C++ Programming Code Examples

A program shall contain a global function named main, which is the designated start of the program in hosted environment. main() function is the entry point of any C++ program. It is the point at which execution of program is started. When a C++ program is executed, the execution control goes directly to the main() function. Every C++ program have a main() function. void is a keyword in C++ language, void means nothing, whenever we use void as a function return type then that function nothing return. here main() function no return any value. main is a name of function which is predefined function in C++ library. In place of void we can also use int return type of main() function, at that time main() return integer type value. 1) It cannot be used anywhere in the program a) in particular, it cannot be called recursively b) its address cannot be taken 2) It cannot be predefined and cannot be overloaded: effectively, the name main in the global namespace is reserved for functions (although it can be used to name classes, namespaces, enumerations, and any entity in a non-global namespace, except that a function called "main" cannot be declared with C language linkage in any namespace). 3) It cannot be defined as deleted or (since C++11) declared with C language linkage, constexpr (since C++11), consteval (since C++20), inline, or static. 4) The body of the main function does not need to contain the return statement: if control reaches the end of main without encountering a return statement, the effect is that of executing return 0;. 5) Execution of the return (or the implicit return upon reaching the end of main) is equivalent to first leaving the function normally (which destroys the objects with automatic storage duration) and then calling std::exit with the same argument as the argument of the return. (std::exit then destroys static objects and terminates the program). 6) (since C++14) The return type of the main function cannot be deduced (auto main() {... is not allowed). 7) (since C++20) The main function cannot be a coroutine.

Generate random number. Returns a pseudo-random integral number in the range between 0 and RAND_MAX. This number is generated by an algorithm that returns a sequence of apparently non-related numbers each time it is called. This algorithm uses a seed to generate the series, which should be initialized to some distinctive value using function srand. RAND_MAX is a constant defined in <cstdlib>. The rand() function in C++ is used to generate random numbers; it will generate the same number every time we run the program. In order to seed the rand() function, srand(unsigned int seed) is used. The srand() function sets the initial point for generating the pseudo-random numbers. The rand() function generates numbers randomly. When execute the rand() function in a program, the same random number gets represented. The srand() function along with the rand() function generates random numbers at compile time. The srand() function does not return any value while the rand() function returns the random number generated by it. C++ supports a wide range of powerful tools to generate random and pseudo-random numbers (see <random> for more info). The function accepts no parameter(s). The standard practice is to use the return value of time(0) function as the seed. Function returns an integer value between 0 and RAND_MAX. If random numbers are generated with rand() without first calling srand(), your program will create the same sequence of numbers each time it runs. In C, the generation algorithm used by rand is guaranteed to only be advanced by calls to this function. In C++, this constraint is relaxed, and a library implementation is allowed to advance the generator on other circumstances (such as calls to elements of <random>). The function accesses and modifies internal state objects, which may cause data races with concurrent calls to rand or srand. Some libraries provide an alternative function that explicitly avoids this kind of data race: rand_r (non-portable). C++ library implementations are allowed to guarantee no data races for calling this function. No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.

A return statement ends the processing of the current function and returns control to the caller of the function. A value-returning function should include a return statement, containing an expression. If an expression is not given on a return statement in a function declared with a non-void return type, the compiler issues an error message. If the data type of the expression is different from the function return type, conversion of the return value takes place as if the value of the expression were assigned to an object with the same function return type. For a function of return type void, a return statement is not strictly necessary. If the end of such a function is reached without encountering a return statement, control is passed to the caller as if a return statement without an expression were encountered. In other words, an implicit return takes place upon completion of the final statement, and control automatically returns to the calling function. If a return statement is used, it must not contain an expression. The following are examples of return statements:

#include is a way of including a standard or user-defined file in the program and is mostly written at the beginning of any C/C++ program. This directive is read by the preprocessor and orders it to insert the content of a user-defined or system header file into the following program. These files are mainly imported from an outside source into the current program. The process of importing such files that might be system-defined or user-defined is known as File Inclusion. This type of preprocessor directive tells the compiler to include a file in the source code program. Including using " ": When using the double quotes(" "), the preprocessor access the current directory in which the source "header_file" is located. This type is mainly used to access any header files of the user's program or user-defined files. Including using <>: While importing file using angular brackets(<>), the the preprocessor uses a predetermined directory path to access the file. It is mainly used to access system header files located in the standard system directories. Header File or Standard files: This is a file which contains C/C++ function declarations and macro definitions to be shared between several source files. Functions like the printf(), scanf(), cout, cin and various other input-output or other standard functions are contained within different header files. So to utilise those functions, the users need to import a few header files which define the required functions. User-defined files: These files resembles the header files, except for the fact that they are written and defined by the user itself. This saves the user from writing a particular function multiple times. Once a user-defined file is written, it can be imported anywhere in the program using the #include preprocessor. • In #include directive, comments are not recognized. So in case of #include <a//b>, a//b is treated as filename. • In #include directive, backslash is considered as normal text not escape sequence. So in case of #include <a\nb>, a\nb is treated as filename. • You can use only comment after filename otherwise it will give error.

Consider a situation, when we have two persons with the same name, jhon, in the same class. Whenever we need to differentiate them definitely we would have to use some additional information along with their name, like either the area, if they live in different area or their mother's or father's name, etc. Same situation can arise in your C++ applications. For example, you might be writing some code that has a function called xyz() and there is another library available which is also having same function xyz(). Now the compiler has no way of knowing which version of xyz() function you are referring to within your code. A namespace is designed to overcome this difficulty and is used as additional information to differentiate similar functions, classes, variables etc. with the same name available in different libraries. Using namespace, you can define the context in which names are defined. In essence, a namespace defines a scope. A namespace definition begins with the keyword namespace followed by the namespace name as follows: To call the namespace-enabled version of either function or variable, prepend (::) the namespace name as follows: You can also avoid prepending of namespaces with the using namespace directive. This directive tells the compiler that the subsequent code is making use of names in the specified namespace. A namespace can be defined in several parts and so a namespace is made up of the sum of its separately defined parts. The separate parts of a namespace can be spread over multiple files. So, if one part of the namespace requires a name defined in another file, that name must still be declared. Writing a following namespace definition either defines a new namespace or adds new elements to an existing one: Namespaces can be nested where you can define one namespace inside another name space as follows: • Namespace is a feature added in C++ and not present in C. • A namespace is a declarative region that provides a scope to the identifiers (names of the types, function, variables etc) inside it. • Multiple namespace blocks with the same name are allowed. All declarations within those blocks are declared in the named scope. • Namespace declarations appear only at global scope. • Namespace declarations can be nested within another namespace. • Namespace declarations don't have access specifiers. (Public or private) • No need to give semicolon after the closing brace of definition of namespace. • We can split the definition of namespace over several units.

Arithmetic Operator is used to performing mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, modulus, etc., on the given operands. For example: 6 + 3 = 9, 5 - 3 = 2, 3 * 4 = 12, etc. are the examples of arithmetic operators. Let's discuss the different types of Arithmetic Operators in the C programming. Plus Operator is a simple Plus (+) Operator used to add two given operands. We can use Plus Operator with different data types such as integer, float, long, double, enumerated and string type data to add the given operand. The minus operator is denoted by the minus (-) symbol. It is used to return the subtraction of the first number from the second number. The data type of the given number can be different types, such as int, float, double, long double, etc., in the programing language. The multiplication operator is represented as an asterisk (*) symbol, and it is used to return the product of n1 and n2 numbers. The data type of the given number can be different types such as int, float, and double in the C programing language. The division operator is an arithmetic operator that divides the first (n1) by the second (n2) number. Using division operator (/), we can divide the int, float, double and long data types variables. The modulus operator is represented by the percentage sign (%), and it is used to return the remainder by dividing the first number by the second number. Increment Operator is the type of Arithmetic operator, which is denoted by double plus (++) operator. It is used to increase the integer value by 1. Decrement Operator is denoted by the double minus (--) symbol, which decreases the operand value by 1.

Get current time. Get the current calendar time as a value of type time_t. The function returns this value, and if the argument is not a null pointer, it also sets this value to the object pointed by timer. The value returned generally represents the number of seconds since 00:00 hours, Jan 1, 1970 UTC (i.e., the current unix timestamp). Although libraries may use a different representation of time: Portable programs should not use the value returned by this function directly, but always rely on calls to other elements of the standard library to translate them to portable types (such as localtime, gmtime or difftime). Pointer to an object of type time_t, where the time value is stored. Alternatively, this parameter can be a null pointer, in which case the parameter is not used (the function still returns a value of type time_t with the result). Function returns the current calendar time as a time_t object. If the argument is not a null pointer, the return value is the same as the one stored in the location pointed by argument timer. If the function could not retrieve the calendar time, it returns a value of -1. time_t is an alias of a fundamental arithmetic type capable of representing times. The object pointed by timer is modified (if not null). No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.

The cout is a predefined object of ostream class. It is connected with the standard output device, which is usually a display screen. The cout is used in conjunction with stream insertion operator (<<) to display the output on a console. On most program environments, the standard output by default is the screen, and the C++ stream object defined to access it is cout. The syntax of the cout object in C++: cout << var_name; Or cout << "Some String"; is the insertion operator is usually a variable, but can also be an array element or elements of containers like vectors, lists, maps, etc. The "c" in cout refers to "character" and "out" means "output". Hence cout means "character output". The cout object is used along with the insertion operator << in order to display a stream of characters. The << operator can be used more than once with a combination of variables, strings, and manipulators. cout is used for displaying data on the screen. The operator << called as insertion operator or put to operator. The Insertion operator can be overloaded. Insertion operator is similar to the printf() operation in C. cout is the object of ostream class. Data flow direction is from variable to output device. Multiple outputs can be displayed using cout.

Initialize random number generator. The pseudo-random number generator is initialized using the argument passed as seed. The C++ <cstdlib> srand() function seeds the pseudo-random number generator used by rand() function. If rand() is used before any calls to srand(), rand() behaves as if it was seeded with srand(1). For every different seed value used in a call to srand, the pseudo-random number generator can be expected to generate a different succession of results in the subsequent calls to rand. Two different initializations with the same seed will generate the same succession of results in subsequent calls to rand. If seed is set to 1, the generator is reinitialized to its initial value and produces the same values as before any call to rand or srand. In order to generate random-like numbers, srand is usually initialized to some distinctive runtime value, like the value returned by function time (declared in header <ctime>). This is distinctive enough for most trivial randomization needs. An integer value to be used as seed by the pseudo-random number generator algorithm. This function does not return any value. The function accesses and modifies internal state objects, which may cause data races with concurrent calls to rand or srand. Some libraries provide an alternative function of rand that explicitly avoids this kind of data race: rand_r (non-portable). C++ library implementations are allowed to guarantee no data races for calling this function. No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.