FUNDAMENTALS OF

PROGRAMMING
CS-114
Lecture 2: Variables
 Basic Program (main Function)
2
 What is a computer?
3
 Components:
 input (mouse, keyboard)

 output (display, printer)

 memory (disk drives, DRAM, SRAM, CD)

 network

Computer
CPU Memory Devices

Control Input

Datapath Output
Components of a Computer
The BIG Picture  Same components for
all kinds of computer
 Desktop, server,
embedded
 Input/output includes
 User-interface devices
 Display, keyboard, mouse
 Storage devices
 Hard disk, CD/DVD, flash
 Network adapters
 For communicating with other
computers
Below Your Program
 Application software
 Written in high-level language
 System software
 Compiler: translates HLL code to machine
code
 Operating System: service code
 Handling input/output
 Managing memory and storage
 Scheduling tasks & sharing resources
 Hardware
 Processor, memory, I/O controllers
 Last Lab
// Example program
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
cout << "Hello, World!" << endl;
cout << "I am a master programmer.";
}
 Include Directives
• Include Directives add library files to our programs

- To make the definitions of the cin and cout available to the program:

#include <iostream>

• Using Directives include a collection of defined names

- To make the names cin and cout available to our program:

using namespace std;

 Input and Output
• A data stream is a sequence of data
- Typically in the form of characters or numbers

• An input stream is data for the program to use

- Typically originates
• at the keyboard
• at a file

• An output stream is the program’s output

- Destination is typically
• the monitor
• a file
 Output using cout
• cout is an output stream sending data to the monitor
• The insertion operator "<<" inserts data into cout

• Example: cout << number_of_bars << " candy bars\n";

- This line sends two items to the monitor
• The value of number_of_bars
• The quoted string of characters " candy bars\n"
- Notice the space before the ‘c’ in candy
- The ‘\n’ causes a new line to be started following the ‘s’ in bars
• A new insertion operator is used for each item of output
Receiving Information from the user

 We can receive input from the user by using the cin (Standard input
stream

Example
int ftemp;
cin>>ftemp;

 causes the program to wait for the user to type in a number.

 The resulting number is placed in the variable ftemp.
 The keyword cin (pronounced “C in”) is an object, predefined in C++ to
correspond to the standard input stream.
 This stream represents data coming from the keyboard
 The >> is the extraction or get from operator.
 It takes the value from the stream object on its left and places it in the
variable on its right.
 Designing Input and Output
• Prompt the user for input that is desired
- cout statements provide instructions

cout << "Enter your age: ";

cin >> age;
• Notice the absence of a new line before using cin
Simplistic View of a Computer
Very Simplistic View of a Computer

Location 0
Location 1
Location 2 Each location is
Location 3 1 byte of memory
CPU Location 4
1 byte = 8 bits
Location 5

Each bit is an electric

impulse carrying 1 or 0.

This simplistic view is enough to explain the basic concepts

of programming to students
5
 Value
• The only task a computer can do is arithmetic e.g.
multiplying, dividing, subtracting, etc.
• Therefore, everything in the computer is represented as a
value
- Numbers, letters, characters, etc are all represented as values
• Values could change depending on their nature. For
example
- the temperature today is different from the temperature yesterday
- The number of cars inside Lahore is different then the number of in
cars Islamabad.
Identifiers
 C++ programs can be written using many English
words
 It is useful to think of words found in a program as
being one of three types:
 Reserved Words: words such as if, int and else etc are
predefined, their meanings can not be changed
 Library Identifiers: These words are supplied default
meanings by the programming environment
cin, cout and sqrt
 Programmer-supplied Identifiers: words "created" by
the programmer, called variables
 Variable
• To store a value inside a computer a‘variable’ is used.
• A variable is a space in the memory to store
a value.
• This space is reserved until the variable is
required.

Session 2 7
 What Makes a Variable
• Variable has three important characteristics:
- Type
• How much memory do a variable need.
- This information is determined by a type.
- Name
• How to differentiate a variable with another variable of the
same type.
- Name refers to the memory location assigned to this variable.
- Value
• What is the value?
- The actual value contained by a variable.

Session 2 8
 An Example of a Variable

Type of the variable is integer (written as “int” in C++)

int temperature = 35

A name of the variable

An initial value of the variable

Session 2 9
 Type of a Variable
• Among other advantages a ‘type’ binds the
memory to a variable name.
• The type int is of 4 bytes in C++.

1 byte = 8 bits=>4 bytes=32 bits

232 =4294967296
• Therefore, it can hold maximum of

2,147,483,647 value.
• It can also hold values in negative down to
-2,147,483,648.
Session 2 12
 Example of a Variable
(Memory View)
int temperature = 35
00000000 Location 0
Locations 0 - 3 are collectively 00000000 Location 1
called as ‘temperature’ 00000000 Location 2
00100011 Location 3
Location 4
100011 is the binary equivalent of 35 Location 5

Session 2 10
 Changing the Value of Variable
• Lets change the value of ‘temperature’.
temperature = 45902

00000000 Location 0
Locations 0 - 3 are collectively 00000000 Location 1
called as ‘temperature’ 10110011 Location 2
01001110 Location 3
Location 4
Location 5
1011001101001110 is the binary equivalent of 45902

Session 2 11
 Initializing Variables
• Declaring a variable does not give it a value
- Giving a variable its first value is initializing the variable
• Variables are initialized in assignment statements

double mpg; // declare the variable

mpg = 26.3; // initialize the variable

• Declaration and initialization can be combined using two methods

- Method 1
double mpg = 26.3, area = 0.0 , volume;
- Method 2
double mpg(26.3), area(0.0), volume;
 Variable for Real Numbers
•int cannot hold a real value.
• Therefore, a type “double” is used to hold real values.

• Double takes 8 bytes of memory instead of 4 bytes.

Out of the 8 bytes in a double,

4 bytes are used to hold the value before the decimal point
4 bytes for the value after the decimal point.

Session 2 14
Relative Comparison of int and double
int numPeople = 2;

Reserves 32 bits (4 bytes)

and sets the value stored
in that space to 2. The name
‘numPeople’ is associated with
this space.

double bill = 32.45;

Reserves 64 bits (8 bytes)

and sets the value stored
in that space to 32.45. The name
‘bill’ is associated with this space.

Session 2 15
Premitive Data Types in C++
 Integral Types
 represent whole numbers and their negatives
 declared as int, short, or long
 Character Types
 represent single characters
 declared as char
 Stored by ASCII values
 Boolean Type
 declared as bool
 has only 2 values true/false
 will not print out directly
 Floating Types
 represent real numbers with a decimal point
 declared as float, or double
 Scientific notation where e (or E) stand for “times 10 to the ” (.55-e6)
Samples of C++ Data Values
int sample values
4578 -4578 0

bool values
true false

float sample values

95.274 95.0 .265

char sample values

‘B’ ‘d’ ‘4’ ‘?’ ‘*’
Variable types

Variable type Keyword used in Size in bits Range

declaration
integer int 32 bits -2147483648 to
2147483647
Short integer short int 16 bits -32768 to 32767

Long integer long int 32 bits -2147483648 to

2147483647
Floating point data float 32 bits -1.0x1038 to
1.0x1038
Floating point data double 64 bits -1.0x10308 to
(with large fraction) 1.0x10308
Text type data char 8 bits -128 to 127
Boolean data bool 1 bit 1 or 0
(True or False)
Session 2 16
Assignment Operator
 An operator to give (assign) a value to a variable.
 Denote as ‘=‘
 Only variable can be on the left side.
 An expression is on the right side.
 Variables keep their assigned values until changed
by another assignment statement or by reading in
a new value.
Assignment Operator Syntax
 Variable = Expression
 First,
expression on right is evaluated.
 Then the resulting value is stored in the memory location
of Variable on left.

NOTE: An automatic type coercion occurs after

evaluation but before the value is stored if the
types differ for Expression and Variable
Assignment Operator Mechanism
 Example:
int count = 0; 0

int starting; 12345 (garbage)

starting = count + 5;
 Expression evaluation:
 Get value of count: 0
 Add 5 to it.
 Assign to starting
5
 Assignment Statement

x = 5671

5671 is written at the memory location reserved for x

Session 2 18
 Constants
• Constants are values which cannot be
modified e.g. the value of Pi
• To declare a constant in C++, we write a

keyword “const” before the variable type.

const double pi = 3.14;

Session 2 19
 Variable Types
 To use a variable in our code
 First, we must have to declare it, variable are known with its
keywords. “Use the name of keyword” for declaration of a
variable”.
 Example: int number1 = 10;
 Example: float floatData = 20.93;
 Example: long int myData = -10;
 Example: char textData = ‘A’;
 Example: bool boolData = true;
#include <iostream>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
using namespace std;
void main ()
void main ()
{
{
int number1 = 10;
int number1 = 20, number2 = 10;
float floatData = 20.93;
}
}
Points to remeber in naming the
variables
 The names given to variables (and other program
features) are called identifiers.
 What are the rules for writing identifiers?
 You can use upper- and lowercase letters, and the
digits from 1 to 9.
 You can also use the underscore (_).
 The first character must be a letter or underscore.
(it cannot be a digit)
 No spaces allowed in a variable name
 Primitive Data Types
• So far the variable types that we have
studied are primitive data types.
• Primitive data types only have a memory

space for storing values.

27
 char constants
• Character constants are enclosed in single quotes

char letter = 'a';

• Strings of characters, even if only one character

is enclosed in double quotes
- "a" is a string of characters containing one character
- 'a' is a value of type character
 Reading Character Data
• cin skips blanks and line breaks looking for data
• The following reads two characters but skips
any space that might be between

char symbol1, symbol2;

cin >> symbol1 >> symbol2;

• User normally separate data items by spaces

J D
• Results are the same if the data is not separated
by spaces
JD
 Type bool
• bool is a new addition to C++
- Short for boolean
- Boolean values are either true or false

• To declare a variable of type bool:

bool old_enough;
 Acknowledgements
1. Deitel and Deitel: C++ How to Program, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall Publications
Material in these slides has been taken from, the following resources

2. Robert Lafore: Object-Oriented Programming in C++, Fourth Edition,

December 2001,Sams Publishing .
3. A Structured Programing Approach Using C++ by Behrouz A. Forouzan
4. www.cplusplus.com

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