[C++] num++ v.s. ++num in C++

最近和一个朋友去混他们的计算机研究生基础课C++。老师讲课的时候讲了个：

num++    equal to   num = num +1

++num    equal to  num = num +1;

num =1;

n= num++ *3;   // 3

n = ++num * 3;  //6

老师一两句就带过去了，我想了半天都没有想清楚，后来google 了一下， 发现有个人的解释特别详细：

let's say we have num=5

if we say
cout<<++num;
it's the same thing as writing
num += 1;
cout<<num;
and the output will be 6

but if we say
cout<<num++;
it's the same thing as writing
cout<<num;
num += 1;
and the output will be 5

by the way, num += 1; means num = num + 1; and it works for any operator (eg. num *= 2; multiplies num by 2)

a return value is what a function returns... ++ is a function too,