
Counter() {++count;}
~Counter() {--count;}
Counter(const Counter& c) {++count;} // Default would be wrong
Counter& operator=(const Counter& c) {return *this;} // Default would be OK
};
int Counter::count = 0; // Initialize here, OK if private
main() {
Counter a, b, c;
cout << b.get(); // 3
cout << Counter::get(); // 3
}
Inheritance
Inheritance is used to write a specialized or enhanced version ofanother class. For example, an ofstream is a type of ostream. class D: public B defines class D as derived from (subclass of) base class (superclass) B,meaning that D inheritsall of B's members, except the constructors, destructor, and assignmentoperator. The default behavior of these special member functions is to treatthe base class as a data member. class String: public Vector<char> {
public:
String(const char* s=""): Vector<char>(strlen(s)) {
copy(s, s+strlen(s), begin()); // Inherits Vector<char>::begin()
}
};
String a="hello"; // Calls Vector<char>::Vector(5);
a.size(); // 5, inherits Vector<char>::size()
a[0]='j'; // "jello", inherits Vector<char>::operator[]
String b=a; // Default copy constructor uses Vector's copy constructor on base part
b=a; // Default = calls Vector's assignment operator on base part
The default destructor
String::~String() {} is correct,since in the process of destroying a String, the base is alsodestroyed, calling
Vector<char>::~Vector() {delete data[];}.Since there is no need to write a destructor, there is no need toredefine copying or assignment either.
Although String inherits Vector<char>::data,it is privateand inaccessible. A protected member is accessible to derivedclasses but private elsewhere.
class B {
protected:
int x;
} b; // Declare class B and object b
b.x=1; // Error, x is protected
class D: public B {
void f() {x=1;} // OK
};
By default, a base class is private, making all inherited membersprivate. Private base classes are rare and typically used asimplementations rather than specializations (A string is a vector,but a stack is not).
class Stack: Vector<int> { // or class Stack: private Vector<int>
public:
bool empty() const {return size()==0;} // OK
} s;
s.size(); // Error, private
s.empty(); // OK, public
A class may have more than one base class (called multipleinheritance). If both bases are inturn derived from a third base, then we derive from this root class usingvirtual to avoid inheriting its members twice further on.Any indirectly derived class treats the virtual root as a direct baseclass in the constructor initialization list.
class ios {...}; // good(), binary, ...
class fstreambase: public virtual ios {...}; // open(), close(), ...
class istream: public virtual ios {...}; // get(), operator>>(), ...
class ifstream: public fstreambase, public istream { // Only 1 copy of ios
ifstream(): fstreambase(), istream(), ios() {...} // Normally ios() would be omitted
};
Polymorphism
Polymorphism is the technique of defining a common interface for ahierarchy of classes. To support this, a derived object is allowedwherever a base object is expected. For example, String s="Hello";
Vector<char> v=s; // Discards derived part of s to convert
Vector<char>* p=&s; // p points to base part of s
try {throw s;} catch(Vector<char> x) {} // Caught with x set to base part of s
s=Vector<char>(5); // Error, can't convert base to derived
// Allow output of Vector<char> using normal notation
ostream& operator << (ostream& out, const Vector<char>& v) {
copy(v.begin(), v.end(), ostream_iterator<char>(out, "")); // Print v to out
return out; // To allow (cout << a) << b;
}
cout << s; // OK, v refers to base part of s
ofstream f("file.txt");
f << s; // OK, ofstream is derived from ostream
A derived class may redefine inherited member functions, overriding anyfunctionwith the same name, parameters, return type, and const-ness (and hidingother functions with the same name, thus the overriding function shouldnot be overloaded).The function call is resolved at compile time. This is incorrect in caseof a base pointer or reference to a derived object. To allow run timeresolution, the base member function should be declared virtual. Sincethe default destructor is not virtual, a virtual destructor shouldbe added to the base class. If empty, no copy constructor or assignmentoperator is required. Constructors and = are never virtual.
class Shape {
public:
virtual void draw() const;
virtual ~Shape() {}
};
class Circle: public Shape {
public:
void draw() const; // Must use same parameters, return type, and const
};
Shape s; s.draw(); // Shape::draw()
Circle c; c.draw(); // Circle::draw()
Shape& r=c; r.draw(); // Circle::draw() if virtual
Shape* p=&c; p->draw(); // Circle::draw() if virtual
p=new Circle; p->draw(); // Circle::draw() if virtual
delete p; // Circle::~Circle() if virtual
An abstract base class defines an interface for one ormore derived classes, which are allowed to instantiate objects.Abstractness can be enforced by using protected (not private) constructorsor using pure virtual member functions, which must be overridden inthe derived class or else that class is abstract too. A pure virtualmember function is declared =0; and has no code defined.
class Shape {
protected:
Shape(); // Optional, but default would be public
public:
virtual void draw() const = 0; // Pure virtual, no definition
virtual ~Shape() {}
};
// Circle as before
Shape s; // Error, protected constructor, no Shape::draw()
Circle c; // OK
Shape& r=c; r.draw(); // OK, Circle::draw()
Shape* p=new Circle(); // OK
Run time type identification
C++ provides for run time type identification, although this usuallyindicates a poor design. dynamic_cast<T>(x) checks at run time whether a base pointeror reference is to a derived object, and if so, does a conversion.The base class must have at least one virtual function to use run timetype checking.#include <typeinfo> // For typeid() typeid(*p)==typeid(T) // true if p points to a T dynamic_cast<T*>(p) // Convert base pointer to derived T* or 0. dynamic_cast<T&>(r) // Convert base reference to derived T& or throw bad_cast()For example,
class B {public: virtual void f(){}};
class D: public B {public: int x;} d; // Bad design, public member in D but not B
B* p=&d; p->x; // Error, no B::x
D* q=p; q->x; // Error, can't convert B* to D*
q=(D*)p; q->x; // OK, but reinterpret_cast, no run time check
q=dynamic_cast<D*>(p); if (q) q->x; // OK
Other Types
typedef defines a synonym for a type.typedef char* Str; // Str is a synonym for char* Str a, b[5], *c; // char* a; char* b[5]; char** c; char* d=a; // OK, really the same type
enum defines a type and a set of symbolicvalues for it. There is an implicit conversion to int and explicitconversion from int to enum. You can specify the int equivalents ofthe symbolic names, or they default to successive values beginningwith 0. Enums may be anonymous,specifying the set of symbols and possibly objects without giving thetype a name.
enum Weekday {MON,TUE=1,WED,THU,FRI}; // Type declaration
enum Weekday today=WED; // Object declaration, has value 2
today==2 // true, implicit int(today)
today=Weekday(3); // THU, conversion must be explicit
enum {N=10}; // Anonymous enum, only defines N
int a[N]; // OK, N is known at compile time
enum {SAT,SUN} weekend=SAT; // Object of anonymous type
A struct is a class where the default protection ispublic instead of private. A struct can be initialized like anarray.
struct Complex {double re, im;}; // Declare type
Complex a, b={1,2}, *p=&b; // Declare objects
a.re = p->im; // Access members
A union is a struct whose fields overlap in memory.Unions can also be anonymous. They may be used to implement variant records.
union U {int i; double d;}; // sizeof(U) is larger of int or double
U u; u.i=3; // overwrites u.d
// A variant record
class Token {
enum {INT, DOUBLE} type; // which field is in use?
union {int i; double d;} value; // An anonymous union
public:
void print() const {
if (type==INT) cout << value.i;
else cout << value.d;
}
};
An enum, struct, class, or union type and a list of objects maybe declared together in a single statement.
class Complex {public: double re, im;} a, b={1,2}, *p=&b;
Program Organization
For C++ programs that only use one source code file and thestandard library, the only rule is to declare things before using them:type declarations before object declarations, and function declarationsor definitions before calling them. However, implicitly inlined memberfunctionsmay use members not yet declared, and templates may use names as longas they are declared before instantiation.
class Complex {
double real() const {return re;} // OK
double re, im;
};
Global and member functions (unless inlined or templated) and globalor class static objects are separately compilable units, and may appearin separate source code (.cpp) files. If they are defined and usedin different files, then a declaration is needed. To insure thatthe declaration and definition are consistent, the declaration shouldbe in a shared header file. A shared header conventionally has a.h extension, and is inserted with a#include "filename.h", using double quotes to indicatethat the file is in the current directory. Global variables aredeclared with extern without initialization.
// prog.h // prog1.cpp // prog2.cpp
extern int x; #include "prog.h" #include "prog.h"
int f(); int x=0; int f() {
int main() { return x;
f(); }
return 0;
}
To compile,
g++ prog1.cpp prog2.cpp -o progThis produces two object files ( prog1.o, prog2.o), and then linksthem to produce the executable prog. g++ also accepts .ofiles, which are linked only, saving time if the .cppfile was not changed. To compile without linking, use -c.To optimize (compile slower but run faster), use -O.
The UNIX make command updates the executable as needed basedon the timestamps of source and .o files. It requires a filenamed Makefile containing a set of dependencies of the form:
file: files which should be older than file (tab) commands to update fileDependencies may be in any order. The Makefile is executed repeatedlyuntil all dependencies are satisfied.
# Makefile comment
prog: prog1.o prog2.o
g++ prog1.o prog2.o -o prog
prog1.o: prog1.cpp prog.h
g++ -c prog1.cpp
prog2.o: prog2.cpp prog.h
g++ -c prog2.cpp
Compiler options for g++. Other compilers may vary.
g++ file1.cpp Compile, produce executable a.out in UNIX g++ file1.cpp file2.o Compile .cpp and link .o to executable a.out g++ -Wall Turn on all warnings g++ -c file1.cpp Compile to file1.o, do not link g++ -o file1 Rename a.out to file1 g++ -O Optimize executable for speed g++ -v Verbose mode g++ -DX=Y Equivalent to #define X Y g++ --help Show all g++ options gxx file1.cpp Compile in Windows MS-DOS box (DJGPP) to A.EXE
Anything which is not a separately compilable unit may appear ina header file, such as class definitions (but not function code unlessinlined), templated classes (including function code), templatedfunctions, and other #include statements.
Creating Libraries (namespaces)
Libraries usually come in the form of a header and an object (.o)file. To use them, #include "header.h" and link the .ofile using g++. If the .o was compiled in C rather than C++,then indicate this with extern "C" {} to turn off name mangling.C++ encodes or "mangles" overloaded function names to allow them to be linked,but C does not since it doesn't allow overloading. extern "C" { // Turn off name mangling
#include "header.h" // Written in C
}
When writing your own library, use a unique namespace name to preventconflicts with other libraries. A namespace may span multiplefiles. Types, objects, and functions declared in a namespace N mustbe prefixed with N:: when used outside the namespace, or there mustbe a
using namespace N; in the current scope.
Also, to guard against possible multipleinclusions of the header file, #define some symbol and testfor it with #ifndef ... #endif on the first and last lines.Don't have a usingnamespace std;, since the user may not want std visible.
#ifndef MYLIB_H // mylib.h, or use #if !defined(MYLIB_H)
#define MYLIB_H
#include <string>
// No using statement
namespace mylib {
class B {
public:
std::string f(); // No code
}
}
#endif
// mylib.cpp, becomes mylib.o
#include <string>
#include "mylib.h"
using namespace std; // OK
namespace mylib {
string B::f() {return "hi";}
}
#define could be used to create constants through text substitution,but it is better to use
const to allow type checking.
#define X Y has the effect of replacing symbol X witharbitrary text Y before compiling, equivalent to the g++ option
-DX=Y.Each compiler usually defines a different set of symbols, whichcan be tested with
#if, #ifdef, #ifndef, #elsif, #else,and
#endif.
#ifdef unix // Defined by most UNIX compilers // ... #else // ... #endifPreprocessor statements are one line (no semicolon). They performtext substitutions in the source code prior to compiling.
#include <header> // Standard header #include "header.h" // Include header file from current directory #define X Y // Replace X with Y in source code #define f(a,b) a##b // Replace f(1,2) with 12 #define X \ // Continue a # statement on next line #ifdef X // True if X is #defined #ifndef X // False if X is #defined #if !defined(X) // Same #else // Optional after #if... #endif // Required
History of C++
C++ evolved from C, which in turn evolved from B, written by KenThompson in 1970 as a variant of BCPL. C was developed in the 1970'sby Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie as a "portable assembly language"to develop UNIX. C became widely available when they published "TheC Programming Language" in 1983. C lacked standard containers (string,vector, map), iostreams, bool, const, references, classes, exceptions,namespaces, new/delete, function and operator overloading, andobject-oriented capabilities.I/O was done using <stdio.h>. Strings were implemented asfixed sized char[] arrays requiring functions to assign or compare them(strcpy(), strcmp()). Structs could not be assigned, and had to becopied using memcpy(). Function arguments were not type checked.Functions could only modify arguments by passing their addresses.Memory allocation was done using malloc(), which requires the number ofbytes to allocate and returns an untyped pointer or NULL if it fails.The language allowed unsafe implicit conversions such as int to pointers.Variables had to be declared before the first statement. There wasno inline, so macros were often used in place of small functions.Hardware was slow and optimizers were not very good, so it was commonto declare register variables. There were no // style comments.For instance,
/* Copy argv[1] to buf and print it */
#include <stdio.h> /* No cout, use printf() */
#include <string.h> /* No string type, use char* */
#include <stdlib.h> /* No new/delete, use malloc/free */
main(argc, argv) /* Return type defaults to int */
int argc; /* Old style parameter declaration, no type checking */
char** argv;
{ /* No namespace std */
char* buf; /* All declarations before the first statement */
if (argc>1) {
buf=(char*)malloc((strlen(argv[1])+1)*sizeof(char)); /* Cast optional */
strcpy(buf, argv[1]); /* Can't assign, no range check */
printf("%s\n", buf); /* Arguments not type checked */
free(buf); /* No delete */
}
} /* Return value is undefined (unchecked) */
The ANSI C standard was finished in 1988. It added const,new style function declaration with type checking, struct assignment,strict type checking of pointer assignments,and specified the standard C library, which until now was widely usedbut with minor, annoying variations. However, many compilers did notbecome ANSI compliant until the early 1990's.
In the 1980's Bjarne Stroustrup at AT&T developed "C with Classes", later C++.Early implementations were available for UNIX as cfront (cc), aC++ to C translator around 1990.It added object oriented programming withclasses, inheritance, and polymorphism, also references, the iostreamlibrary, and minor enhancements such as // style comments and the abilityto declare variables anywhere. Because there were no namespaces,the iostream header was named <iostream.h> and no usingstatement was required. Unlike C programs which always have a .c extension,C++ didn't say, so .cpp, .cc and .C were all common, and .hpp for headers.
GNU gcc and g++, which compiled C and C++directly to machine code, were developed in the early 1990's. Templateswere added in 1993. Exceptions were added in 1994.The standardcontainer library (originally called the standard template libraryor STL) was developed by researchers at Hewlett-Packard and madeavailable free asa separate download in the mid 1990's and ported to several compilers.
ANSI standard C++ compilers became available in 1998. This addedSTL to the standard library, added multiple inheritance, namespaces,type bool, and run time type checking (dynamic_cast, typeid). The.h extension on headers was dropped.
C++ most likely succeeded where other early object oriented languagesfailed (Simula67, Actor, Eiffel, SmallTalk) because it was backwardscompatible with C, allowing old code to be used, and because C programmerscould use it immediately without learning the new features. However, thereare a few incompatibilities.
- Old style function declarations are not allowed.
- Conversion from void* (returned by malloc()) requiresa cast.
- There are many new reserved words.
There are also some incompatibilities between old (before 1998)and new versions of C++.
- new was changed to throw type bad_alloc if outof memory, instead of returning 0.
- The scope of a variable declared in a for loop was changedto be local to the loop and not beyond it (not yet implemented byMicrosoft Visual C++)
g++ does not yet implement all ANSI C++ features. For instance,
- Type ostringstream allowing formatted writing to strings.
- Run time bounds checking of vector indexes using v.at(i)
The largest integer type is 32 bits in most implementations, butas 64 bit machines become common it is possible that type longcould become a 64 bit type (as in Java) in the future.g++ supports the nonstandard 64-bit integer type long long, e.g.
unsigned long long bigzero=0LLU;
Most implementations of time() return the number of seconds sinceJan. 1, 1970 as a time_t, normally a signed 32-bit long.Programs that use this implementation will fail on Jan. 19,2038 at 3:14:08 AM as this value overflows and becomes negative.
Further Reading
Brian W. Kernighan, The C Programming Language, 2nd Ed.,Prentice Hall, 1988.
Bjarne Stroustrup, The C++ Programming Language, 3rd Ed,,Addison Wesley, 1997.
Andrew Koenig, Barbara E. Moo, Accelerated C++,Addison Wesley, 2000.
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