Lecture 4

1
 Constants
• Constants are specific values of any data type,
such as
2 3.145 -2.3 ‘f’ “hello”
• Character constants are enclosed in single quotes
char ch = ‘z’;

• String constants are enclosed in double quotes

string message = “Hello”;
2
 Types of Constants
Character constants char c = ‘z’
Numeric constants int a = 10;
Hexadecimal constants int hex = 0xFF;
Octal constants int oct = 011;
String constants char greetings = “Hello”;
Backslash constants \b, \f, \n, \r, \t, \”, \’, \0, \\,
\v, \a, \?, \OCTAL, \xHEX

3
#include <iostream.h>

int main()
{
char ch = ‘M’; //assign ASCII code for M to c
int number = ch; //store same code in an int

cout << “The ASCII code for “ << ch << “ is ”

<< in << ‘\n’;

cout << “Add one to the character code\n”;

ch = ch + 1;
in = ch;
cout << “The ASCII code for “ << ch << “ is “
<< in << endl;

return 0;
}
4
 Variables
• Needed to store information
• Program must remember three properties: where,
what value, what kind
int age;
age = 40;
double radius = 0.0;
• Have to be declared first; why?
• Uninitialized variables have garbage values
• C++ is case-sensitive

5
 Scope of Variables
• Local
• Global

• Block
• Function
• File
• Program

• Class ?
6
 Local Variables
• Declared inside a function
• Die when function finishes; unknown outside
their function
• Initialized each time the function containing
them is entered; uninitialized have garbage
values

7
#include <iostream.h>

void func()
{
int x; // local to func()

x = -199;
cout << x; // displays ?
}

int main()
{
int x; // local to main()
x = 10;

func();

cout << "\n";

cout << x; // displays ?

return 0;
8
}
 Global Variables
• Declared outside any function; have life as long as the
program runs
• Can be used by all following functions
• Usually placed at the beginning of program
• Initialized only at the start of the program;
uninitialized default to zero
• An identically named local variable masks global one
• Should be avoided if possible
9
#include <iostream.h>

int i = 2; //global

void func()
{
cout << i << endl;
int i = 3; //local
cout << i << endl;
}

int main()
{
cout << i << endl;

func();

cout << i << endl;

int i = 5;
cout << i << endl;

return 0; 10
}