Regent University College of Science & Technology

VARIABLES AND DATA

LECTURE 2

David Botwe
TYPES
1
WHAT IS A VARIABLE?
Variables are temporary storage locations where
data can be stored while a program is running.

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Their values can be changed at any point over the
course of a program

2
CREATING VARIABLES
To create a variable, declare its name
and the type of information that it will
store.

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The type is listed first, followed by the
name.
Example: a variable that stores an integer
representing the score on an exam could
be declared as follows:
int score ;

type variable-name;
3
CREATING VARIABLES (CONTD)
Now you have the variable (score), you will
want to assign a value to it.

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Example: a score in the class exam is 98.
score = 98;

Examples of other types of variables:

string studentName;
bool gameOver; 4
VARIABLE NAMES (IDENTIFIERS)
A valid variable name (or identifier) is a
sequence of

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Letters (upper and lowercase)
Digits
A name cannot start with a digit
Underscores
A name should not normally start with an underscore

Variable Names are case sensitive

MyObject is a different from MYOBJECT
5
KEYWORDS
Keywords are words reserved as part of the
language

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int, return, float, double

They cannot be used by the programmer to name

things
They consist of lowercase letters only
They have special meaning to the compiler

6
FUNDAMENTAL C++ DATA TYPES
C++ has a large number of fundamental or built-
in data types

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The fundamental data types fall into three
categories
Integer data types
Floating-point data types
Character data types

7
INTEGER DATA TYPES
The basic integer data type is int
The size of an int depends on the machine
and the compiler

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On PCs it is normally 16 or 32 bits
Other integer data types
short: typically uses less bits
long: typically uses more bits
Differenttypes allow programmers to use
resources more efficiently
Standard arithmetic and relational
operations are available for these types 8
INTEGER CONSTANTS
Integer constants are positive or negative whole
numbers

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Examples
97
40000L L or l indicates long
integer
50000

23a (illegal)

9
CHARACTER DATA TYPES
Character data type char is related to the
integer types

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Characters are encoded using a scheme
where an integer represents a particular
character
ASCII is the dominant encoding scheme
Examples
' ' encoded as 32 '+' encoded as 43
'A' encoded as 65 'Z' encoded as 90
'a' encoded as 97 'z' encoded as 122
10
CHARACTER CONSTANTS

Explicit (literal) characters within single

quotes
'a','D','*'

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Special
characters - delineated by a
backslash \
Two character sequences (escape codes)
Some important special escape codes
\t denotes a tab \n denotes a new line
\\ denotes a backslash \' denotes a single quote

\" denotes a double quote

'\t' is the explicit tab character, '\n' is the

explicit new line character, and so on 11
FLOATING-POINT DATA TYPES
Floating-point data types represent real
numbers
Integer part

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Fractional part

The number 108.1517 breaks down into the

following parts
108- integer part
1517 - fractional part

C++ provides three floating-point object types

float
double
long double 12
FLOATING-POINT CONSTANTS
Standard decimal notation
134.123 F or f indicates single
0.15F

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precision floating point
value
Standard scientific notation
1.45E6 L or l indicates long double
0.979e-3L floating point value

When not specified, floating-point constants are

of type double

13
EXAMPLE
/* Program to find the area of a circle*/

#include <iostream>

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using namespace std;

int main()
{
float pi=3.142F;
float area, radius;
cout<<"Enter radius: ";
cin>>radius;
area= pi * radius * radius;
cout<<"Area = "<< area<<endl;
system("PAUSE");
return 0; 14
}
CONSTANT DEFINITIONS
Modifier const indicates that a variable cannot
be changed
i.e. Variable is read-only

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Useful when defining variables representing
physical and mathematical constants
const float Pi = 3.1415;

Value has a name that can be used throughout

the program
const int SampleSize = 100;

Makes changing the constant easy

Only need to change the definition and recompile
15
STRINGS CONSTANTS
Astring constant is a sequence of zero or
more characters enclosed in double quotes

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"We are even loonier than you
think"
"Rust never sleeps\n"
"Nilla is a Labrador Retriever"

Note: A string is NOT a fundamental data

type 16
STRING VARIABLES
Class string
Used to represent a sequence of characters as

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a single object
Some definitions
string Name = "Joanne";
string DecimalPoint = ".";
string empty = "";
string copy = Name;
string Question = '?'; // illegal
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EXERCISE

What is a variable?
How do you declare a variable in a

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program?
Which of the following are valid variable

names?
i) Amount
ii) 6tally
iii) my*Name
iv) salary
v) first Name 18
EXERCISE (CONT'D)

What data types would you use to store the

following?

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i) Population of Ghana
ii) Approximation of
iii) Average mark of a student
iv) First letter of your name

19